What makes a good towcar?

[Rich]

Ria & James,

Thanks for the reply. I admit we had the car chipped to make the ecomomy better and make it a bit quicker round town.I know it would still pull the van but that bit of extra power makes it easier and more economical as before it was chipped it had the same MPG solo as it does now when towing.

I just wanted suggestions on problems with cars which may not be brand specific which we need to look out for.

 

[emmerson2]

In this current bad weather, there are five people who are very thankful that I drive the car of my choice - a great big thirsty powerful Range Rover! Without it, they'd have had to walk to the farm to get the tractor to pull them off site. They all, also, churned up the site before I volunteered to get them off. Not one asked for help, but I wonder if any of them were of the anti-4x4 brigade? I didn't ask, just did my neighbourly thing, then went back (smuggly) to my coffee!

 

[benny1]

lutz when i go out whith my van my number 1 prioroty is safty not just mine but every one around me as well some of your advice is read by newbees and thay might chance a poor match whitch might leed to a mishap when i first started the salesman would not let me buy a van that was to big for my car infact he would only sell me one inside the 80% rule i now have towed thousens of miels and am verry pleased whith his addvice and the addvice of others including members of this forum

 

[Lutz]

If a heavy towcar puts your mind at ease, fair enough, but before I had a 4x4 I was towing for a good many years also close to a 100% weight ratio and I can't say that I ever felt unsafe. However, I would agree that it required extra care and anticipation of the traffic conditions ahead and was therefore perhaps a little less relaxing, but certainly not dangerous.

 

[benny1]

lutz thank you for your reply but every day i see moor and moor poory mached outfits in my opinion the 85%rule shud be made law but thats just my opinion my frend works desining cars and he sead cars are no desined to tow thay are desined to carry 4 pasangers . they desine a towbar to fit cars but most 4x4 are whey you think your van is atached to the bottom of your boot it says alot .

 

[Rich]

Hi Benny,

Sorry to ask but could you please post that again as your spelling makes the last bit of the post slighlty confusing.

I guess you mean cars are not meant to pull vans but 4x4s are desgigned with towing in mind.

 

[Lutz]

Even a well matched outfit need not necessarily be any safer if you don't get everything else right.

 

[Lutz]

Hi Benny,

Sorry to ask but could you please post that again as your spelling makes the last bit of the post slighlty confusing.

I guess you mean cars are not meant to pull vans but 4x4s are desgigned with towing in mind.

Fewer and fewer 4x4's nowadays have separate chassis so the towbar is mounted to the underbody, just as in the case of a car. Besides, so long as the durability of the towbar attachment meets the regulation requirements it's rather immaterial to which it is attached.

 

[Garfield]

If VW put their 2.5tdi into their 4 wheel drive Sharan 4motion this would be an excellent towcar with the stability of an MPV and the traction of a 4x4, does anyone tow with the 1.9/2.0 Sharan 4motion??.

There really does need to be some measure of a towcar's ability / stability other than weight as, in my experience, there are some heavy cars out there that have truly awful stability even below 85% and there are some cars that are very stable at over 100%.

 

[benny1]

Hi Benny,

Sorry to ask but could you please post that again as your spelling makes the last bit of the post slighlty confusing.

I guess you mean cars are not meant to pull vans but 4x4s are desgigned with towing in mind.

sorry im dyslexec so spelling is verry hard

 

[mcghee]

For an ideal towcar you need two things:

Stability

Power

The best towcar is the one which drives the same whether towing or solo.

Whether your vehicle is 2 or 4 wheel drive, large or small, petrol or diesel, what you need for the best tow is the same.

Anything else is influenced by what else you intend to use the vehicle for, but then you are not looking for the ultimate towcar.