What transit for towing? Budget up to £2500.

[dtagell]

Hi, was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice.

I'm after a transit (SWB) for towing my racecar (approx 1400kg inc trailer) and carrying tools/spares. Will probably cover about 5000 miles a year max and this will be mostly motorway and A-roads. Ideally the cheaper the better but my budget is about £2500. I suppose my priorities are cheap to insure and decent fuel economy whilst still being realistically driveable with the weight. I've started having a look around and there seem to be so many model variations and engines with different power that everytime I think I've figured it out I see another variant! Any suggestions on a good engine/model to go for? Also, is there a website with a table of models and engines anywhere? Was hoping to find info on insurance groups and mpg for each variant.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

[TIMO]

Hi, was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice.

I'm after a transit (SWB) for towing my racecar (approx 1400kg inc trailer) and carrying tools/spares. Will probably cover about 5000 miles a year max and this will be mostly motorway and A-roads. Ideally the cheaper the better but my budget is about £2500. I suppose my priorities are cheap to insure and decent fuel economy whilst still being realistically driveable with the weight. I've started having a look around and there seem to be so many model variations and engines with different power that everytime I think I've figured it out I see another variant! Any suggestions on a good engine/model to go for? Also, is there a website with a table of models and engines anywhere? Was hoping to find info on insurance groups and mpg for each variant.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

IMO you need a rear wheel drive ,, see this too.. may help viewtopic.php?f=5&t=94560&p=804299&hilit=rwd+swb#p804299

[TIMO]

BTW should get an 05 for that money too. more info viewtopic.php?f=5&t=83642&hilit=swb+rwd+towing

[dtagell]

Cheers, thanks for the reply, will concentrate on the RWD models then. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[winterheating]

Dont rule out FWD,
ive had a 75ps FWD with towing box. that towed very well.
A 125ps FWD with towing box, that would tow anything.
A 100ps FWD with performance box, not that good at towing.
A 100ps FWD with towing box, very good at towing.
A 90ps RWD with towing axle, yes very good at towing, but to be honest not that much better than the higher power fwd with a towing .
obviously higher power RWD will be the best.
But for a lot better economy and youll only be pulling the 1400kg, a high powered FWD with the towing gearbox would be more than enough for you.
Also you can get any weight capacity FWD 260,280,300,330,350

[oldyellar]

Cheers, thanks for the reply, will concentrate on the RWD models then. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Ex bt t300s myt be good if they have the box wh is talking about also you can improve on the power if needed but u will be wanting a towing box as wh said .

[dtagell]

Cheers, thanks for the advice. How will I know if a van has got a towing box rather than a performance box? I presume it'll be on the plate somewhere but is there a particular code I need to look for?

[oldyellar]

Cheers, thanks for the advice. How will I know if a van has got a towing box rather than a performance box? I presume it'll be on the plate somewhere but is there a particular code I need to look for?

THere will be a plate some1 on here will know how to read it but you can etis the reg on here to and that will tell you

[dtagell]

Thanks for all the responses, has given me lots to think about! As I won't actually need the van till February I'm thinking I might leave it till nearer the time to save on insurance and tax, hopefully I'll have a bit more money by then too (am considering a MWB now so can have it partly as a camper). I'll probably be back in the new year asking more stupid questions! Thanks again.

[dtagell]

Just to give you an update if you replied previously (thanks again!) I've now bought a 2001 converted camper, it's LWB 90/350 with a 5.13 diff and has done a lot of miles! I know this is nothing like what I originally enquired about but it was just parked at the top of my road and the conversion is ideal for my needs - it's registered as a camper too so the insurance is cheap. Ordered the Haynes manual yesterday so in theory I'm good to go!

Cheers,
Dave

[TIMO]

Just to give you an update if you replied previously (thanks again!) I've now bought a 2001 converted camper, it's LWB 90/350 with a 5.13 diff and has done a lot of miles! I know this is nothing like what I originally enquired about but it was just parked at the top of my road and the conversion is ideal for my needs - it's registered as a camper too so the insurance is cheap. Ordered the Haynes manual yesterday so in theory I'm good to go!

Cheers,
Dave

Nice one, you can drag 2250kilo behind that , even if the van is fully loaded upto 3500 kilo

[TIMO]

Should have said including the weight of the van.

[mb4ever]

Will you be operating solely on metalled roads dave?
Or will you have to hack wet grass and muddy gateways?

Cheers,

[(ROG)]

Nice one, you can drag 2250kilo behind that , even if the van is fully loaded upto 3500 kilo

That should read - IF the van is fully loaded to 3500

Towing weight is not the GTW minus the GVW unless the van is fully laden

[mb4ever]

Nice one, you can drag 2250kilo behind that , even if the van is fully loaded upto 3500 kilo

That should read - IF the van is fully loaded to 3500

Towing weight is not the GTW minus the GVW unless the van is fully laden

If the towing weight isn't Gross Train Weight minus the Gross Vehicle Weight
then how do you work out GTW please ROG?

Cheers,