David - I also have a Vauxhall with 2-stage traction control but a different model to you. I simply don't have any problem with wheelspin, even towing a 100% caravan up a slope on wet grass. This is true even with t/c switched off but it is easier using the t/c.
Lutz may have pinpointed your problem - tyres.
The only time when tc/abs electronics get "confused" is in snow when a certain amount of slip is necessary.
The only thing that I have with a towbar is my old P reg transit van and towing the Lunar Lexon EB is not the fastest of tasks lol. The pro's are :
Its a mobile garage and I keep 5 bikes and all other bits and bobs in there.
It has 5 seats and theres no problem if it gets dented and its cheap to repair.
Its stops most of the flies hitting the Lunar
Its wide enough not to need any additional mirrors
Its very stable when towing
The drawback is its towing speed on the flat (lets not talk about hills lol)70hpish
And it has no traction on grass if on a slight slope even in good weather.
We also take either a bm or a bettle with us when we go though so we dont look like propper pikeys lol...
Its a mobile garage and I keep 5 bikes and all other bits and bobs in there.
It has 5 seats and theres no problem if it gets dented and its cheap to repair.
Its stops most of the flies hitting the Lunar
Its wide enough not to need any additional mirrors
Its very stable when towing
The drawback is its towing speed on the flat (lets not talk about hills lol)70hpish
And it has no traction on grass if on a slight slope even in good weather.
We also take either a bm or a bettle with us when we go though so we dont look like propper pikeys lol...
Most travellers run BMWs so you must look just like one, particularly towing at 70 !!The only thing that I have with a towbar is my old P reg transit van and towing the Lunar Lexon EB is not the fastest of tasks lol. The pro's are :
Its a mobile garage and I keep 5 bikes and all other bits and bobs in there.
It has 5 seats and theres no problem if it gets dented and its cheap to repair.
Its stops most of the flies hitting the Lunar
Its wide enough not to need any additional mirrors
Its very stable when towing
The drawback is its towing speed on the flat (lets not talk about hills lol)70hpish
And it has no traction on grass if on a slight slope even in good weather.
We also take either a bm or a bettle with us when we go though so we dont look like propper pikeys lol...
For 7 years I towed a 1300kg caravan behind a Vectra and only once was I unable to move off due to unavoidable wheelspin or stalling the engine (while trying to board a ferry with a steep and slippery ramp on a rainy day). Hardly the credentials for a poor towcar.
Trouble is Lutz I have to get my van up an equivalent slope to your ferry ramp every time I take my van out from storage. When it rained I had to borrow the owners Jeep because the Vectra just could not make it. I want a towcar that will tow my van on and off field sites and go anywhere without hassle in all conditions and that definately includes wet ferry ramps. So like you I now use a Trooper - would you go back to a Vectra? I don't think so!
I think it all boils down to what rulal guys call "stump pulling power".
If you tied my old Citroen (a car that I thought a great deal off and kept for over 100K miles from new) to a tree stump and tried to pull away, the wheels would slip and the stump would stay put.
If you did the same with my old Range Rover or my latest Discovery the stump would move as well as the car.
Driving technigue is important of course. But good tecnique coupled with an able vehicle is surely best.
Sorry but you're all wrong, the worst car for towing is our 1.8 petrol freelander, my god, 0-60 n/a, well, eventually it'll get there, takes an eternity, but once it gets there and you get just over 60 it's in it's powerband and you're off, then you get pulled for speeding. Bad bad bad car, feels like it's pulling the moon out of it's orbit.
Martin
Martin
weve never had much luck really had a saab which hated hills thought wed change to a pug because they seem like good towers wrong
its personal preference
its personal preference
Hi David do you know if the newer Vectras are any better, thinking of getting the 2.2 dti.
Regards
Mark
Regards
Mark
Hi Mark,
No personal experience of the new model but it is a very different car with a new platform I believe and of course the diesel will give better towing characteristics than a comparable size petrol because of the greater torque at low revs.
CC mag tested one last year and reported favourably but their tests only use very begnign conditions on proper roads.
My bad experience would deter me from a front wheel drive towcar of any make but I admit to having a "difficult" storage site and a preference for field pitches which make wheelspin more likely.
They do look a very capable motor though and seem to be highly regarded by the Motoring press.
The new Vectra 1.9 tdi 150bhp is a fantastic tow car tows our Coachman Amara 520/4 far better than our 2002 Td5 disco, having towed for over 40 years boats,horses. caravans. this is the best car I have towed with apart from an Audi A4 Avant that was equal to this. When towing horses I have always uSed Landrovers but do not think they are that good with a caravan certainly with self leveling air suspension they seem to be a bit soft behind
I have a 98 2ltr Di vectra estate (low pressure turbo). No probs when pulling off with the van on wet grass or mud (advantage with diesel cars, just slowly release the clutch without throttle!)
Towing weight limit is only 1060kg due to the fact that engine only make 83 bhp. Hill climbs need PLENTY of run up, and fast getaways are a no-no, as are brisk overtakes.
Plus point of this is fuel consumption, I got 32 mpg on a 150mile round trip the other week while towing the van, solo its around 40-55 mpg.
We brought it before we got a caravan, so its our fault really though (to stingey to change it yet!)
Towing weight limit is only 1060kg due to the fact that engine only make 83 bhp. Hill climbs need PLENTY of run up, and fast getaways are a no-no, as are brisk overtakes.
Plus point of this is fuel consumption, I got 32 mpg on a 150mile round trip the other week while towing the van, solo its around 40-55 mpg.
We brought it before we got a caravan, so its our fault really though (to stingey to change it yet!)
had a 2.2 dti sri an absolute awsome towcar.only changed it as i got a heavier van.i was very reluctant to part with it,reaaaally good tow car,and excellent mpg,never less than 30mpg when towing
Bought a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 Diesel (56,000 miles) to pull a Lunar Lexon EW twin axle. Lovely car and towed the van well, but what a load of junk! Heart ruled the head I'm afraid when I bought it - all those lovely creature comforts - like driving a leather armchair! In 17 weeks it was back at the dealer for gearbox, engine, steering, oil in water and other general problems for a total of 7 weeks. The car was still under warranty an so threw it back at them and the dealer got me a 2001 Mitsubushi Shogun Sport to replace it. After the car was returned to the dealer it broke own again. Spoke to the dealer last week after 2.5 months of fault-free motoring in the Mitsi and he still has not had the car back from the garage who is repairing the faults!!! The car had to have a new engine - the wrong one was sent - so that says something about the Dealerships. Oh I forgot, the best consumption I got was 22mpg driving the car very, very, gently. This reduced to 16mpg when towing - thought diesels were supposed to be economical. Dont buy a Jeep!!
The worst car I ever towed with was a 1.6l Ford Escort hatch, though I was only towing a medium sized (600kg) trailer with it. Acceleration was non existant, and 55mph in 3rd gear on the motorways was the realistic top speed - I only did it twice. Mind you, there were 4 heavy scouts in the back, and a boot full. My 1.8 Vectra is the only other car I towed with, and that was at 100%, but even so it was an acceptable towcar considering. Never let us down, and always did what I asked of it, which in some cases was far more than was reasonable (16% wet hill start in Wales.) Now tow with a chipped 2.0 diesel Rover 75 estate, which is a wonderful towcar which I would recommend to anybody.
Cheers
James
Cheers
James
The worst ever tow car we had was a Rover 800 series.
It was a gutless wonder, and drank petrol as if there was no tomorrow! Got rid of it after about a month.
It was a gutless wonder, and drank petrol as if there was no tomorrow! Got rid of it after about a month.
Worst towcar - Montego Estate, Towed ok if it started, Towed ok if it did not overheat, Got you there ok on the back of a tow truck curtesy of GreenFlag, dissolved in the rain, may it rot in peace.
I have been lucky and not had a bad tow car. However the most suprising was the Rover Metro 1.4 GSi. Ok, it towed an old Sprite which probably weighed no more than 700kg, but it pulled very well and fuel economy didn't seem to alter much. So instead of "What bad tow car have you had", what about, "What's the most unusual tow car you have used"?
Hi Lol, talking of small cars , my first towcar was a Fiat 128 3P Berlinetta.What a pocket rocket that was but slightly lacking in the weight department so I changed it for a Range Rover. Other unusual towcars were a 3lt Toyota Supra (chipped to 210 bhp) nice view of the gas locker on a Swift Conquerer 520/5 TA and a Volvo 740 gl which had been lowered by 2 inches. Actually towed brilliantly even if the van was a tad nose down.
Brian (",)
Brian (",)
My worst tow car was an Austin 1100 no power no brakes and no control over the bunny hopping hydro-lastic suspension, closely followed by a Morris Marina 1.8 estate.
Best by far was a Renault 18 estate which towed a 14ft cavileer caravan, had a 10ft dinghy on the roof of the car and the dinghy road trailer on top of that. Pluss two dogs and the outboard in the boot. Used to boil going up black rock out of abergavenny but the head gasket held on. It did over 186K miles before I got a replacement car out of sympathy for the old gal.
Best by far was a Renault 18 estate which towed a 14ft cavileer caravan, had a 10ft dinghy on the roof of the car and the dinghy road trailer on top of that. Pluss two dogs and the outboard in the boot. Used to boil going up black rock out of abergavenny but the head gasket held on. It did over 186K miles before I got a replacement car out of sympathy for the old gal.
Worst I`ve seen was a f reg toyota MR-2 towing an old 4 birth van!! Could hardly see the rear tyres in the arches and the front end looked as if it was gonna go skywards any second!
The worst was non turbo 1.7 Astra diesel in the early 90's. It wasn't too bad once under way but picking away was slow slow slow! Best is the current 2.0HDi Picasso. Does everything well though is not very exciting. Tommorrow we collect our new Astra SRi Estate with the 1.9 CDTi 150 bhp engine - with 60 more bhp and 80 more ft/ibs of torque than the Picasso we are expecting great things!
Ford Focus estate diesel saggy rear suspension lots of wheel spin.
Ford Exporer unstable when towing past trucks.
Citroen C5 no where to top up auto box fluid so they just self distruct.
Landrover Disco 1995 diesel auto owned from new, the ultimate worst car. Will never by Landrover products again.
Saving up for Kia Sorento
Ford Exporer unstable when towing past trucks.
Citroen C5 no where to top up auto box fluid so they just self distruct.
Landrover Disco 1995 diesel auto owned from new, the ultimate worst car. Will never by Landrover products again.
Saving up for Kia Sorento
My Rover 75 only towed for 13 miles and the bloody thing needs a new cylinder head gasket. Its costing me a fortune that car, but I love it. I really am crazy
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