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Topic: Towing a knaus azur with a primera p12

slumpymonster

09/9/2014 at 6:46pm
Location: Huddersfield
Outfit: Grand Voyager towing a knaus Azur

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OK so I wanted to write a review because when I bought my Nissan Primera P12 I could find no info on the car as a tow car especially in petrol format. Also there wasn't much about old Knaus Azure's! Mines a 1990 450 4 berth.

So first the car. Well it's not a bad tow car the Knaus is a tad over a ton and it tows it no problem. What you have to remember is that like most Japanese petrol engines the torque is at the top of the rpm. So make sure it's well serviced timing chain is not noisey and give it some bean's if you need to.
Just a quick note on the timing chain comment. It didn't affect all engines only some. What to look for is an intermittent or permanent engine check light on. Take a fault code reader and if the fault refers to crank or can sensor you can bet it needs a chain. Also you can get ruff running and misfires. That said that's pretty much all that goes wrong. The petrol engines are strong as! The diesel engine is a Renault engine as in most Nissan and I am not a fan of French build quality so I steered clear as I was after reliability.
Fuel economy when towing is about 27-29mpg and I do have a heavy right foot. The car will do on a motorway run unloaded with two in the car 41mpg. Around town in the hills of Huddersfield I get 32-34mpg. This is with good quality shell or Texaco fuel as it has a good level of PEA which helps O2 sensor and injectors keep clean.
Gear box coped no problem and standard clutch.
It was OK in a cross wind and you would only drop down from 5th to 4th on a really steep motorway incline.
Steering was fine towing and the brakes were more than adequate.
So in summary the primera p12 1.8 petrol is a capable tow car. Just remember not to be shy with the throttle you won't break it!

So now my Knaus Azur 450. It's door is on the other side and yes it's heavy. However it's not rotten all the things that need to work, work and it's warm at night even in winter.(winter pack on mine)

Working on the Knaus is OK most bits like cassette toilet or heater is thetford or truma. Everything is well put together and strong. Even the floors feel rock solid. It has plenty of room and that has a lot to do with the fact it is shaped like a washing machine. It is a like a brick on two wheels. The down side of my van is that because it is older the interior isn't as nice to look at as some British vans and yes my original seat covers look like a carpet from an 80s nightclub. That aside it is much more functional and solid. My elddis of the same year I had before my Knaus I was guaranteed something would break or fall off during a holiday. The newer Knaus vans have stunning interiors.

Towing the van you notice how planted it feels mine has an anti snake coupling and it does not weave or wobble. The brakes on my are amazing you can feel the van slow the car down.

On the caravan site the van is easy to live with. Only thing that annoys me is my water tank is in the bathroom and the wheel arch is quite intrusive in the shower room. Beds are nice. I have a sliding door that comes across which is great when you have small kids and you put them to bed early you can still stay up with out disturbing them.

So all in all Nissan Primera is a good little tow car and there is no good reason if you are on a budget and didn't want to buy a rotten van you can do far far worse than buying a German van.

I hope this was helpful and not to boring/ :-)

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If your gonna be a bear be a grizzly.

Jax365

10/9/2014 at 11:44am
Location: south cheshire
Outfit: VW Caddy Maxi

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I found that very interesting to read and not at all boring! Thanks for posting.

I have a very old Nissan Almera 1.6 petrol auto to tow my very tiny van - you need to give it some welly on long slow hills, but it's also a good towcar!

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slumpymonster

19/9/2014 at 1:02am
Location: Huddersfield
Outfit: Grand Voyager towing a knaus Azur

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Thanks I'm glad you liked it. I'm taking this set up out next Thursday and Friday for a lads trip out. I'll put some pics up after. What caravan do you tow. That 1.6 engine is pretty good as well!

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