What have you towed with?

[DavidW1]

Had an idea while reading recent posts - there must be a rich vein of experience of different towcars out there, from us the forum users, just waiting to be tapped!

If we were to list all the cars we have ever towed with and rate them simply and sensibly, then folk might have an idea what actual users think about a cars suitability or otherwise for towing.

Well I'l make a start then - the list is in descending order with a simple comment for each.

Militry petrol Landrover SWB's - amazing strength and go anywhere ability, even towed Canberra bombers and Varsities with them! Good Job the queen was paying for the petrol though, what a thirst they had!

1974 Vauxhall Viva HC - on the flat only towing and how the clutch lasted I'll never know.

198? Shogun Mk1 V6 LWB - massive tow capacity but wobbly ride

1993 Land Rover SWB series 3 diesel - gutless and primitive.

1993 Renault Laguna 2.2 diesel - dire, dismal performance and soggy ride

1999 Nissan Terrano 2.7 SE - bags of pull but vague steering

1997 Shogun Mk11 V6 SWB - an improvement on the early models but cramped.

2002 Jeep Wrangler 4.0 - suprisingly good towcar but cramped.

1996 Jeep Cherokee diesel - nice powerful stable towing platform but chronic build quality and reliability.

2000 Vectra SRI 140 estate - lack of torque and chronic FWD wheel spin

1996 Isuzu 3.1 Trooper SWB - brilliant slogging towcar that will pull anything but too cramped.

1994 Isuzu Bighorn 3.1 SWB - all the SWB's ability with more room but it's a truck!

2001 Shogun GDI SWB - a step change up in ability from the early models, just as smooth and powerful but now with transformed ride and handling.

Dream towcar? - the latest model Shogun or if I win the lottery a Disco V6

 

[colin(bridgend)]

I have towed with a Mk1 and Mkll Triumph 2000s - fantastic tow cars, Austin A60 - good slogger, Austin Maestro 1.6L - fantastic towcar, Austin Montego 2.0L VanDen Plas - b****y awful tow car, two Vauxhall Carltons 2.0L - good tow cars but both suffered with overheating, Vauxhall Omega 2.0L - again good towcar but suffered with overheating, presently Daihatsu Fourtrack 2.8TDI - go anywhere without a hitch with quite good fuel consumption, only downside is the fact that it is only a three door model. Have been thinking of updating to Nissan X Trail but as the car is going so well I am loath to spend out for the sake of spending.

 

[cooky1]

Opel Manta 1.8 Berlinetta

Opel Manta 2.0 GTE

Vauxhall carlton 2.0

Vauxhall Senator 3.0 24v

Vauxhall Omega 2.5

Jaguar S Type 3.0

BMW 530D

All good in their own way but they towed different caravans so it's hard to compare them.

 

[Garfield]

My list goes as follows

1972 Opel Manta "A" 20 years ago now but I dont rememmber any problems with stability and rear wheel drive gave very good traction.

86 Fiesta XR2 only towed a boat with this one but it was ok

89 Audi coupe quattro 20valve, sports car stability and 4wd traction but b all room in it

89 Golf GTI, sports suspension, close ratio gearbox, tiny rear overhang made this(weight for weight) one of the best cars I have towed a caravan with, stable even when towing a boat at 160%!

89 BMW 530i, Thirsty but stable and excellent rear wheel drive traction

93 Discovery tdi borrowed from a freind, slow, thirsty, unstable, noisy, never again but nothing else I have used would pull a boat off the beach (so I sold the boat)

99 VW Sharan tdi110, very stable towcar even at 115,000 miles on its original dampers, room for everything, traction not bad for a front wheel drive and up to 50 mpg solo, a bit underpowered for our 20' twin axle van.

03 Ford transit TDCi 125 Towed our new (04) Lunar Lexon 640 twin axle back from Kent with it, cruised at 70 most of the way home once I got used to the suction effect from passing hgv's,

56 Ford S-max 2.0 TDCi None of the others come anywhere near this for towing stability, no suction effect when overtaking hgv's with the Lexon on its tail, with a shorter rear overhang it would be even better. Traction is about as good as you'll get from front wheel drive and it corners like its on rails. mpg is 27 towing the lexon at 60mph, 40 cruising at 80mph, 45 general solo average and up to 60 on a run.

My ultimate towcar would be to take the S-max, have it built by Toyota with their 170hp 2.2 diesel and give it 4wd with extra low 1st and reverse gears.

 

[Danny_5134221]

Mk1 Toyota Hilux 2ltr petrol

Mk2 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Diesel

Mk 5 Toyota Hilux 2.4 Turbo Diesel

Landrover Freelander 2.0 TD4

Kia Sorento 2.5 CRDI

As you can see I like big towcars !

 

[Angus1]

Morris Marina 1.8 Surprisingly competant

Triumph Dolomite 1850 Pokey but unreliable

Ford Orion 1.6GL Brand new, utter rubbish, deathtrap

Ford Sierra 2.0GL Okay

Ford Sierra 1.8LX Better than the 2.0!

Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0 SRI Quick with close ratio box

Vauxhall Cavalier 1.9 GLS (Manta style) Good traction, flexible

M.G Maestro 2.0EFI. Brilliant, awesome car, should have kept it

Peugeot 405 1.6 Willing but soft suspension

Citroen XM 2.0 totally gutless, left for dead by Peugeot 1.6

Peugeot 405 1.9 GLDT Needed MAD springs but otherwise O.K

Peugeot 406 1.9 TD Better suspension but not enough engine

VW Passat 110 TDI Excellent all-rounder, great mpg

Vw Passat 130 TDI Sport Much stronger than above, sports suspension makes a huge difference

Vw Passat 140 TDI Sport Estate Very stable but prefer the 130 engine for towing

Pick of the bunch? For its time has to be the MG, no contest. Stiff suspension, loads of torque, no overhang, greenhouse visibility, went like stink (0-60 in 8.3 seconds, that was 22 years ago! quicker and better to drive than the Escort XR3i)

 

[Del_374232870]

Renault Savanah 2.0 petrol , fair towing car but being front wheel drive it could be a bit light on the front in the wet also low nose weight.

Renault savanah 2.1 diesel. Good pulling machine with improved torque.

Frontera 2.3 diesel. Agricultural and slow but pulled anything that was hooked on, very stable but slow on acceleration towing,

Frontera 2.2 Petrol swb. Good tow car good nose weight , but very thirsty with the van on.

Frontera 2.2DTI diesel. Excellent tow car , loads of torque and econonical when towing. Very difficult to find something better.

Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD. Our ultimate tow car, loads of torque, very stable with van on the back in all weather and road conditions, cruise control when towing holds 60 without effort. Only downside is 19 - 22 mpg towing and servicing costs.

 

[WilliamTups]

* Military SWB & LWB Land Rovers Series II onwards - all okay

* 55 plate - Honda CRV (2.2 CTDI) - Good but the misses felt seasick whilst when towing

* 56 plate - Freelander 2 (TD4) - Excellent tow car but the poor reliability meant that I made the garage buy it back after just eight weeks (spent 3 weeks in the garage)

* Now use a 55 plate - Volvo XC90 (D5) which seems okay but still too new to comment on, but tons of room inside (even with the seven seats all up)

 

[Willy_5041515]

Ford Cortina 1500 - too light and gutless

Ford Zodiac 2.5L - wonderful but thirsty

Ford Cortina 2L - OK but bland

Oldsmobile Cutlass 5L auto - WOW! Serious danger of pulling off the tow hitch!

BMW 735i auto - too close to the ground but plenty power

BMW 530D auto (2001) - most practical yet. Perfect for vans up to 1500 kg MTPLM - 40+ mpg solo, 22 to 24 mpg towing

 

[emmerson2]

I started in 1966 with a Vauxhall Victor 101, which was abysmal! Soon changed for Citroen DS 19, and continued with Citroens up to 1980 ish, including three DS Safaris. Now that was a towcar and a half! When my local Citroen repairer retired I gave them up as too complex for home repair, and tried m----r c-------s for a few years, but got fed up of the constant packing before you could move the bl**dy things!Then came a Granada, for only one season, (suspension too soft and wallowy), then another great car, a Peugeot 505 estate, then I got sensible and bought what is, for me, the only viable towcar, a Range Rover. This was a V8 auto, and did us proud for four years, when over-revving snapped the crankshaft. I replaced that car with a diesel RR, but didn't like the oily smelly stuff, so bought another petrol V8, converted to LPG. I now have my ultimate towcar, a 1994 Range Rover LSE, with 200bhp 4.2 V8, on LPG. As this model went out of production in 1995, and I'm not keen on the later RRs, what do I buy when this one dies? I've tried most of the alternatives, and there isn't anything to match what I've got, so I'm in a real dilemma. I'll just have to have this one rebuilt when the time comes!

Sorry to ramble on,hope I bored everyone to death!

 

[crusader_5040706]

my three towcars ending in what i think is as good as it gets

2001 nissan terrano 2.7 se+ lwb towed well

2005 jeep cherokee 2.8 renegade again towed very good until i was given the next car as a loan car

2005 jeep grand cherokee 3.0 crd auto( the above two had been manual) the power is superb and it handles our single axle (1600kgs)with ease

jim

 

[BrianStAlbans]

Fiat 128 3p Berlinetta towing old Fairholme then Thompson Glen...yes really !!!

Range Rover 3.5 V8 towing Swift Challenger 520/5 TA...12 to the gallon

Volvo 740 GL 2.3 towing Swift Challenger 520/5 TA...great car.

Toyota Supra 3.0 (chipped) towing Swift Challenger 520/5 TA...Teflon shovel ;O)

Toyota Camry 2.0 AWD saloon towing Award Daystar,Abbey Warwick then Swift Conquerer 590 TA salon....another great car

Ford Maverick 2.7 lwb towing Swift Conquerer 590 TA salon... Good work horse.

Current Ford Maverick 2.7 tdi lwb towing Swift Conquerer 590 TA salon and now Elddis Avante Firestorm 630fb TA... Bought nearly new and now with 115k on the clock has not missed a beat apart from a recent fuel pump.

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Cortina 2ltr XL MK3

Austin Princess 1700

Austin Princess 2000

X Military LWB Land Rover

Series 2 SWB Land Rover

Discovery Tdi - 1992

Discovery Tdi - 1997

Discovery TD5 - 2000

Discovery 3 - 2005

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Cortina 2ltr XL MK3

Austin Princess 1700

Austin Princess 2000

X Military LWB Land Rover

Series 2 SWB Land Rover

Discovery Tdi - 1992

Discovery Tdi - 1997

Discovery TD5 - 2000

Discovery 3 - 2005

As you can see, we love Land Rovers!!

 

[emmerson2]

As you can see, we love Land Rovers!!

you and me both, Wendy!

 

[RiaandJames_374303418]

Amongst others we've used or owned.

Selection of old Fords ( Taunus and Cortina )

Numerous Land Rovers ( Army perk)

Scimitar GTE

Land Rover SWB with V4 Ford engine. ( scary quick with pop up Eriba )

Volvo

Opel Senator

Mercedes G Wagon

Early Espace ( dog )

Toyota LC

VW Caravelle

Sharan

Disco's TDI and TD5 ( real DOGS ) If Wendys's have been reliable, she must have got our reliability share Have spent many an hour in broken down Land Rovers with caravan and boat yacht trailers, the only reliable one was the Ford Powered V4 that James spent all his spare time "tweeking" in the army workshops ;( James still loves them ;(

Mercedes E class estate

Pajero

Present tow car is Q7 Audi 3.0 Diesel. Awaiting 4.2 Diesel Q7

Ria

 

[Ogre]

Cortina Crusader 2.0 Litre

Land Rover Safari

Mitsubishi Shogun (never again).

Volvo 240

Volvo 740

Volvo 940 Turbo (Best Towcar we have ever owned)

Ford Granada 2.4i

Current Car: Ford Scorpio Ultima 3.0l Superb, and SO powerful.

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Cortina 2ltr XL MK3

Austin Princess 1700

Austin Princess 2000

X Military LWB Land Rover

Series 2 SWB Land Rover

Discovery Tdi - 1992

Discovery Tdi - 1997

Discovery TD5 - 2000

Discovery 3 - 2005

Forgot the Rover 800 - a gutless wonder!! :O(

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Amongst others we've used or owned.

Selection of old Fords ( Taunus and Cortina )

Numerous Land Rovers ( Army perk)

Scimitar GTE

Land Rover SWB with V4 Ford engine. ( scary quick with pop up Eriba )

Volvo

Opel Senator

Mercedes G Wagon

Early Espace ( dog )

Toyota LC

VW Caravelle

Sharan

Disco's TDI and TD5 ( real DOGS ) If Wendys's have been reliable, she must have got our reliability share Have spent many an hour in broken down Land Rovers with caravan and boat yacht trailers, the only reliable one was the Ford Powered V4 that James spent all his spare time "tweeking" in the army workshops ;( James still loves them ;(

Mercedes E class estate

Pajero

Present tow car is Q7 Audi 3.0 Diesel. Awaiting 4.2 Diesel Q7

Ria

We have never had a major problems, the old Tdi had gear box replacement, a notorious fault amongst the 200 series, and the head gasket went. All others have behaved impeccably!! :O)

 

[ian_5109116]

My list of towcars over the years have seen some interesting results gained through trial and alot of error!

1980 Ford Granada 2.0L-Pinked like hell

1985 Vauxhall cavalier 1.6 - capable but only with a piper 1200 in tow

1988 Vauxhall Carlton 1.8 GLI -BIG mistake this one, overheated when towing even the garden trailer !

1990 Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0 GLI- Now we`re gettiing somewhere, towed abroad for the first time whith this little beauty changed it reluctantly as my next van was heavier

1993 Ford Mondeo 2.0 GLXI A fine successor to the cav,never put a foot wrong

1994 Vauxhall Frontera 2.4i LWB - not the happiest memories with this one it towed ok but suffered with tail end sag when the caravan was attached even though the van noseweight was fine,a differential bearing problem whilst we were in france resulted in the indignity of us being towed home on a breakdown transporter

1998 Vauxhall Omega 2.5 v6 CDI - The answer to all my prayers this was undoubtably the best towcar I`ve had for pure pulling power, a bit thirsty but great for long distance comfort a few electrical faults marred its otherwise perfect character

2003 Vauxhall Omega 2.2CD Decided to try an auto box to see what all the fuss was about,...I like it ! My wife is not so keen,we may be down sizing the caravan soon so may be downsizing the car also

Ian S (york)

 

[Iain]

Towcars since we got married in 1993 have been:

Peugeot 309 1.9 D, good but slow.

Peugeot 306 1.9 TD Dturbo, fantastic, had 2 of them

Peugeot 306 2.0 HDi Dturbo, even better

VW Golt TDi 115bhp GT TDi, flying machine and extremely stable

Vauxhall Astra 1.9CDTi 150 bhp SRi, rubbish reliability but a great tow car.

And for the past couple of weeks:

Skoda Octavia vRS 2.0 TDi 170 bhp Estate, fan bleepin tastic!

 

[spj]

Hi all,

My towcar list is as follows;

1989 Ford Sierra XR4X4 2.9i, good but 15mpg and not that nippy.

1998 Subaru Impreza Turbo, fantastic solo and towing but hard to go slow in, averaged 65mph over 380 miles to Cornwall a few years ago with 1000kgs of caravan on the back. 13mpg towing, not much more solo but nothing else is half as much fun for the price.

2001 VW Passat 130 tdi sport, 27mpg towing 1400kgs at 60mph or 37mpg at 50mph, and up to 64mpg solo, the only thing it ever did wrong was get stuck on wet grass on a winter rally, hence the next choice;

2003 Audi A4 2.5 tdi Quattro 180bhp chipped to 210bhp, flying machine that would pull 1400kg in 6th gear up any motorway hill on cruise control and never drop more than a few mph, 4x4 so never got stuck and the tdi badge upset the hot hatchbacks, but now with a 1700kg caravan and a husky the Audi saloon sadly had to go.

Currently tow with a 2004 Mercedes ML270cdi auto chipped to 200bhp, drives like a car and tows really well, 20mpg at around 4.5 tons train weight is not bad. I would like the new ML320CDI as it has a bit more go in it but empty pockets prevent it.

spj.

 

[Garfield]

Its interesting what Angus said about the Orion 1.6GL, we used to get 1.6iGhias as hire cars from work which were ok at the time, a bit like a more refined XR3i with a boot but occasionally we would get the 1.6GL Orions which were so sensitive to crosswind that a workman farting at the side of the road would cause it to change lanes!! scary beasts.

 

[Billy_bear]

morris marina 1.8 (towing a thompson glenmore must have been double the cars weight but it coped very well)

wolsley 6 automatic used to get a bit hot on hills no oil cooler

citreon bx bit flat non turbo

citreon zantia towed well but to many suspension faults

tata ghurka towed ok but after 18 months got very unreliable

vauxhall omega 2.5 diesel brilliant towcar (pity vauxhall dealer could not sort out electrical fault

peugeot 406 again great towcar but bought new van and car not heavy enough

hyundia santa fe up to now a good tow car

bill

 

[stevebrookman]

Hello,

My father towed with

Cortina mark 2 1300 -steep hills were a problem.

Wolseley six auto-as Bill said id did tend to get a little hot and to change the fan belt you had to take the whhel off.

Myself

Rover 3500SD1 ok-but the suspension was too soft.

Sierra GLX auto - very good tow car (still have it).

Omega 2.5 auto estate- again a very good stable tow car(still have it).

Range Rover 4.6 - very powerful but not as stable as the Omega (am going to fit uprated shocks to the rear)

Steve B