Tow G or not
Hey all, Ive been reading the posts on the forums & I figure you guys will give it to me straight! I need a tow vehicle to move a race car around the country. Although the car itself isn't all that heavy the amount of kit that i have to carry spare wheels, parts , fuel etc adds up. I run a Ford ranger pick up at present which copes really well, the problem being I can't lock tools in the back( I thought a hard top might be an idea but not as practical as I thought.
I have always admired the G & feel that it may be the car for me. Effectively I want something that I can rely on for quite a few years that can cope with my load & tow requirements. Also my wife wants to be able to use it when I am not, to move the pooch's about so I thought an auto may be good. I am guessing a diesel auto is like hens teeth, I wouldn't mind a/c. I have probably £10k to spend when I sell my pick up which is for sale if anyone is interested.
Anybody with experience of towing with a G or anyone that feels they can point me in the right model config please respond & help me make my mind up.
Thanks
Simon
I am not a professional on the matter but before I came to France my G was used to pull a 6 birth caravan around the country and France usually full loaded and at other times before i sold it a 3.5tonne Ifor Williams trailer. I drive a 300GD manual 1987 and although they have a rep for being sluggish mine would pull all day long without a prob but top speed attainable only 60mph not that you would want to go faster than that of course.
I did put a new kenlow electric fan on too and removed the fluid fan which made alot of difference to engine and cooling. even got a couple more MPG.
I had an incident on French Autoroute the caravan was swiped at the back by a mad driver pulling off at an "aire" the whole thing started to come apart the caravan lost one tyre "personal possessions all over the road and bits of caravan as well as it trying to jacknife. I AM CERTAIN if I had been driving anything else it would have turned me over but the G being so solid I managed to control it and pull it over to the side. I had whole family in the car and the back was loaded too (sorry LWB) apart from a few shocked faces they suffered no ill effects apart from the fact they are now as mad about Gs as me. Even my wife loves them. I lived near DOVER before France and I saw many LR Discos and shoguns on their side or roof down on the M2 or M20 after caravan accidents
Good day to you sir! i have a very hard working g which is a diesel auto & a fair tow machine, personaly, with an auto as a tow motor, i find that you are often changing gear manualy to tackle gradients with any sort of efficiency. the snag with auto boxes is that they can`t see the road or know when they are towing so can`t decide what gear to use for maximum momentum.
Another option, depending on pooch size, is a 280 on gas. fairly reasonable to run & has more power on tap than the early diesels.
Another consideration is long or short wheelbase. you will find that a lwb is more stable for towing as you dont get "the tail wagging the dog" so much.
Pop in to my garage in upton on severn some time for a chat about g`s.
we are about 9 miles south of worcester on the river severn.
Regards,
Merv!
01684592656
07812541375
Mervyn,
I do not have much Auto experience, as the missus generally wont let me drive "hers", but having travelled as a passenger with Martin, I concluded that even the 300GD was better with Auto as since a lot of gear changing is necc in the manual -- why not let the Auto box do it, at least most of the time
Marcus
well considering that cavershans are double the price of everyone else,s pricing,you wouln,t get a lot there for 10k
but there is plently of help available on here (more as a member)
dont buy in a rush, beleive it or not YOUR G is out there
happy hunting
foneman
I must say I had a similar experience with Caversham I had same budget as you and he point blank refused to even give me an appointment so i could have a look at the various vehicles.
You will get a vehicle for the money and a good one as long as you take the time needed it might also mean travelling some miles..
Travel Plently
Look Hard And Refuse The DOGS
As i said there,s one for you and i wouldnt be the first you see
Thanks Foneman
I'm a bit of a fussy ba£$%d when it come to what I drive. Do you do any towing with your diesel G. If so how do you get on.
Simon
@miffymania my G that i drive as a third car is a 280 petrol swb
i have towed a brain james low loader a few weeks ago with a swb 300gd on it, (i bought 2 300gd for tidyin up and the other for restoring, i think)had no problem at all towing it , but never had it over 60 mph , on our irish roads , no tail swing at all, i would guess that a lwb would be better again on safety whilst towing , BUT used 50 litres to do it, roughly 150 /160 miles BUT our fuel here is only £0.73p sterling per litre :lol:
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Hello all & thank you for your responses so far:
Nicholas that sounds like a close escape with the caravan. It certainly sounds like the Wagen is a capable tow vehicle from the comments that you & Merv made. does any one know(silly qustion I am sure) if there is a difference in towing capacity between the older selectable 4 wheel drive wagen's & the later (463?) permenant 4 wheel drive vehicles. Also does anyone have any comments on my current holy grail car LWB diesel auto with a/con for £10k. Is that achievable? The guy in Caversham very helpfull seemed to fall of his chair & told me I would need to spend more than double my budget. Also said that there wasn't much difference in economy between the diesel & petrol varients.Not really sure if he was lowering my expectations because he thought he could sell me something he had on his pitch or genuine. Any comments? Merv I think I know or at least new the Mayor of Upton on severn, I'd love to drop in next time I'm over your way. When you say garage what do you mean, Sales, Mechanics, Petrol, all 3.
Looking forward to your input
Simon