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[philhoward]

Cursory enquiry from a friend..

He's looking at a temporary tow car and going to be pulling a racer car on a trailer - so probably 1300-1400kg or so all up.  He's spotted a 2.2DTI near him but concerned about its ability to tow it easily enough?  He'd been looking at 530d BMWs but finding the ones in his budget full of issues - not surprisingly at the lower end of the market.

Any advice from anyone who puts a 2.2 into heavy towing duty?

If I need one, then I'll be going V6...but he's worried about the fuel bill 

[JDX]

I recently fitted a tow bar to my estate & rented a box trailer to collect fitness equipment for our gym at home. I estimate around 750-800kg & it pulled it with ease.
I spent a lot of time deciding which estate car to purchase - I looked at the usual German makes & wanted the biggest load area I could get - for holidays, trips, everyday stuff, dogs, etc. The interior dimensions on the Omega estate are hard to beat. I took ages looking for the right car & eventually bought this '02 CDX dti with 49'000 miles. Personally, I think, in terms of value for money, nothing else comes close.

[Elite Pete]

My DTi pulls my caravan OK but you have to change down for decent hills, the chipped 2.5 wheesel I had was brilliant for towing, I hardly knew I had another omega behind me 

[sjr47]

Just done a outfit matching search on Caravan Club website and they state at 1300 to 1400 Kg the standard 2.2 dti is as quoted "The car's engine power is quite low to tow this weight It may be sluggish and uncomfortable on hills or at junctions".Comes in at 38BHP per tonne.As a comparison my 2.6 auto is 57BHP per tonne seems quite a difference that 19BHP per tonne makes.

[TheBoy]

Just done a outfit matching search on Caravan Club website and they state at 1300 to 1400 Kg the standard 2.2 dti is as quoted "The car's engine power is quite low to tow this weight It may be sluggish and uncomfortable on hills or at junctions".Comes in at 38BHP per tonne.As a comparison my 2.6 auto is 57BHP per tonne seems quite a difference that 19BHP per tonne makes.

Don't the likes of the Caravan Club make out that undersize shitboxes are the ideal towcar?

[sjr47]

Just done a outfit matching search on Caravan Club website and they state at 1300 to 1400 Kg the standard 2.2 dti is as quoted "The car's engine power is quite low to tow this weight It may be sluggish and uncomfortable on hills or at junctions".Comes in at 38BHP per tonne.As a comparison my 2.6 auto is 57BHP per tonne seems quite a difference that 19BHP per tonne makes.

Don't the likes of the Caravan Club make out that undersize shitboxes are the ideal towcar?

Theres a odd conundrum with new caravans in that the vans are getting heavier due to things like fixed beds/microwaves /aircon/wet central heating, extra insulation etc but cars are getting lighter on the whole so the range of available towers is shrinking rapidly if it continues your gonna need 4x4s to tow a ruddy 2 berth one of the reasons I came back to the miggy.

[philhoward]

Just done a outfit matching search on Caravan Club website and they state at 1300 to 1400 Kg the standard 2.2 dti is as quoted "The car's engine power is quite low to tow this weight It may be sluggish and uncomfortable on hills or at junctions".Comes in at 38BHP per tonne.As a comparison my 2.6 auto is 57BHP per tonne seems quite a difference that 19BHP per tonne makes.

Don't the likes of the Caravan Club make out that undersize shitboxes are the ideal towcar?

I'm not sure where some 1.5 TD comes in as a "highly recommended" tow car..might be if you're towing a trailer to the tip?

I'm not that much of a fan of diesels in tow cars - especially ones with narrow bands of torque.  Not fun when they fall out of this band and sods law just before a hill.

Sounds like a 2.2DTI might cope - but only just..

[Kevin Wood]

Thing is, only when climbing serious hills is power output an issue when towing, especially if it's a car trailer which won't be too draggy. I used to tow my Westfield on the back of a fairly heavy Brian James using my Rover 214 and it was perfectly happy!

Far more important, as said, is that the tow car is nice and stable with a long wheelbase and a bit of weight to it.

That said, I'd recommend an LPG'd 3.2. Not that expensive to run even when towing and completely effortless. Took a glider trailer from Hampshire to almost Aberdeen with mine last year, over the A68, up through Glenshee, and it didn't break into a sweat.