mpg when towing

[slidejules]

Hi all,

Quick question - I'm just doing some sums and could do with some input! I'm thinking of getting a box trailer to cart my band's equipment about in. Does anyone know what kind of mpg I can expect to get out of my 110 tdi estate when towing about 700kg behind it (300kg trailer + 400kg equipment), and assuming I'm easy going and law abiding about driving it (eg cruise at 55-60). I tend to get 70 or so mpg when cruising at 60 on these long trips and am just wondering about the trailer's impact. Any info gratefully received!

Cheers! Jules

[DGW]

Do you have a picture of the box trailer in mind? Its aerodynamics will have a major effect on mpg.

[slidejules]

Hiya: I actually just bought this one just now!

Yeah, it's a brick! I'm hoping I'll still get 40 or so?

[DGW]

It's difficult to visualise an object with less aerodynamic properties than that! :shocked:

[andy2407]

It's difficult to visualise an object with less aerodynamic properties than that! :shocked:

But useful if you wanted to have a horse in your band :eek:

[Yes_Dear]

I tow a caravan that weighs about 1000kg with my 110 TDi - it's also got the aerodynmics of a garden shed!

Cruising @ 65 with the CC on i expect to get around 26 - 28 MPG, yours will be better than that but not vastly!

[cheezemonkhai]

Get a plastic moulding made that will make the front of the trailer look like the front top of a 747, eg a teardrop and have it fixed to the top. Either that or have a caravan air deflector fitted on the top of your car.

You will save the money in fuel in no time at all if you are towing a fiar bit.

[slidejules]

sounds like a good idea. Sorted! Thanks all!

[slidejules]

Went to pick it up yesterday... Drove at 55 all the way back, got 38mpg - not bad. Could be better though, I'm going to make some kind of wedge shape thing for the front of it to deflect the air. I had a look for those air deflector roof thingies, turns out they went out of fashion years ago and no one makes them any more! Doh!

Now here's my main problem though - the towball on the skoda appears way too high. When I had the trailer hitched up, the car was level, but the trailer was way nose up - to the extent that the front axle wasn't even touching the ground all the way back (which didn't help with stability, I must say). I've spoken to the Skoda dealer that fitted my towbar and apparently it's *not* height adjustable. Anyone got any suggestions!?!?

[cheezemonkhai]

Don't tow so don't know. I would suggest a visit to a caravan shop/seller as they will know.

[matchmaker]

A few years ago a mate of mine had a Saab 99 auto. He phoned me one night to say that he had broken down in a less than salubrious part of down town Dumbarton :eek::eek: Gearbox knacked:thumbdwn::thumbdwn:

I drove over to his parents house in Paisley in my Mk 2 Golf GTI and collected their 4 wheeled car trailer. Travelled over to Dumbarton and we managed to get the sick Saab onto the trailer.

According to the Golf trip computer, on the trip back to Paisley, the Golf towing trailer plus sick Saab was using less fuel than the Saab would have used being driven the same route :rofl::rofl:

[cheezemonkhai]

Now that is ammusing

[mbames]

But useful if you wanted to have a horse in your band :eek:

More like a donkey :P

[mbames]

Now here's my main problem though - the towball on the skoda appears way too high. When I had the trailer hitched up' date=' the car was level, but the trailer was way nose up - to the extent that the front axle wasn't even touching the ground all the way back (which didn't help with stability, I must say). I've spoken to the Skoda dealer that fitted my towbar and apparently it's *not* height adjustable. Anyone got any suggestions!?!?[/quote']

I have an non-skoda tow bar on my Octy estate and have not had any problems with the height of the ball - just how far is yours off the ground?

I have towed double and single axle trailers with mine with no issues....

[cheezemonkhai]

Just looking on that picture it is hitched to a 4x4 and sitting at the right height.

Where did they mount the bar on your octy, on the roof?

[slidejules]

Well, unloaded, the middle of the towball is 46cm above the ground. Does seem quite high but according to the research I've done, the EU reg is that fully loaded, the middle of the ball should be within 30 and 42cm. So I suppose, fully loaded mine would be at the top of that limit. I also measured the trailer on a flat surface, and lowered to an angle just a little bit nose up (ie about how I'd like to tow it), the middle of the hitch is 32cm above ground. So, ideally I need to either lower the ball or raise the itch by something like 8-10cm to keep it roughly flat and account for the car riding a little low at the rear. To cut to the chase really my choices are either to put bigger wheels on the trailer (not really a goer without replacing the mudguard assembly too (more expense :( ), lower the hitch (impossible according to my Skoda dealer), or raise the hitch coupling itself. What I think I'm going to end up doing is making some kind of spacer bar out of solid aluminium, getting some longer bolts, and putting the spacer sections inbetween the hitch and the V shaped chassis bars at the front of the trailer. I'm a bit concerned about the extra stress on those bolts, but maybe it'll be OK. Anyone got any input here? I've been trawling the web quite extensively this afternoon and not had much luck so far!

Jules

ps in the pic the trailer is actually quite high, I don't think the front wheels are actually touching the ground there either...

[slidejules]

while I think of it, the other thing I need to bear in mind is that assuming we load the trailer pretty evenly, it's going to ride even lower when it's got 400kg or so of gear in it...

[cheezemonkhai]

Go speak to a local tow bar specialist. THey will fit them all the time and so probably have an answer for you. Might be worth giving them a call then going along with the trailer so they can have a look at it.

[Yes_Dear]

Is your towbar a 'swan neck' (an elegant single bit of metal which disapears under the bumper) or a 'Flange' (a box section type bar with the towball bolted on to it)

If it is of the flange type you can get a simple 'drop plate' http://www.towsure.com/default.asp?t=6467 from any decent caravan shop, which will alow you to drop the tow ball down afew inches and at

[paul bateman]

I had the opposite problem on an old citroen zx, the tow ball was too low. I overcome this by using a drop plate for a caravan stabiliser. These aren't designed for ball height adjustment,but they do the trick. I towed my caravan to Spain and back nine times on this set up without any snags. Available from most caravan dealers.

paul