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Our next caravan change will probably mean the new one will be heavier due to the fact that manufacturers weights are increasing year by year even for the same model. I currently tow with a diesel CRV which gives a good caravan/tow car ratio. Effectively I may need a heavier tow car in the future. I have nearly always used diesel for towing but have reservations about splashing a wedge of cash on a car that may depreciate rapidly so have been looking at mild hybrid petrol cars. The power/torque figures look very similar to a diesel these days, perhaps more impressive than expected. The main difference is the torque curve is pushed up the rev range by 300 revs or so for say the Volvo XC60. So to cut to the chase, has anyone actually tried changing from diesel to petrol recently for towing? I don’t do many miles a year so the decrease in mpg would probably offset the extra cost per litre for diesel. Previous experience of petrol for towing usually resulted in massive revs to pull away and constant stirring of the gearbox to make decent progress.
Regarding van weights, vans did get heavier year after year but manufacturers have started bringing out 'lightweight' ranges that are 1200-1300 ish. Ok so it's not light, but it's not 1500.
Re petrol towing - I haven't got direct experience but a modern turbo petrol has loads of lovely torque low down so I think they'd be great tow cars. Plenty of towcar reviews on YouTube and elsewhere.
Yes, our Bailey Unicorn has increased from 1500 to 1600 kilo with a negligible increase in payload, I have no idea how they can gain so much weight without it looking any different!, but to be honest we would be reluctant to go lightweight, we like our fixed bed and wet central heating too much! I will do a bit of digging on the reviews.
They've added extra features to each model then they bring in a new one underneath. Bailey Discovery are pretty light for example but they are also rather small. Fixed bed available though.
How long will you keep your new van? 2 years? 3? 5? I can't afford new caravan, or for that matter a newer car, so for me it has to be diesel. However, I have had our current 2nd hand caravan for 5 years (prev for 5)and its with us til fazzini jnr-jnr decides he's too old/cool to holiday with us like his older brother. I based my most recent car on that fact and intend to keep it as long as I have the van, so probably the next 4 years.
I'll review after that as we may choose to ditch the van, and then the car world is our oyster. YMMV
We tow with a BMW 318i touring, only a 1.5l engine with a 6 speed box. Yes you lose a bit of torque compared to a diesel, but frankly as we only did 6k miles last year (including a non-caravan trip to France) the extra investment in a diesel, plus the environmental cost meant that diesel was never really a realistic choice. It's possible, don't overthink it. Get the car that suits the majority of your driving
Edit, we get 40+ mpg knocking around, 50+mpg cruising on motorway, 28-29 mpg towing
I usually keep them for 5-7 years and have no intention of giving up until I have to so would like to future-proof things as much as possible hence the diesel dilemma.
nbt, that sounds like the sort of figures my CRV return, I am lucky to get 27 towing though unless there is a tail wind
Caravanerists assemble
I’ve been on worse sites than that!
What caravan are you going for?
My Buccaneer HAS to be towed by a big 4x4, or possibly (not looked into) a van.
I recently considered an Audi A6 Avant 3l bi-turbo diesel, 300bhp+, which you'd imagine would be more than capable. It'll pull the weight, but I'd be way over on the allowed towbar noseweight
Looking at something like another Unicorn, Vigo or cabrera or a coachman either will be around 1600 to 1700kg all up so need something like an XC60, Sorento or Audi A5 type size, 1900kg kerbweight to keep a 85-90% ratio. Would prefer 4x4 as we use CL sites which can be soft after rain. Noseweight is usually 100kg on these vehicles which is ideal. Have considered a day van type vehicle or even a pickup.
We have a Bailey Seville, I think it is sub 1500 kg but not by much. We never towed it with a diesel, our previous car was a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.
Stability etc was fine, I'd class the performance as marginal as it was a 2 litre engine that had to drag a fairly heavy car along plus the caravan.
We now have an XC60 T8, another petrol hybrid which easily tows the van (very strong turbo / supercharged petrol engine plus battery boost) and again tows without any stability or other concerns.
Both the above are automatics, highly recommended, makes pulling away and general towing that much easier, not that you can't do the same with a manual car but it leaves you free to focus on other things.
If you are buying the Volvo try and find one with a towbar fitted, I did not go very deep into this but it looks like you might need to get a dealer fit at £1K, a lot of functionality is integrated in with the towbar fitment which a third party might not be able to do.
I would not go for a full petrol Volvo based on the alarming consumption from an S90 loaner I was given for a day.
Whether hybrid works for you depends on whether you can do most of your day to day based on the battery range (for a plug in hybrid, Volvo also have some non plug in hybrids which I think just have a small battery that recoups braking energy and gives a mile or three range).
Electric prices are also making lug in hybrid less of an attractive choice but that was always coming, sooner or later electric charged cars will be hit with some kind of tax to replace revenue from petrol / diesel taxes.
We have had the same 1100kg van for ten years so it has seen a few cars.
1.6tdi golf gave about 30mpg but felt like it was pulled about by the caravan a bit mainly due to soft rear suspension
Two Qashqai’s 1.5 diesel about 32mpg and very steady if not quick
Latest is an Octavia hybrid. It pulls really well with a nice high tow ball, set the sports suspension and it handles well It has more weight in the car I assume which helps. Fuel economy does dip though 23-28mpg. Fuel economy aside it is the best tow car
Having ended up with a car with self-levelling rear suspension, I would prioritise this above just about everything else when buying a tow car. Unfortunately it's quite expensive. That said, mine works via inflatable springs at the back, which can be repaired or replaced separately; I think the Volvo system might use something built into the shock and some say new shocks - a wear item - are £1500.
BMW 318i touring, only a 1.5l engin
? 315...?
What weight is the CRV? From memory, when we were looking they were about 2 tons. Is an XC60 any heavier?
We ended up with a Santa Fe for towing put 1550kg swift. My dad tows with a disco, it's great, but has had a surprising amount of ££ thrown at it for its age. Next time we change, a used XC90 will be high on the shopping list.
I use a Vito Dualiner for towing our van, barely notice it's there and around 30mpg towing.
barely notice it’s there
This is my most hated phrase in the caravanning world.
Yeah I know it's probably a bit tongue in cheek, but even in the biggest most powerful tow cars, you are massively aware you are dragging a 1.5-2 tonne 8' high, 8' wide X however long, massive tin box behind you 100% of the time
Soz, but I see it all the time and it grinds my gears, probably disproportionately more than it should 🤣
I'm not getting any van that requires me to buy an SUV to tow it with. My premium estate weighs 1800kg, that's plenty.
Towed (loaded trailer not a caravan) with my hybrid Toyota Highlander. Been really good. It sounds a bit noisy up hills (cvt) but wasn’t struggling at all despite being up towards 2T on the back.
Obviously I know it's there, I'm being tailgated by an enormous white shed on wheels. Compared to an x type diesel though it's night and day, plus I can fit an enduro bike, mountain bikes, family, dog, kitchen sink in if the mood takes.
Being irritating without trying is one of my superpowers 😀
BMW 318i touring, only a 1.5l engin
? 315…?
No, they changed the naming convention.
https://www.parkers.co.uk/bmw/3-series/touring-2012/318i-sport-(0715-)-5d/specs/
The two digits that come next, i.e. the 45 in the 745e, used to indicate the displacement of the engine (e.g. 30 for a 3.0-liter engine displacement). Today, they indicate the engine’s performance in kilowatts (kW), or its “virtual displacement.
https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/BMW-naming-system.html
The CRV kerbweight is 1713kg, the XC60 is around 1900kg so gives another useful 150kg of MTPLM for a caravan change if trying to stick to the 85% guidance. Note these are vehicle kerbweights, not gross vehicle weight which is 2160 kg for the CRV. I must admit the XC90 is tempting for a bit more margin of safety.
It was a few generations ago that BMW stopped capacity badging. There's usually at least two in a range that share an engine now, it's just offered in different power outputs.
If you bought a 1-series a decade ago you had 114i, 116i, 118i, 120i all using the same 1.6 litre petrol engine, or 118d, 120d, 125d all using the same 2.0 litre diesel.
No, they changed the naming convention.
https://www.parkers.co.uk/bmw/3-series/touring-2012/318i-sport-(0715-)-5d/specs/
/blockquote>to be fair, its been like that since the mid-80s