Towing with a VW 140bhp SWB Transporter Combi
I see a lot of these vehicles on club sites used as tow vehicles. The practicalities are obvious but do they do the job ? Spoken to VW dealers and they all say they are brilliant tow vehicles ( they would say that!!). Has anyone had first hand experience?
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Transporters tow well, not sure why a 140ps would only be suitable for only lightweight caravan they are designed to pull weight. The only real criticism is they can scrabble the front wheels when pulling away when towing, not so much a problem when used as a van as a load in the van helps traction.
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My younger brother has 1 of these, but with a, i believe a 150 bhp engine t d i engine. they have a 1600kgs coachman on the hook.
He tells me that apart from really steep hills, it does quite well overall.
As to the spinning of the road wheels when loaded up, yes he has struggled sometimes without leaving the odd chew marks on grass. But their again I've seen plenty of rear wheel drive cars chewing up a warden pride and joys grass
last year we travelled down to near Padstow together, sat at 60mph, and most of the time he was behind me, our theirs abouts.
He only has 1 because his boss gives it to him as his works van, ( kitchen fitter )
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Probably because the recommended power to weight ratio [by various organisations] is to keep to no less than 40 bhp per tonne.
So, therefore, the 140 bhp is okay for up to 3.5 tonnes of unit, if one wants to keep within that recommendation. Loading more will simply mean you will not accelerate or climb hills as well as others but not that it will not get there given extra time.
If a Combi has a typical GVW in use of 2.5 tonnes then the van's weight would be a modest 1 tonne.
All depends how happy you are to run slower than the other road users want to travel, or be able to travel because of you.
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By coincidence, I've just been talking to the guy on an adjacent pitch to us, here in Bay of Roses, Spain. He has LWB 140 Combi, towing a twin axle Bailey Barcelona, so can't be that bad.
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Gear ratios don't change the available power, the speed of doing "work".
As I said lacking power will not [with the right gearing] stop you doing things like accelerating and climbing, just mean you do it more slowly.
I don't doubt it has gearing to suit its intended duty, but it has less power than the guidance figure for towing in what both clubs regard as an acceptable way. 40 bhp per tonne.
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I think that my 2005 X-trail was rated at 136 bhp. Max laden weight is 2,200 kg and caravan plated to 1,500kg. 3.7 tonne on Ocsid's calcs. So should need about 150 bhp. In fact it tows fine, nobody has to wait for me and hill starts fine partly due to the gearing I suspect.
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Gearing is more important than the bhp, bhp is nice if you've got it, but if a vehicle is geared to carry weight or tow they are usually up to the job, I tow with a 3000kg 150bhp ranger with a 1500kg caravan, and it tows very well, picking up speed well too, and will easily tow as fast as i want it to. I suspect a transporter would be no problem as well
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