Tow car choice

Ive got a 2016 Kuga 180bhp, towing a Unicorn at 87%. Never had a problem, but I'm about to place an order for a Skoda Kodiaq diesel, 200hp. I just think i need a bit more weight..

When we bought the Kuga, it was toss up between that and the Sportage. I think we made the right decision.

I test drove a Korando. Its a heavy car, but very agricultural. The best thing the salesman could say about it was that the seats were from Kia! Mind you, they are cheap

I can't make comment on any of these cars however there's more to a tow car than bhp .... it's torque & at what revs you get that torque that matters.

I cannot agree more with the comment above. I know my caravan is a lightweight, but I swapped from diesel to petrol, same torque, but the petrol delivers across a wider rev range from a lower level and is an absolute joy to tow with. 

I towed from Merseyside to Dover in cruise control and never dropped out of 6th gear until near the end of my journey.

I get up to 40mpg towing 1200kg and high 60's/70mpg on a solo run.

Do not discount the modern petrol engine. 

Colin

Does your cruise control stay on and adjust itself when you slow down from 60 to 50 in the many roadworks on todays motorways

If I have to brake or accelerate it will return to it's previous set speed. I have to admit that leaving Merseyside at 9pm for the run to Dover that traffic was light and this did not really happen much.

Colin

You’ll love the Kodiaq. I use it to tow my Coachman 520/4. Hope you’ve ordered DSG as when I purchased the manual was not approved for towing. You need to make sure there is towing approval when you buy a new car. Don’t assume. 

At present we have the Kuga diesel mild hybrid which we have been pleased with and it tows very well and as normal as we lease our cars next year we have the option of replacing or keeping it and as it has only clocked up 8000 miles in the last two years the later seems the better option but I will leave that to the driver and also my gaffer to decide.

Purchased a 2 year old Kuga 148bhp last February, old shape, to replace my 12 year old Laguna Sports Tourer. Tow a 450/2 Coachman Vision dealer special. Have found fuel consumption is not as good as the Laguna and ride very hard so much so that my wife is not impressed. The Kuga tows the van well but wished I had done more research before purchasing as I think there are better cars out there for the money I paid. Just wished Renault had kept the Laguna going in this country as it was totally reliable.

We tow with a 2015 180bhp manual Kuga and have never had a problem and it will sit at 60mph all day. It pulls infinitely better than the 2014 160 (ish) bhp model which I was very disappointed with.

Thanks for all the advice - but I think I will definitely change back to a diesel for sake of the torque - we only have a two berth caravan and the Kuga is a good tow car but the fuel consumption is low when towing and its very poor on hill climbs and needs frequent lower gears to maintain any sort of speed.