Message Forums

Quote: Originally posted by Opensauce on 01/1/2018

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Nobody seems to worry about a towcar having too much power. For example or in fact plenty of examples on the M5 earlier this yr. large SUVs towing caravans pulling out to pass trucks in the inside lane. Trucks are going around 55mph so caravanner should be passing them at no more that 5mph faster & yet the caravanners were putting their boots down & in some cases undertaking cars that were trying to pass them at over 70 in the outside lane. Probably they were towing at 80 without even realising it.

If they had been content to drive in convoy with the trucks at 55mph or even just drive at the speed limit then a much less powerful towcar would have been adequate for their needs.

So really it is down to the driving style you prefer. If you describe a car as “gutless” all it means is that you would prefer to be driving a more powerful car. It does not suggest there is any more wrong with the car you are driving other than simply that you do not like it because it is not fast enough for you.

If the car is a good match for the caravan by weight then provided the power & torque is adequate to tow the caravan at legal speeds if you find it underpowered then it just means you would prefer a more powerful car not that the car itself is unsuitable for towing the caravan.

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Quote: Originally posted by Bramidan on 04/1/2018

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Francais, I have a VW GT TDI and I have towed a folding camper (750 Kg) to Turkey and back. Never knew it was there in terms of power and with 6 forward gears the economy was superb.
The only problem I found was that with sports suspension and low profile tyres any bumps or poor road surfaces or driving onto ferries was a disaster. One solution was to take the jockey wheel off completely.
Now tow with a Peugeot Partner, really good ground clearance, economy not as good as the VW ( well it is a square shaped brick) and not surprisingly it does not pull as well as the VW.
So for a practical towing car the Peugeot but for fun etc the Golf!
So have regard to the height.
It was my ignorance in only looking at the towing capacity of the car and I wasted a lot of money on getting a tow bar fitted to a totally unsuitable car. I wish I had known about this website at the time!
Somebody would have pointed out what now seems so obvious!

Post last edited on 04/01/2018 20:06:29

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