Tow Car?

[Gavin]

Given the hassle of finding a garden office type building we like we have decided to buy another caravan as it will be a far better extra bedroom/kids den plus when we can, a great base for holidays.

In the past I towed with a CRV 2.0 petrol - not fast and lack of torque but decent visibility.
I also briefly used my Grand Cherokee on our first wee van and it didn't even notice the weight.
The 2.0 TDI Superb - reasonable power on a heavy twin axle van but felt low and not as stable as the 4x4.

I am considering (a huge surprise to you all I am sure) an XC90. I also quite fancy an E class estate.

I know loads of you two cooler stuff so any suggestions? Honestly would rather an Octavia VRs estate but it has quite a low tow limit.

What are MLs like?

[Mito Man]

How much does the caravan weight?

[Foz]

ML350CDI was a brilliant tow car. 3500kgs rated as well, same as Touareg, cayenne, Q7. The X5’s are only about 2800kg if that’s important.

All the big German 3.0l stuff is great,

[Jobbo]

Audi A6 Allroad (C7 model) comes as standard with prep for a tow bar even if it isn't specced with the tow bar itself; I'm not sure if the same may be true of the C6 shape. They're great for towing.

[Gavin]

Cheers, not bought a caravan yet but not looking at a twin axle 8 metre job this time.

Allroad for some reason I saw as unreliable but that is based on heehaw.

Budget for car is under £10k. The XC90 I have been offered locally is about £3k and all the important bits are spot on but it is so familiar from many other Volvos I do fancy a change...

[V8Granite]

ML350CDI was a brilliant tow car. 3500kgs rated as well, same as Touareg, cayenne, Q7. The X5’s are only about 2800kg if that’s important.

All the big German 3.0l stuff is great,

Agreed on the ML, if you find one with a factory tow bar then it alters the stability control when you connect it.

Anything with a 3500kg tow limit will be great at towing.

Dave!

[DeskJockey]

A former boss bought a w211 320CDi (this was about 15 years ago though) to tow his double axle caravan, and said compared to his old 2.5 petrol V70 it was as if the caravan wasn't even there (take that with a pinch of salt obviously). But I suspect they've not become less capable since.

[NGRhodes]

Slightly outlier option - SMax is a good tow car, pretty heavy, low rear overhang, good choice of engines.

"Stability is excellent, right up to the legal maximum and beyond. The van snapped straight back almost immediately after any sharp steering input, and through the lane-change test there were only a handful of cars to compare with the S-Max. Even at high speeds, the Ford always took charge of the van."

https://www.thetowcarawards.com/tow-car/ford-s-max/

[Sundayjumper]

V10 Touareg was brill for pulling my trailer

I've not tried the Cayenne yet, should be OK but won't have the huge lazy torque that I'd got used to.

[Sundayjumper]

Anything with a 3500kg tow limit will be great at towing.

My neighbour's Landy is rated at 3500kg and it was painful trying to tow a small box trailer up a gentle incline on the A3 near Guildford

I'd want something with a lot more power.

57142EA5-94F0-4D52-AE24-0061DA5C000C.jpeg (121.85 KiB) Viewed 1851 times

[Gavin]

No way I would buy a landrover. Nor an S-Max although I appreciate the left field suggestion.

I might tow max 12 weekends a year, around that, so I need to keep that in mind too.

[John]

How about a double cab pick up for the full on traveller look

We towed a large single axle caravan with a Ford Ranger and it was very stable.

[John]

[mik]

[speedingfine]

[16vCento]

Do you have B+E entitlement on your licence?

[V8Granite]

Anything with a 3500kg tow limit will be great at towing.

My neighbour's Landy is rated at 3500kg and it was painful trying to tow a small box trailer up a gentle incline on the A3 near Guildford

I'd want something with a lot more power.


57142EA5-94F0-4D52-AE24-0061DA5C000C.jpeg

The same as the last time, tell him it’s broken.

Dave!

[Mito Man]

Pick up truck is a good shout if there's a nice one in budget. I'd want a heavy tow car with a proper 4x4 system (rather than those smart systems which disengage the front axle for efficiency) and a big fuel tank because when towing it feels like you're stopping every few hours to fill up.

[16vCento]

I'm imagining my XF will be a much better towcar than my S60 was by virtue of being 300kg heavier and having 200nm more torque 2000 rpm lower down, and 3 more gears can't hurt either.

All depends on how heavy the caravan is and what you can tow though.

Don't you have a V70 D5? That should tow most caravans happily.

I want to do my B+E but nowhere is taking bookings in my area

[Sundayjumper]

The same as the last time, tell him it’s broken

It’s a Land Rover. It’s always broken !