Sunday we drove from Wirral to Chudleigh in Devon.
Car - 1996 Toyota Previa 2.4 auto petrol w/lpg conversion
Unit - 1999 Elddis Jetstream EX 2000
The car seemed to struggle at times, dropping down the gearbox quite a lot. We were being passed by virtually everything on the motorway including other car+van combinations. In fact I couldn't get it above 56 mph at all. And if anyone knows the hill just before Chudleigh on the A38 it REALLY struggled up there, 2nd gear, 28 mph.
What really worries me is that Saturday we leave to head to Powys, and the GPS wants to take my over the Brecon Beacons as it's much shorter than the alternative of going most of the way back up the M5 and then across into Powys from there.
So my question is am I expecting too much from my car, or is there possibly something amiss?
If it's the first time you've towed, it will seem strange at first. Have you checked with the whattowcar site?
Auto's behave differently from manuals, but I would have thought a 2.4 engine would have coped well.
My auto was changing up and down the gears on slow hills all the time, until I found the override button on the side of the gear selector! That dropped it down a gear and held it there whilst I chugged up the hill. Might not have been the fastest climb, but I got there!
Check that you're not overloading it, and that all the heavy stuff is over the axle in the middle of the caravan. And don't fill the boot of the car with heavy stuff either.
Take no notice of the GPS, going the longer way around is often the best way when towing. Do the big A roads and motorways as far as possible.
BTW, the speed limit for towing on the motorways is 60mph, so you weren't far off that!
lorry speed is a legal fifty plus the 10% so its a real 55..
60 plus the 10% would be 66 for a van on a motor way..
i go at lorry speed having them sit close on your tail is bit scary.. if you do build up a queue behind you pull over after a while and let it go..
drop down a gear and dont be scared of using more revs.. most people run well below the engines real power band.. pulling a van needs more revs.. use them it wont do any harm..
its not that you can not get above 56 that is really the problem, i would be more worried that i had no more power to get me out of a situation and that i was pushing my car to its limit all the time
Quote: Lorry speed on single carriageway roads is 40mph (max)
they have governor set to 55.. 55 even though the limit is fifty..
the fact i didnt know they were limited to 40 on single carriage ways tends to suggest they dont rigidly observe the 40 max.. probably the best thing all round.. he he
its not written in stone but it used to be commonly known that you didnt get prosecuted within that 10%.. lorries certainly know it and the people that set the governors.. :)
Quote: Lorry speed on single carriageway roads is 40mph (max)
they have governor set to 55.. 55 even though the limit is fifty..
the fact i didnt know they were limited to 40 on single carriage ways tends to suggest they dont rigidly observe the 40 max.. probably the best thing all round.. he he
its not written in stone but it used to be commonly known that you didnt get prosecuted within that 10%.. lorries certainly know it and the people that set the governors.. :)
trog
You will find most of the big operators do stick rigidly to the limit. The rest are risking their licence. They are all working under Tachometer recording.
Follow a lorry operating in Tesco livery for example. Being run by Wincanton or one of the other big transport companies. It will not exceed 40mph.
Thanks for the responses everyone. It certainly did feel like everyone was breezing past me. I'm just wondering if the cars they were driving, Ford Mondeos etc, would have been diesel, and therefore better suited to the task.
In answer to Ewan C is was on LPG till it ran out, and then petrol for the est of the way.
And in answer to LlaniDavis we are heading from Devon to Hundred House in Powys, just outside Builth Wells, a campsite called Fforest Fields, our favourite site to date.
Engine size to a degree means nothing,I had a deawoo musso 2.9 td.That really struggled especially over the moors to whitby where it finally gave up.I was in second or 3rd doing 20mph but the car was fine,i had it checked numerous times.When we got home on the recovery truck my nieghbour took the van back to storage with me,he had a seat people carrier 2ltr diesel but cant remember the model name.Anyway,that went really well with my van and accelerated like it wernt there and that was only 2ltr.I think it depends on gear ratios and how the engine is tuned.But in my view deisel is a must for towing.The chrysler 300c i have now is 3ltr deisel and that goes like a rocket even over the moors,and returns 28 mpg towing on average and 35-40 mpg not towing.We love it.
I also had a petrol/lpg converted car (though didn't tow and it was a manual) and whilst it saved a lot on the road, always swapped to petrol for off-road and very steep tracks.
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Quote: Originally posted by Hiekel Essterol on 05/8/2014
And in answer to LlaniDavis we are heading from Devon to Hundred House in Powys, just outside Builth Wells, a campsite called Fforest Fields, our favourite site to date.
Fforest Fields is great.
As you are concerned about hills, may I make a suggestion?
Follow the M4 to the A470 junction at Cardiff and follow the A470 all the way to Llanelwedd, just over the bridge from Builth Wells, turn right at the first roundabout and then right at the next, signposted Kington. That route has few steep hills and is dual carriageway all the way to Merthyr. The rest of the A470 isn't bad.
The alternative would be M4, A449, A40 to Abergavenny then A479 to Talgarth, and the bit from Crickhowell to Talgarth is steep and narrow! You could do that route but follow the A40 to the outskirts of Brecon and then join the A470 north, but that isn't as good as the first route.
Going back to the Wirral you would be best going back to Llanelwedd (Builth) and then following the A470 to Rhayader and near Caersws, then following the A483 north through Newtown and Welshpool. That is a better route than going Llandrindod Wells and Newtown.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Being passed by snails!
