Ok. So it’s update time! Towed our 2007 Triton 430 (c. 800kg) with the 1.4 Boosterjet (petrol) Vitara at the weekend for a cheeky w/e away. 50 miles of Cornish back roads. Absolutely no probs. Vitara was a good match for the 430. Felt stable and controlled. 1.4 engine is a peach. Plenty of torque at 1500rpm due to turbo cutting in. Only minus point is that the brakes are not as powerful as my old diesel Octavia. Not a big deal as I always drive steadily anyway. Will report on mpg when I have more data.

2D1DD5C2-BA7A-4B1F-AE2C-97257FD258C8.jpeg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)Vitara and 430

…yes I know the Alko lever is still up…..!

Caravan matching websites have no expertise in either caravans, cars or what makes good matches, they are just a database that does calculations based on criteria which anyone can do with the calculator in their mobile phone. The information they use can be subject to transcription error, or just be missing for a particular van or car and it's better to use the Mk 1 eyeball and the information on your car and van's VIN plate, after all, that's what any enforcement officer will do and is why the plate is there.
As said both engine variants of the Vitara are over capable in pulling any Familia, so are hardly likely to suffer detrimental performance. The Jimny, on the other hand, was great at certain things and could probably pull an 820 out of a 6ft deep bog, but it was never a smooth high speed cruiser, with or without something dangling on the back.

BTW the yardsticks for whether a tow vehicle/caravan combination are 'comfortable' is the ratio of power and torque per ton of their combined weight, using the potential maximum weights as the worst case scenario. In the case of power it is bhp/PS per tonne and in the case of torque it's lb ft per tonne. Anything over 40 bhp/PS per tonne and 60 lb ft per tonne will be fine and the more above the better the performance. Anything below those figures will mean trouble slowing down on hills and a lot of gear changing.

As an example my Karoq has a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of 1.93 tonnes and the caravan an MTPLM of 1.2 tonnes, a total train weight of 3.13 tonnes. The car produces 147bhp to so the car/van combo has a power ratio of 147/3.13 or 47 bhp per tonne and the engine produces 184lb ft of torque, meaning a ratio of 59lb/ft, just slightly below the magical 60 figure, but given it's so close and given the power ratio is good there is no problem.

As it is, of course, whilst the caravan may be loaded to full weight limit, it's unlikely the car will be so the max will probably never be actually used.

The Jimny has a GVW of 1.42 tonnes and say a 0.9 tonne caravan, means a total train weight of 2.32 tonnes. Its engine produces 86bhp, so 86/2.32 = 37bhp/tonne, below the magic 40 and 81lb ft of torque means 81/2.32 = 35lb ft per tonne, way down on the 60lb/ft required for comfort.

Update time re the Suzuki Vitara 1.4 Boosterjet manual Allgrip…getting 32 to 35mpg towing, and 45 mpg without the Triton. So far we’ll impressed. 😀

Colin, she’s well settled in….just on 60K mileage!

Time for a update to my original question: I purchased a Suzuki S Cross Ultra end of last year and it was delivered end of last March. I am so delighted to get rid of the seriously bothersome Hyundai Tuscon. It had about 35000 troublesome kilometers when I traded it in. Still over 2 year warranty left and the dealer was a Main Suzuki and Hyundai dealer. So tow bar etc.. fitted and as life happens in the meantime we only got away last weekend for our first trip.
The S Cross is totally first class at towing the 310. It has the 1.4 turbo/petrol engine and actually performs better than a 1.6 diesel. Fuel consumption solo: 6.1 ltr per 100Km and Towing: 6.6 ltr per 100 Km. 270 Km of motorway driving included in our trip and no bother.
I am well impressed, I hope it is as reliable as the Suzuki Swift we used have for 4 years. Never an issue with that.S Cross Ultra.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)