I have just bought my very first van and towed from Preston back to Bristol in my Renault Espace 2.0ltr 16v although the van was reasonably empty (no awning, clothes etc) I still had Gas Bottles, Spare Wheel etc and I thought it towed well and I only had to drop into 4th once, when I get I full awning, I shall place this in the rear of the car in place of the rearmost seats, as this will keep the van lighter
Ive got the best towcar in the world.Citroen Berlingo hdi on a 52 plate.This is my second Berlingo and its a superb towcar.I do have a light van 1100kg max but its enough for a family of 4.
Dont see the point of 4 wheel drive ,dont like the image of4x4,its more to do with vanity than necessity.I carry bikes and an awning can cruise at 60 and dont get overtaken very often.The engine suits towing as all the power is low down where you need it.What more could you want?.
We picked up our Grand Scenic 2.0 ltr last Friday, it's a very nice car, just wondering again if anyone has one? we can take 2 seats out as well, as it can take 7 people. We won't get the tow bar on till just before Easter.
Just got a Focus C-Max the other week. It's the 2.0 tdci 130 ghia. The write ups seem to be good on it for towing. On the lookout for our first caravan at the moment
Only picked up my first caravan the other week, but got some minor damp issues to sort first (see separate post) before I use it. One tow car will be a 2003 Astra 2.0 DTI - seemed to tow it ok, only did about 20 miles when I picked up the van. This was the first time I'd ever towed anything! Didn't like it a great deal, but I'm sure I'll get to like it. Reversing is bl**dy hard!!
My other tow car will be my 1982 2.8 Granada Ghia auto saloon. Not got a towbar fitted yet, but should be a good towcar. However I imagine the fuel consumption will go from bad to unacceptable! Normally it's 21-26 MPG. I hope the 'box is up to the job, I might consider fitting another oil cooler.
cool , mk 2 Granada Ghia.We had one a couple of years ago an X reg 2.8i but didnt tow with it , just a Sunday car and summat to go to car shows in.This was a 3 speed auto and far better box than the A4LD on later Granadas and Sierras. It was a real head turner and the V6 sounded lovely when you "kicked down" in it. shame about 23mpg though
If you are going to tow id stick an oil cooler on just to be on the safeside though .
Still after 3 months not replaced our Terrano , not had alot of time to look for another car but fairly sure it will be a Mondeo of some description hopefully a TDci if the price is right but maybe a 2 litre Zetec.
The mk 2 Granada is an excellent car. I generally use it at weekends and go to a few car shows with it, one reason for the caravan! Oddly enough it's one of the few Granadas I've seen without a towbar fitted! You're right about the lovely engine sound, especially when it kicks down and people turn round and look! Of course doing that a lot means a few more visits to the petrol station, but I know of some people with 4 cylinder auto cars (wheezy under powered ones too at that) which struggle to get to 30 mpg! Mine is the card model, not quite as powerful as your injection model. Did you sell it? Any notable problems with it??
Had a 3.2 V6 Frontera which was great for towing but very thirsty!!, just recently got another van and towing it with a 2.0HDI Picasso, very pleased with it so far.
The mk 2 Granada is an excellent car. I generally use it at weekends and go to a few car shows with it, one reason for the caravan! Oddly enough it's one of the few Granadas I've seen without a towbar fitted! You're right about the lovely engine sound, especially when it kicks down and people turn round and look! Of course doing that a lot means a few more visits to the petrol station, but I know of some people with 4 cylinder auto cars (wheezy under powered ones too at that) which struggle to get to 30 mpg! Mine is the card model, not quite as powerful as your injection model. Did you sell it? Any notable problems with it??
Cheers
i did quite a few "classic(ish)" cars up until about 3 years ago . I had the Granada which i picked up for under 200 quid with 11months test and 5 months tax on it.Obviously not pristine but it was just elbow grease required to make it shine and i sold it on for 400 quid when id had my fun with it.Think it was metallic crystal green and it had the usual Ghia alloys.This did have a towbar on it funnily enough.It also had the little plastic bib spoiler under the normal front spoiler with 2.8i in 2" white lettering whick looked quite cool as well.
I had a mk3 hatch at the same time and was in the granada enthusiasts club , dont know if its still on the go but went to a few shows and was a laugh.
Think i got rid of the Grannie when i saw a Mercedes 200 estate that i fell in love with.
Also had a Citroen Dyane and a Mini Clubman round that era.
The injection models did have the bib spoiler, they also were fitted as standard with metric alloys that used Michelin TRX tyres. Now these are quite hard to get hold of and cost from £150+ each! I have a set of TRX rims I use in the summer and during winter I've fitted the original 14" Ghia rims back on - 14" wheels are far too small for a car the size of a Granada! The metric rims are 390mm diameter and look far better. Hopefully it should pull the van well, some people pull enormous twin-wheel vans with a 25 year old 2.8 Granny, so they can't be a bad towcar! Cheers
I drive a Land Rover 90 in which I've fitted an Isuzu 2.8td. Tows the Elddis without any trouble at all. Also got a Renault Senic 1.6 but that's just a car.
------------- Stormin
Land Rover 90 2.8td
Eldis Jetstream GT
D.E.F.R.A. Destroying English Farming and Rural Areas.