XTrail Dilemma

[Karen_374247766]

We have a Coachman Wanderer 18/4 MTPLM 1400KG and trailer length 23ft 6in. We have made 1 mistake re tow car and are now looking at Xtrail 2.2DCI which states it can tow 2000kg. However this is a compact 4x4.This is below 100% so legal but would it tow ok. Do you have to consider the length of the caravan compared to the car as well as the weights? Our caravan noseweight is max hitch 100kg so restricting towcars. Any advice welcome as people tend to state weights but not lengths they are towing.

 

[trevor123]

Hi Karen, We have a X Trail and our length of our van is 24 foot, so it don't matter what length the van is as long you are within the 85% rule, I have seen other X Trail tow heavy van than our, but would not tow up to 2000kg, that asking for trouble, be aware that the 2.2 DCI kerbweight is lighter than the older model, The 2.2 Di model had a heavy kerbweighs, you will be ok towing a 1400kg van, it a great tow car, we love our, as the noseweight is fine, all we carry in our front locker is two gas bottle and the nose weight is 80-85, So Good Luck what ever tow car you buy, Trevor

 

[Garfield]

Hi,

We have a Lunar gemini 615 twin axle, it too has a mtplm of 1400kg and a body length of 20' plus towbar ~24'?. We tow it with a Ford s-max MPV, despite my "enthusiastic" driving style we have found the outfit to be very very stable.

At a mtplm of 1400 kg, a 4% noseweight equals 56kg so as far as noseweight is concerned your caravan can be towed by the vast majority of otherwise suitable towcars.

The minimum noseweight is 4% of the caravan's weight

The maximum noseweight is the lowest of either the car or caravans stated max ie if your caravan has a max noseweight of 100kg and the car has a max noseweight of 75 kg then 75 kg is your limit.

Only when 4% of the caravan's weight is greater than the max noseweight for the car is it not permissible to tow, ie you would not be able to tow your caravan with a car that had a max noseweight of 50kg.

Some on this forum have criticised the new Ford galaxy/ s-max as they have a lower noseweight limit than its predecessor at 75 kg, however at 4% this equates to a caravan weight of 1875kg

Much as I prefer the stability of MPV's to offroaders, even I would want four wheel drive with that much weight on the back!

 

[DavidM.L.]

Hi Karen,

We also have a 2.2 Dci X-trail (04 plate) and we tow a Bailey Pageant Bretagne which weighs in at 1420Kg and is just over 24' long (shipping length). This gives an 87% match. We Previously had a 51 plate 2.0i Petrol X-Trail and only changed for fuel economy reasons. I found both to be excellent tow cars. The new (to me) diesel is very stable and will sit all day in at 2000rpm in 6th gear on the motorway at 60mph with enough grunt to pull out to overtake without needing to drop a gear.

With regards to noseweight, dont forget that you state a MAX 100kg for the van (which is still OK for the X-trail which also has a 100kg limit)which gives the ideal 7%. You would be able to tow with cars with say a 75kg limit which would be about 5.3% of the vans weight. Whilst not perfect I think this would be acceptable.

But you dont need to worry about that, go for the X-trail - you wont regret it.

 

[Karen_374247766]

Thank you for all your replies. It looks like an X-trail for us then.

 

[ANN_374233635]

Thank you for all your replies. It looks like an X-trail for us then.

Hi Karen. We have 2.2 dci Sport, 04 plate, 136 bhp. No problems pulling Bailey Senator Indiana (max 1500kg, but actual weight approx 1400kg, as just 2 of us). Kerbweight of X-Trail was 1640kg on a weighbridge. If buying new, get a good discount, as current model is being replaced in Sept by new model (inc 150 & 170 bhp diesels). X-Trail is more car-like to drive than eg Sorento. We get approx 27mpg towing and 40+ mpg solo. Ann