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Towing a caravan

29K views 38 replies 22 participants last post by  12031  
#1 ·
Hi there, I am thinking of buying an 18 month old Kuga 163bhp titanium 4x4 diesel automatic for towing a 1380Kg caravan. Can I expect any problems or should it be plain sailing ? I currently have a manual Xtrail 2.0 diesel and have had no problems towing.
The car hasn't got a towbar at the moment, so should it be fitted by Ford as I've heard that there could be wiring / electronic issues if you go to a private fitter.
Thanks
 
#2 ·
I've not towed a caravan with my 163 titanium 4x4 but I hired a 12x6 Ifor Williams box van a few weeks back and with furniture loaded (probably ~1400/1500kg) it towed fine.

Regarding tow bars, I fitted a Witter detachable tow bar myself but used the Ford Electrics - a fairly simple plug in system requiring significant panel removal at the back end and also a trip to the dealer to enable the towing electrics in the software. Personally I'd recommend the ford electrics but you don't need to pay Ford labour rates to have it fitted
 
#3 ·
I've only towed our new van a couple of times now with our new (to us) 163 awd Titanium but have a 6 berth Swift with a MTPLM weight of 1557kgand the car pulls it quite the thing.
We've had a niggle with the Ford electrics which you can read more about on my thread in the MK2 towing section of the forum but so far as the cars abilities to drag are concerned, I'm quite happy.
 
#4 ·
Hi,

I've just purchased my first Kuga (MK2) and am currently ordering the parts to fit the detachable bar myself.
Are you able to confirm the exact electrics you picked up from Ford?
I thought it was;
Dedicated loom - part no 1859516 and
Trailer module - part no 1919374
but my local dealer said I would also need an optional part no 1857031 @ ÂŁ30.57+VAT.
They have also quoted ÂŁ80+VAT for coding

This post may be better under the towing section

Thanks for any assistance you can give.
RUSNAFU
 
#5 ·
I have a 2014 Kuga Titanium X Sport diesel and tow a Swift Challenger 560 the MTPLA is 1750 and it pulls it like a dream, I had 3 Honda CRV,s before this and I thought they towed well but the Kuga is better, if there is any criticism its when you pull off on a hill you have to keep it in 1st a long time as 2nd is not that good on hills on set off
 
#6 ·
I tow a twin axle Swift Challenger 645 with a AWD 180 diesel Powershift. It's a brilliant tow car with the auto box and is always in the right gear giving smooth effortless towing,it's easy to forget the caravans there.
 
#7 ·
ChrisC600 said:
I tow a twin axle Swift Challenger 645 with a AWD 180 diesel Powershift. It's a brilliant tow car with the auto box and is always in the right gear giving smooth effortless towing,it's easy to forget the caravans there.
'it's easy to forget the caravans there'

Now thats worrying to us non caravaners Chris
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#9 ·
I find my Kuga gets a bit twitchy at the front end past 60mph though
having only towed 3 or 4 times, and gutted the inside of the van of
everything unnecessary (wifes non essential additions) it may be down to
loading the van, though i use a digital nose weight gauge and im smack
well below the max tow ball rating. I also always brim up the tank b4
towing and i suspect the extra weight there doesnt help. A few more
trips and i hope to have it nailed.
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#10 ·
I've travelled from Llanelli to Exeter racecourse this morning with our caravan 65 mph cruise control up hill down dale absolutely rock steady even though it's a bit breezy. Two things have a big affect on stability, that's correct loading and tyre pressures (35F 41R) when towing. Kuga is the best tow car I've had, its got so much grunt you have to keep an eye on the speedo as its so easy to get up to 70-75 mph when overtaking which is a bit quick with 1750kg in tow. Edited by: ChrisC600
 
#11 ·
You chaps do realise that with a caravan on your speed limit is 60mph on motorways and duel carriageways and 50 mph on national speed limit roads. I find as my mk1 has a 100kg nose weight on the towbar, that's the down pressure on the towbar from the van, it's difficult to get the ballance correct, otherwise it's a great tow vehicle.
 
#12 ·
donb1 said:
You chaps do realise that with a caravan on your speed limit is 60mph on motorways and duel carriageways and 50 mph on national speed limit roads. I find as my mk1 has a 100kg nose weight on the towbar, that's the down pressure on the towbar from the van, it's difficult to get the ballance correct, otherwise it's a great tow vehicle.
Congratulations on your knowledge of Highway Code speeds ! However do you recall a manouver called "OverTaking" where your speed may exceed the road speed limit for a short distance ?
 
#14 ·
nigel129 said:
donb1 said:
You chaps do realise that with a caravan on your speed limit is 60mph on motorways and duel carriageways and 50 mph on national speed limit roads. I find as my mk1 has a 100kg nose weight on the towbar, that's the down pressure on the towbar from the van, it's difficult to get the ballance correct, otherwise it's a great tow vehicle.
Congratulations on your knowledge of Highway Code speeds ! However do you recall a manouver called "OverTaking" where your speed may exceed the road speed limit for a short distance ?
tell that to the policeman who books youor the caravan driver who tipped it over the other day by overtaking a lorry downhill.
 
#15 ·
Most experienced caravaners would not be silly enough to overtake anything going downhill. That scenario is one of the biggest cause of caravan accidents.
 
#16 ·
donb1 said:
You chaps do realise that with a caravan on your speed limit is 60mph on motorways and duel carriageways and 50 mph on national speed limit roads. I find as my mk1 has a 100kg nose weight on the towbar, that's the down pressure on the towbar from the van, it's difficult to get the ballance correct, otherwise it's a great tow vehicle.
100 kg on tow ball is cars maximum down weight what is caravans maximum nose weight I find its best with our outfit to load towbar at around 50 kilo handles like a dream g
 
#17 ·
nigel129 said:
donb1 said:
You chaps do realise that with a caravan on your speed limit is 60mph on motorways and duel carriageways and 50 mph on national speed limit roads. I find as my mk1 has a 100kg nose weight on the towbar, that's the down pressure on the towbar from the van, it's difficult to get the ballance correct, otherwise it's a great tow vehicle.
Congratulations on your knowledge of Highway Code speeds ! However do you recall a manouver called "OverTaking" where your speed may exceed the road speed limit for a short distance ?

Maybe a tongue in cheek post
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from 'nigel129' - hope so! Nonetheless be advisedthere is nowhere in any legislation that whilst completing an overtaking manoeuvre a driver is allowed to exceed a speed limit.

Maybe this results from an urban myth? Especially with a caravan in tow one that should not be encouraged for obvious reasons.
 
#38 ·
Maybe a tongue in cheek post
Image
from 'nigel129' - hope so! Nonetheless be advisedthere is nowhere in any legislation that whilst completing an overtaking manoeuvre a driver is allowed to exceed a speed limit.

Maybe this results from an urban myth? Especially with a caravan in tow one that should not be encouraged for obvious reasons.
Or to quote an old truck drivers saying ( being one myself back in the day) there are drivers and then there are licence holders.
 
#18 ·
Sticking to legal maximum speed of 60mph on motorway is ok for my 140ps Kuga towing my 1300kg shed no problems in 2 years of towing,speed limit is there for a reason so I'm happy sticking to it why push the safety margin just to get there a bit quicker has a big effect on fuel economy too
 
#19 ·
hi just got myself a 14 plate kuga had a towbar fitted by indespension i havent had time to test it yet but from the comments i have read it seems to be a good tow car, i had mondeos before and they tow great i had the towbars fitted by ford twice or so i thought it turns out they take cars that wont towbars fittingto indespension after the second time i took the third mondeo to indespension with no trip to ford to sort any electrics the fourth i fitted myself with no problems at all
 
#21 ·
My caravans MIRO is 1526kg & MTPLM is 1800. When we first got the caravan took it to a weigh bridge and it was only 1498kg with gas bottles, motor mover, battery, & water carriers. When it was weighed fully laden with kit in it for a three week trip it weighed in at 1759kg. On dual carriageways & motorways I find my AWD 180 power shift Kuga feels relaxed at towing at around 63-64 mph. I find that if you cruise at 58-60 mph it feels laboured. It regularly returns 27-28 mpg when towing which with almost 1800kg's behind I reckon is pretty good. I have friends that have an Outlander and a Discovery Sport (cost 44k) and both reckon they only get 22-23mpg towing 1500kg & 1700kg. The Discovery Sport owner also says it not a very stable tow car especially if it's a bit windy & he wishes he had kept his Freelander. Obviously I told him he should have bought a Kuga and saved himself 14k!
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#23 ·
Am only getting low to mid 20's on my 14 plate 163 tx powershift have tried everything to improve consumption but no luck so far. I have also found it is better to keep nose weight around 75 as 100 is max. Caravan is only 1495! Any suggestions would b helpful. Have had it remapped upto 197 and fuel consumption improved about 2mpg. Have to say am unimpressed with overall fuel consumption . But love the car!
 
#26 ·
I leave the power shift auto in normal drive when towing or driving solo, in sports mode it hangs on to the gears a lot longer before changing up which I'm sure would increase fuel consumption. As stated in a previous post my AWD 180 power shift returns around 27-28 towing 1800kg. The fuel consumption is the same as my previous 163 powershift which had Superchips Bluefin, which apparently increased power to 182ps. In my opinion the Bluefin was a total waste of money as it made no noticeable difference whatsoever to performance or consumption in normal daily driving.