Zafira ..........need I say more!!

[Lutz]

I'm sure it wasn't meant as a serious comment, Lolly. Springs should be able to take holes and manhole covers without damage, even with the suspension bottoming out. No, it was quite obvious that your spring had suffered an earlier fracture, probably due to embrittlement, and corrosion had done the rest.

 

[MONKEY1]

Lolly,

God forbid that you think that I think or implied that you drive into holes or manhole covers as a matter of course, but two years ago I hit a raised manhole cover at 50 mph (raised 30mm to be precise) and the result was two Michelins ruined, one alloy, tracking out and the Highways Agency

 

[MONKEY1]

Lutz ,

It was a meant as a serious comment, but I probably didn't explain myself well. I seen a lot of damage to Vauxhall, Renaults, Peugeots, Fiats, Fords, even Jeeps caused by both raised and submerged road surfaces.

As said above I've experienced it myself but not in a Galaxy or it'd derivatives. I guess as you've may have seen the spring first hand and I think you more qualified in this area, I'll take you word for it (I only studied Motor vehicle Engineering to HNC level but have continue with CPD) However one of my colleagues is a former buyer for Alcoa's wheel division and a previous general manager of an AWI plant in the UK which produce 35,000 alloy wheels a week (before they up sticks and move production to south Africa) and he reckons most suspension damaged is cause by long term issues with alloys that have bottomed out. Which is very similar in effect to train wheels when they get chipped and they have been known to break wheels and/or axles as well

Kindest Regards #

MH

 

[Andrew_707921]

Lisa,

The new Zafira 2.2 Direct petrol and the 1.9CDTi have max towing weights of 1500Kg and will both tow your Dart well. We have a 1.9CDTi 150 and it is great!

Andrew

 

[Lutz]

MH, your own experience with what can happen if the car hits an obstacle on the road is about what I would expect (tyres damaged, possibly wheels too, maybe tracking out of alignment) but nothing should break, even under extreme impact. Properly designed parts should deform before fracture and there was no obvious sign of that on the Galaxy in question.

 

[BrianStAlbans]

The more I think about the spring on Lolly's Galaxy the more I suspect that at some time in the past the car has been hit in the side pushing the wheel onto the suspension and causing the weakness in the spring. If it was repaired but the spring not replaced then the added pressures of towing would over time cause the spring to break at this weak spot. Its a pity I didn't look over easter for signs of repair. Brian

 

[Icemaker]

my god, one car one broken spring and all of a sudden the car is a pile of c**p. well as you all know i have a good amount of experiance with the galaxy and now the alhambra and despite having peugot 406's and discoverys in the past i have never had a better towcar than the galaxy / alhambra. my alhambra tows my twin axle weighing 1640 kgs laden with absolutely no problems, i have two adults two teenage kids two dogs and all the awning and poles in the car plus the van on the back and have never ever suffered any sagging or damage to the car. does anybody really think that a car that has been around for as long as the galaxy would have a generic problem like weak suspension ?.

To be honest lisa, if your zafira is not up to the job then you really are looking at a car like the galaxy, the touran will be too light the toyota has a low tow limit as does the chrysler voyager, the renault espace is a superb car but you need to very carefull with the train weight the kia gets some good suport but i also have heard some horror stories and they do seem a bit noisy to me and the peugeot, citroen, fiat offering from what i have read is a little underpowered so you would be back to square one. best advice i can give is read some of the other threads on this site regarding the galaxy and you will find that this is the only one with any negative comments. there cant be too much wrong with the suspension as greater manchester police use galaxy's as fast response vehicles with seven burly coppers on board.

 

[john374224244]

hi lisa

you have not said what mtplm your caravan is, I have a Zafira 2.0 dti and pull a lunar with 1150 mtplm and it pulls it up and down hill with no trouble

john

 

[MM1]

Hi if you love the car so much i think you'd find the 1.8/2.2 zafira would do the job, go to www.whattowcar.com (just a guide) to check other cars that would be suitable hope this helps mandy

 

[Litespeed]

Hi Amanda,

HAve you thought about a diesel power upgrade like the ones from Steinbauer (P Box) it will increase the power and torque of your engine considerably, yet keeping the power within manufacturers tolerances (unlike other up grades).

You will gain about an extra 30 bhp. Cost is around

 

[Lutz]

Engine power is not the problem, Litespeed, so chipping is not going to help because it won't raise the max. allowable towload.

 

[John_374224558]

Lisa,

That 2.0 dti engine has been superceded by a new 19.cdti engine and you can get a 150bhp version which, I am told has far superior pulling power to the old 2.0 engine. May be worth searching one out and taking a test drive.

 

[seth1]

hi lisa,im a bit suprised here ,because the same engine but in a vectra is rated at 100hp ,not a lot like but well enough and they go alright.ive seen two of these both company cars with boost sensor faults.they just go flat at about 3000rpm,i,d get it checked out at the dealer for the price of an hours labour on the computer.or get it chipped.

 

[MikeP]

But it's not necessarily about power. Several threads on this forum have discussed the restricted towing capability of the diesel Zafira. If it's not legally allowed to tow above a certain weight, then no amount of testing or chipping is going to fix that.

Lisa has not actually stated whether the issue is weight or power.

 

[Alan Partridge]

The MIRO of the caravan appears to be 1070kg and the MTW of the car 1050kg

http://www.cuddles.abelgratis.net/vandata.htm
http://www.cuddles.abelgratis.net/kerbweights.htm
Ergo the 'van cannot legally tow the car if I understand correctly.

It is notable that every other Zafira appears to have a higher MTW than the 2.0dti, some of them much higher.

 

[Alan Partridge]

The MIRO of the caravan appears to be 1070kg and the MTW of the car 1050kg

http://www.cuddles.abelgratis.net/vandata.htm
http://www.cuddles.abelgratis.net/kerbweights.htm
Ergo the 'van cannot legally tow the car if I understand correctly.

It is notable that every other Zafira appears to have a higher MTW than the 2.0dti, some of them much higher.

...and neither can the car tow the van...;-)

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Seth,

Many vehicle manufactures will use the same engine lump in different models, but they may tune them differently.

VW do a classic, the 1.9 diesel block is available in 90,100, and 110hp outputs, so simply looking at the enging cyliner size does not tell the whole story.

 

[ProfJohnL]

In Lisa's original posting, she did not indicate the year/age of her Zafira.

The Mk1 2.0 Dti has a restrictive MPTLM of only 1050Kg which is considerably less than other engine versions, however my sources suggest that the Mk2 (1.9CDTi) can now pull 1300Kg.

Please check with the Vauhall dealer /manufacture for limits for your specific model.

 

[Alan Partridge]

In Lisa's original posting, she did not indicate the year/age of her Zafira.

The Mk1 2.0 Dti has a restrictive MPTLM of only 1050Kg which is considerably less than other engine versions, however my sources suggest that the Mk2 (1.9CDTi) can now pull 1300Kg.

Please check with the Vauhall dealer /manufacture for limits for your specific model.

Lisa referred to the car as a 2.0dti.

 

[Lutz]

The max. towloads for the current Mk2 1.9CDTI are 1200, 1300, 1500kg for the 100, 120, 150hp variants respectively, and 1400 for the 120hp automatic.

By the way, the Mk1 2.2 diesel was rated at 1400kg so it was only the 2.0 diesel with the very low allowable towload.

The 2.2 and 2.0 turbo petrols may also tow a very respectable 1500kg.

ps: the Mk2 1.6CNG is rated at only 400kg!

 

[seth1]

The max. towloads for the current Mk2 1.9CDTI are 1200, 1300, 1500kg for the 100, 120, 150hp variants respectively, and 1400 for the 120hp automatic.

By the way, the Mk1 2.2 diesel was rated at 1400kg so it was only the 2.0 diesel with the very low allowable towload.

The 2.2 and 2.0 turbo petrols may also tow a very respectable 1500kg.

ps: the Mk2 1.6CNG is rated at only 400kg!

what your saying their lutz is dead right,not only do factorys rate towing capacity on unladen weight but also on engine power.

 

[seth1]

Hello Seth,

Many vehicle manufactures will use the same engine lump in different models, but they may tune them differently.

VW do a classic, the 1.9 diesel block is available in 90,100, and 110hp outputs, so simply looking at the enging cyliner size does not tell the whole story.

i totally agree with you john,but i was just giving rough figures which i bet arn,t far out.what i meant was with roughly 100 hp you,d expect it to go alright.i know their not much more ,a 2.2dti is 122hp.but as its been said its not known whether its a wieght problem.

 

[Lutz]

The max. towloads for the current Mk2 1.9CDTI are 1200, 1300, 1500kg for the 100, 120, 150hp variants respectively, and 1400 for the 120hp automatic.

By the way, the Mk1 2.2 diesel was rated at 1400kg so it was only the 2.0 diesel with the very low allowable towload.

The 2.2 and 2.0 turbo petrols may also tow a very respectable 1500kg.

ps: the Mk2 1.6CNG is rated at only 400kg!

It's not only the engine power that limits the maximum towload but often the engine cooling performance, especially in these days where so much equipment is crammed into so little space under the bonnet.