Tow cars
Turbo Mini Forums

Long way away for me yet but i was just wondering what car you'd recommend for towing a mini on a budget of about £4k or under, thinking an audi a3/golf tdi, what do you guys use?

Edited by t3gav on 8th Feb, 2007.

A4 TDI Quattro

Check carefully towing weights on Golfs/A3's and the like, with anything other than a light mini on a decent trailer you may well be borderline.

volvo T5 estate, once you wind her up to 100 she settles to around 32-36 mpg however getting there is like 18 ish.

cant fault em those volvos friggin ballistic and reliable, you can get a chesterfield in the boot and close the lid !!! and they are cheap as muck if you go fo an 850 you pay upwards of 500 quid........4k would get you an imaculate v70 (new shape estate)

Richie

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MikeRace, Mini13

Edited by Scruffy on 8th Feb, 2007.

On 5th Sep, 2011 Vegard said:
I stand corrected. You should know

How about a pug 406 estate, mum's diesel tows a horse box no problem.

Passat Tdi estate.

:)

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

out of interest, how much does a horse weigh?

Hi,
Nic ... Big one or little one?
Cheers,
Gavin :)

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I use a Xsara HDI, tows finw and returns about 40mpg towing. I picket up a 3 year old one for £3k.

The thing is you need to buy a car you want to drive most of the time without a trailer as that is probably what it will be used for most. TBH any modern medium hatchback (i.e. Focus) and bigger with a decent engine will do the job. My HDI has 110bhp and the diesel Bravo before that had 100bhp and both tow fine.

I recon these days it would be difficult to find a medium hatch that will not tow a trailer with a mini on it. Always best to check the rated towing weight first though.

The real problem is that car manufacturers calculate the towing capability in the something like the following way. It is based on the ability of the vehicle, with two occupants of 70 kilograms each, to re-start on a 12% gradient. This means that cars like a 200bhp scooby can have a low towing weight as it has low torque at pulloff. However, in the eyes of the government it will be able to tow more as the law is based on the curb weight of the tow vehicle and trailer. Sorry went a bit OT there.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

Agree with volvo estate and passat estate. Both a lot of car for the cash as they're not as desirable as golfs/a3s. Can fit a shitload of tools in the boot too.

A Alfa 156 is a nice car :) I would choose a 156 any day over a Golf..

www.shag.no

my focus diesel estate does a great job at towing

Team Racing

get an old volvo estate.

a friend towed a metro on a trailer and said you could only feel it when it started to sway a bit at 90 mph

also theres nothing funnier than seeing a volvo estate drifting around roundabouts!!!!

Got to be careful about the official towing capacity though .... plod are getting stricter on this by the day!!!!!

Also worth remembering that everything built April 98 or later have to have an "approved towbar instalation" or else they are illegal. I personally know one person who has had their car impounded due to this and teh towbar removed, at his cost, before plod returned it. Cost him about a grand all in!!!!

It's not by accident I drive a December '97 Passat Estate TDi .... even then I can only just get away with a Mk2 golf on my light weight trailer and still be legal....

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

Old range rovers and discos (both huge towing capacity) are cheap but I'd not want to drive one as a daily.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=200075177503

Perfect :)

Argh my eyes!!!

I'm bidding

Team Racing

Cheers guys

Just realised, that's the 2.8. the one to REALLY go for is the 2.9l LOL

well my rover 216si is rated to 1100 kgs - but given its all revs and no torque I doubt it would tow a mini without the trailer!

I'm eventually going to sell it and get either

volvo t5
bmw 525 (e34)
ford sierra

Alex

AlexF

lol@collectors car!!

Still can't beat £2.

RogerM, Cars made after 1998 can still be fitted with a towbar at home. The approved part is to do with the manufacturer and the type of car. If the car has a tow raiting then it is fine. Type approved is not going to cause much of a problem.

Lots of answers here, you can buy pre 98 cars for the rest of your life.

http://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/quality_st...s/EC_QandA.aspx

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

Interesting reading this thread....... Jimster drives a Focus Diesel Estate.... Ben H a Xsara HDI....Shattering my illusions..... Given me an idea for a topic though.

And my last three cars before leaving the UK were sierra 2.3D estates....

I like Sierra's LOL