I've looked through quite a lot items on the web site but didn't find anything on advice and guidance on this subject. Having just paid for my Tritan 430 - yes, at long last I'm nearly a fully paid up member of the Eriba community, and feel I can now ask questions. So towing cars are on the agenda.

I have just paid a reservation fee on a VW Golf 1.6L TDi SE (105 PS) Automatic Estate, purely because they are rare beasts for the amount I want to pay and it has a number of quite attractive extras. I have until noon tomorrow to decide if I keep it or release it. So the question is does anyone out there tow a Tritan - 1200kg weight with a 1.6L car and if so have any problems been encountered on steep hills.

The issue is while this Golf has a tow limit of 1400Kg I'm concerned that a 1.6L car would/could struggle if put to the ultimate test - stopping on a steep hairpin bend.

So all you tuggers out there what advice can you give to a novice, should I walk away from it and get a 2.0L?

Thanks Rob

Randa
Thanks for the reply. Its not only the weight of the van we need to think about but how much will we also put in the car!! Yes they are hard to find unless you have deep pockets!
Rob

Up until last August we towed our 1300kg Troll with a Skoda Octavia 1.6 105 PS. Previously we had towed our 1200kg Triton with the same car.

Had no trouble at all, but have noticed a good difference since we bought the Yeti. The tail of the Octavia used to waggle a bit sometimes, particularly downhill on a motorway. In contrast the Yeti runs on rails. I'm told it's due to the short overhang at the back.

Keith

We have a 1000k Triton and a 1.6d auto 110 Citroen C4, which has just gone past the 100,000 mile mark, the car does get well loaded as the van doesn't have a huge payload but so far has handled things very well. We live in the van for at least 6 months of the year so the car pulls it a fair few miles including over the Pyrenees and the Atlas mountains at 2100m, and gives a good fuel economy. I think that if you load your van up to the 1200k mark you wont have that much in the car.
Dave

Hi Rob,
Can only speak as I find.........We've towed our 1200kg Triton 430 without any problems, since April 2014, with a Nissan Qashqai Xtronic 1.6 dCi (auto CVT ) We generally travel quite heavy, time we've added in the fitted pull out cassette awning, plus battery, and mover. We also always carry a mobility scooter in the boot, which adds a bit of weight.
However, the engine has a rating of 130 ps. so I don't know how that would compare with your proposed vehicle. It must have some effect, but what exactly that would be, I don't know. Hope this helps.
Best of luck with your choice of tow car. Ian.

Hi Rob - personally I wouldn't bother as I believe that in the long run you'd be very disappointed with the pulling power. I have the 1.6 TDI engine in my Touran in addition to a Triton 430 so guess I'm qualified to make comment lol.

Yes, the Touran manages with the weight of the Triton when on the flat but you're up and down the gearbox at anything approaching a hill. When we visited the UK last year it was one hell of a struggle to climb the ferry ramp as a result of the car being pretty light at the front end. I can well see the Estate being the same as it's pretty much the same length as the Touran and with the caravan loaded (we're usuall around the 1100kg mark) and with the boot full it makes the front end quite light. In summary then - it's good on the flat but leaves a lot to be desired on the hilly stuff.

I'm keeping hold of our Touran for this upcoming season and then going to replace it and that in itself is causing me a real headache. I've looked at the Qashqai, the Ford Kuga and also the 2015 upgraded Mazda CX-5 and simply can't make my mind up.

My wife quite fancies the Yeti and to be quite frank, so did I until it got down to the pricing. The handling is excellent but the price.........oh the price......is absolutely ridiculous for it. Skoda are, in my opinion, making capital out of it's unique looks which of course is attractive. But when one looks at the quality of the materials used in it's manufacturer - well it certainly made me cringe anyway. Roger will know that with the back row of seats folded forward in the Touran that there is a metal strut to fix them into position so that the seats don't fall down again. In the Yeti this has been replaced with a rubber band that you have to wrap around the headrest. The seating part of the rear seats (the part you sit your bottom on) is so narrow that I'd feel sorry for any passengers that I might from time to time carry. The boot floor feels like cardboard covered in a thin material and so the list goes on. OK, you might say that I am being particularly critical and in this you'd be correct. However, when I' being asked upwards of 31,000+ € for a Skoda that is kitted out to the same specification as any of the other three models that I mentioned above, and which can be had cheaper, I believe you have to say that Skoda's are slowly overpricing themselves.

You could try the car of your dreams but you will suffer on steep hills,
would it be easily re-sellable if it did not come up to snuff?

Good morning :

We have a 1999 Triton 430 BSA, all-up weight 950kg. We pull it with an Audi A3, 2 litre diesel automatic rated at 170bhp. All-up weight of the car is given as 1600kg so giving a ratio around the 60% mark. The whole experience is effortless. For a front-wheel drive car, this does the business very well indeed.

However, all things being equal were I to be buying for towing purposes only, I would still go for a 4 x 4. I used to tow bigger caravans with a Kia Sorento which I had for 7 years during which time it never missed a beat. It took a Bailey Senator on a very steep, winding ascent up to an Alpine camp-site high above Aosta without the slightest effort. Great tow-car it was!

Thank you all for your replies, they are much appreciated. The 'Whattotow' website indicates that the computed maximum gradient we will just be able to get on 1500m above sea level is 18% so yes we could find ourselves struggling in hilly/mountainous areas - especially on hairpin bends. So I guess the best thing to do is to go back to the drawing board. I can see we will have the caravan in the back garden for months before we get a towing vehicle! Rob.

I'm using a Vauxhall Insignia Sri 2.0L diesel to tow my Triton 430

Coped with touring Wales last year very well.

I'm sure Pete is right. Go for the extra margin of ability.
I would be looking at something like a 2.0 litre automatic diesel Touran, S Max or Galaxy not just for the power but also the available space for carrying the equipment (wine, beer?).

TandF

Just a thought look at the tow car of the year awards, Caravan Club, Camping and Caravan Club, etc at least it gives you a few other ideas, I have them going back about 3 years but they are "out on loan" at the moment to someone in a similar situation.

I can honestly say that my current tug is just brilliant, over 50 mpg solo, 36 mpg on a 2 way tow to Damage Barton (hilly over the last 30 miles) and I seldom have to go lower than 5th gear even on those hills to DB.

Make an informed choice and be better for it, I asked a lot of people about our current tug before I bought, I'm glad I asked and I thank them for the input

Hi Pooldweller
We use a BMW X3 2.0 with 180 bhp and it pulls the triton 430 like a train ( all time 4x4 ) it's a good car too.
Regards
Clive