| Motoring Discussion > Best tow cars | Miscellaneous |
| Thread Author: Bobby | Replies: 10 |
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New Sat 21 Sep 24 21:08
Best tow cars - Bobby
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Intrigued to see so many electric cars chosen as towcars of the year. I get that some may just take a caravan 50 miles away and back. But in my memory of caravan holidays, electric cars and their challenges just would not work for touring holidays? www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars-vans/108749/best-tow-cars-buy |
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New Mon 23 Sep 24 11:39
Best tow cars - Boxsterboy
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| Yes, funny how there is not one mention of the EVs' ranges when towing? Given how charging points on the road are invariably not set up for a car/trailer combo this would seem pretty fundamental, I would have thought? |
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New Mon 23 Sep 24 16:21
Best tow cars - Bromptonaut
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We've been contemplating replacing our Berlingo as a tow car for some time. I've been aware that electric cars are starting to appear in tow car awards but I don't think the tech is yet at a point where they're viable. Would really like to stick with a diesel but they're getting rarer amongst most marques every time there's a model change. |
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New Mon 23 Sep 24 19:57
Best tow cars - smokie
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There is more than one mention of weekend caravanning and there's no mention of a touring holiday. My conclusion would be that EVs can compete quite happily against old fashioned ICE cars on the technical aspects of towing but they wouldn't suit everyones requirement. Just like they wouldn't really do it for any regular motorway mile muncher. But then - a double decker bus wouldn't suit me, so I didn't buy one. :-)
Last edited by: smokie on Mon 23 Sep 24 at 19:58
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New Mon 23 Sep 24 20:20
Best tow cars - Manatee
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>> Yes, funny how there is not one mention of the EVs' ranges when towing? Given >> how charging points on the road are invariably not set up for a car/trailer combo >> this would seem pretty fundamental, I would have thought? Absolutely typical of the Caravan Club. Complacent twerps just going through the motions. They make the water companies look competent. Credit where it's due, there's nothing you can teach them about cleaning showers and toilets. But of course the wardens do that. |
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New Mon 23 Sep 24 19:28
Best tow cars - Manatee
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A traditional auto (actually anything with a 'torque converter") is head and shoulders best for towing. That narrows the field quite a lot. Reversing a heavy trailer is very hard on a dry clutch, especially uphill. Even setting off on a hill can be a trial with anything heavier than half a ton. Our Outlander is a very average car but superb for towing. It's not commonly known that a torque converter when slipping will multiply the torque by 2+. Very good for getting away, and no smell of burning clutch. I would absolutely abjure anything with a mechanically operated clutch including DSG or similar. EVs presumably score because a DC motor can provide practically full torque from almost zero RPM. But range is probably terrible. I can get up to 40mpg out of the Outlander, make that 25mpg when towing 1200Kg. Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 23 Sep 24 at 19:29
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New Mon 23 Sep 24 20:11
Best tow cars - Manatee
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Just read the article and I'm not altogether surprised that the Caravan & Motorhome Club is recommending DSG's. I have zero respect for their opinions on towcars since they recommended a Citroen, the one with rubber mats glued to the doors IIRC whose name I have forgotten. At the time there was not a single caravan on the UK market that their recommended car could tow when the car itself was fully loaded. I might have just ignored this had they actually bothered to mention that the car they had awarded a prize to must not be used to tow a caravan unless very lightly loaded. I wrote to them very politely pointing out how ludicrous and potentially dangerous this was and they were utterly dismissive. As Bromptonaut will know, Citroen has a terrible habit of quoting towing limits which, when added to the car's MGW, exceed the allowed maximum train weight by a lot. The realistic towing limit being much lower. You might say that when there are only two people travelling it might not matter, and that is true. But it is very common for cars towing a caravan to be loaded to the gunwales with kids, canoes, bikes and luggage. Caravans themselves tend to have very low payloads and it is in any case far better for weight to be in the car than in the trailer, from a stability standpoint. |
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New Mon 23 Sep 24 20:42
Best tow cars - Bromptonaut
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Thanks Manatee; think it's a French thing with Gross Train Weight. We met an English couple our age in SE France ten years ago who had similar gripes with a Renault. It's not mattered for us as we're usually travelling as a couple. We were though, without doubt, overweight moving from site above to the Lande four up. Kids were adults who'd flown out to Toulouse and were going back to UK from Bordeaux. |
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New Tue 24 Sep 24 11:35
Best tow cars - Manatee
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Chapter and verse. I dug this out in case my memory was faulty. What I said to them at the time. The 2016 winner of the Class 1, under £20,000 category was the Citroen C4 Cactus. It's just about suitable for pulling a trailer tent. At the time you couldn't even buy a 655Kg caravan. "...I could not quite believe what I was reading, having looked into this car a while back, so I checked. The Club tested the car with a 825Kg caravan and gave it the win. I am astonished that this car has won and that there is no mention under “Caravanability” of the fact that towing the caravan used for testing was at the expense of a large chunk of the car’s own payload allowance. The nearest the comments come is to say that “loadspace for a family is restricted”. In fact, you probably wouldn’t be able to carry the family at all. The Club quotes a kerb weight of 1143Kg, presumably after weighing it. From the Citroen brochure, the maximum laden weight (MLW) of the car alone is 1610Kg. The maximum gross train weight is 2210Kg. The maximum towing weight (MTW) is 825Kg. Perhaps you have already seen the problem. If the car is loaded to its maximum of 1610Kg, including the 55Kg maximum noseweight which must come out of the MLW, the heaviest caravan that can be towed without exceeding the MGTW is 655Kg. Put another way, if one were to tow a 825Kg caravan, then the available payload in the car would be 2210-1143-825=242Kg. That 242Kg has to include the driver and passengers, any luggage or possessions, and the 55Kg noseweight. My wife and I together weigh 146Kg (we are not especially heavy people) so we would only have 41Kg to play with for other contents. A further passenger would have to be well under 7 stones not to break the MGTW limit, with no other items in the car at all. I think a mistake has been made. Perhaps someone from the Club would like to comment? The reply from the club was - Thank you for your email. The Citroen Cactus was the best towing vehicle in its category, despite its GTW limitations. Please note that the Peugeot 2008 was also restricted on its towing weight based on the GTW. Regards K.... H....... Technical Advisor They hold themselves up as experts. Two average people with an 825Kg caravan (how they managed this I don't know - they used Bailey caravans for the tests and they didn't make one so light so perhaps they were ballasted empty shells) probably wouldn't even have capacity for the usual caravanning clobber, awning, table, chairs, water barrel BBQ etc., then their clothes... |
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New Tue 24 Sep 24 20:26
Best tow cars - Zero
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EV's and towing is a waste of time ( despite the EV evangalistas desperately trying to justify it). Take a trip I took, , 300 miles, no EV will do that in one trip, and nowhere on route would provide a recharge point for car and van. I am also mystified by the pathetic tow weights of most ev's despite their prodigious torque outputs |
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New Tue 24 Sep 24 20:46
Best tow cars - Bromptonaut
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>> That 242Kg has to include the driver and passengers, any luggage or possessions, and the >> 55Kg noseweight. My wife and I together weigh 146Kg (we are not especially heavy people) I thought kerb weight included something for the driver (70kg?) and typical fuel load but, in the numbers you mention, that's tweaking in the margins. |
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