I've just sold my Hyundai Santa Fe which was a superb tow car and will probably be replacing in with an Alfa Romeo Stelvio - petrol version. I'm getting a bit nervous about the loss of towing ability.
I Tow a van with a MTPLM of 1320kg. All the wights add up and the car is a 2lt turbo and has 280hp and 400 nm torgue at 2250rpm so everything is telling me it should be fine just concerned it won't be a relaxing tow!
Does anyone have any experience towing with a similar petrol car?
Well I must admit I have only towed with a diesel in recent years, but many years ago I towed regularly with petrol cars. Petrol vehicles do tow, but the two issues I find are that petrol engines run at much higher revs than a diesel, and they use more fuel. I just find towing with a diesel more relaxing and cheaper.
bobajob59, nothing is certain until you try it out, but with numbers like that you really shouldn't have any problems!
I tow a 1310Kg MTPLM van with my 130hp 1.2 litre petrol Citroen C4 GP and it's fine, it'll exceed the towing speed limit with ease (and a large margin if you're that reckless!), happy to cruise in 6th gear most of the time, returns 28-31mpg, accelerates well enough to pull into moving traffic at junctions etc. Been up and down the hills of Wales, Devon and Lake District on A & B roads, so not just flat motorway stuff. It's different to driving a diesel (previously had diesels for past 30 years!), the same low down torque isn't quite there, but it's not so bad that you scream along in low gear either, no more than occasionally dropping a gear to keep the revs up a little on the hilly stuff.
The reality is that is not just about the 'power' numbers, it's about gear ratios, it's about power delivery and 'driveability', all other things being equal, there is huge variability between different car models, I've driven 1.6 litre versions of cars that are much nicer to drive than 2 litre version despite a significant power sacrifice!
I doubt you will have any problems towing, you may have to adapt your driving style a little to match the different characteristics between petrol and diesel power that's all.
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Topic: Towing with a Petrol
via mobile 18/11/2019 at 8:09pm
