what car can tow my trailer?

[goonerboy]

i have a catering trailer, 10ft long with the usual stuff in it, baked potato oven etc. anyway i need car (not a 4x4) to tow it around. i need a cheapish car. i was told a volvo 440 would do the job.. any ideas if this is the case? if not can you reccommend a car? many thanks for any help you can give me..

[twiglet4frog]

i think u would need something around a 1.6 at the minimum to safely pull the trailer without much strain and preferably a 1.8

[Narolines]

Yep - you need to know the maximum gross weight (it's called something else more flashy now, but it means the same thing) of your trailer before you can determine the minimum power/kerb weight you'll need in your towing vehicle.

[Narolines]

Forgot to add - it's not just engine size that counts - torque is more important than sheer bhp, and more important still is where in the powerband that torque is most available; it's no good having an engine that only delivers its maximum torque at very low or very high revs, where it won't be of any practical use to you for towing.

[Buenchico]

Everything written so far is fine but there seems to be one obvious word missing from the thread: DIESEL ! (They don't put diesel engines in trucks and buses without a good reason!).

Subject to the considerations mentioned by other people, any reasonably powered diesel car should meet your needs. I used to drive a Citroen BX17 - I saw plenty of other BX's (either 1.7 or, more usually, 1.9) being used to tow large trailers, catering vans, horse boxes, etc.

Chris

[Ward-Minter]

440 would do the job, though i would opt for a cheap Honda Accord with a 1.8 or 2.0l V-tec engine. They are ten a penny and would have enough torque when the V-Tec kicks in to carry your load.

Also the reliability will be better than Volvos.