General I'm surprised there isn't a tow car 500L Trekking?

[JimSox]

It just surprises me- it seems they're not interested in having a more tow friendly engine- all I can find is 1100kg which isn't enough for most caravans.

My Mrs pointed it out last night- we have Shogun for towing and the Mrs uses it with her work- she was working on it last night and asked about the trekking...

Maybe Fiat are too cool to consider a caravan ha.

 

[s130]

Similar criticism from me.

According to the 500L spec it is rated for towing of 400kg un braked and 1000kg braked for all engines except the 1.6MJet which is 1100kg as you stated.

I suspect when the 1.4 Turbo & and 1.9MJet arrive in the UK we may see the braked figure rise to possibly 1200 or 1300 kg.

 

[JimSox]

Even 1300kg wouldn't be too bad- still no good for me like!

I just thought maybe it could pick up some of the more quirky campers or people who don't fancy something too thirsty or boring.

 

[Ulpian]

But do we really want to see Fiats towing caravans, I don't think so!

That's what Vauxhalls and the Koreans are for.

By the way, the 120hp engines are now coming

 

[s130]

But do we really want to see Fiats towing caravans, I don't think so!

That's what Vauxhalls and the Koreans are for.

Well each to their own.

Here is a list of my Fiat cars I have towed with:

Tempra 1.8ie SX
Tipo 1.6ie Brio
Punto HGT
Stilo Abarth
Croma 2005

All capable towers and proud to do so. Baring the *rap GM parts in the Croma drive chain my 4 other Fiats have towed reliably, up steep mountain passes, 2000 miles per journey and never let me down unlike the GM, BMW, Mercedes, Jap and East cars I often see broken down with a trailor or caravan attached. :devil:

 

[JimSox]

We use a shogun which is ace but thirsty and a bit boring- it'd be nice to see a tug with a bit more personality- in my opinion the trekking would look cool

 

[Pandabloke]

I'm shortly having a towbar fited to Elsie to tow my folding camper. £107 for a swan kneck towbar with twin electric from ebay retailer.

Shall have it professionally fitted in a couple of weeks and I'll let you know how she tows.

 

[Jazzist]

The car wouldn't be heavy enough, even with a heavier and more powerful engine.

Looking at the Mitsubishi website a Shogun weighs 3000 kg and has a braked towing limit of 3500kg, it's an absolute monster

Looking at new Caravans you are limited to Freedom or Elddis Xplore, I guess.

Anything over 1000 kg will exceed 85% of the cars weight which is not recommended.

Some cars are specced upto 100% of kerbweight in the handbook e.g. Nissan Juke, Renault Megane. FIATs don't have high handbook tow specs and you should also consider, say, 85% of spec instead of kerbweight, to be conservative. Maybe it says 1100kg in the handbook, I wouldn't want to tow that.. that's the safe LIMIT.

It's not just the engine power and car weight, you also have the max nose weight on the ball and the weight of the back of the car. If the back of the car is heavier you improve the stability i.e. helps stop snaking, which is part of the reason why 4x4 have higher spec tow weight (you notice this if the car has 2wd and 4wd versions available with the same engine and similar bhp). Yes modern stabilisers have almost eliminated snaking but you do feel, say, the wind effect you less in a higher specced car even if the car isn't heavier and the engine no more powerful. The handbook spec also takes into account other factors like the strength of the tow mount I suppose.

etc. etc..

In conclusion don't buy any 1200kg car for towing anything but the lightest type of caravans and have a good outfit match of 85% kerbweight or handbook spec, whichever is lower.

Get a roofbox and a Vango Airbeam tent, save a fortune