To tow or not to tow.

[MIB]

As the owner of a rather heavy caravan, 1600Kg I needed a pretty hefty tug. Until now I've towed with a Mitsubishi Delica but fancied something newer and not 4WD. To keep within the recommended 85% rule of MTPLM to vehicle kerbweight ratio the only sensible vehicle I could find was a Sedona. With a max tow of 2000Kg and noseweight of 85Kg it shoudl fit the bill.

OK, and now for the question that I really should have asked before buying one----------------
Are they good tugs?

I would very much like to hear from owners who use theirs for towing, is it stable, do manuals tow better tan auto's, what sort of MPG do you get etc etc.

Cheers
Mark

[ebod]

MIB,

I got a Sedona in 2005 because I was planning to get my first c'van. My Citroen Synergie 1.9TD was a really nice car with plenty of gadgets etc but it only had a tow capacity of 1300KG.
This was no use to me as I was not venturing into first time into caravanning by cramming 3 kids into a small van with no mod cons ( which would certainly put the wife off the whole idea ). I wanted to go straight for spacious / comfy c'van with full end bathroom and air-con etc, so this put me right into big twin axle territory.

The ex-works weight of my van is just under 1300kg so I guess with all the trimmings on board it must be 15<>1600kg laden. It has one of those alko hitch stabilisers so towing has not been hard at all.

Most of last year I had a tech problem with my Sedonka but when I checked the towing it did get ~26mpg. It depends on the terrain I suppose. Most of my towing was motorway biased with a final spur off the the coast. If you tour around Scotland you might get a lot less.

I view the Sedona as a very safe bet for towing a big c'van with mpg much better than a similar weight 4x4. However if I got some sudden inheritance from a rich aunt which allowed me to get another used MPV, then I think I would consider a tighter towing margin and get a 130HP Seat Alhambra or a 2.2HDI Citroen C8 ( both are ~1800kg kerb weight and have similar tow limits ) as they are much better cars with ~40mpg returns.

My Sedona does do the job I bought it for, but I am far from smitten with it.

http://tinyurl.com/3d5wjw

[maizetina]

i towed a TEC 650 Down to Paris the kia towed it with ease this van was a twin wheel 2.5wide 1800 mtlplm im not sure what i got to the gallon but i sat a 65mph with ease on the autoroute .
The kia sedona is a excellent towcar thats what i bought mine for ...

[MIB]

So far it sounds promissing.
I've just booked to have aTowbar fitted on mine for Tuesday and our first outing with the van is 9th March, so will keep my verdict posted on this thread after I return.
Ebod, you state 26mpg, is yours Auto or Manual?
Still 26MPG is loads better than my previous Mitsubishi Delica returned!

[ebod]

Mine' s manual

[pepper]

I tow a trailer across to France its a 1500kg gross weight and we generally tow that much (building materials for our house in France)
The Kias ace for that, it tows like a dream stable and powerful for towing.

I had the same trailer on the other day with a motorbike in the back and we were going down a slip road onto a routes national and I had a car peeing me off in the outside lane, the Kia whips upto speed just as quickyl with the trailer on as it does when its not on there!

The trailers a fully covered sliding door Batemen so isn't a light or aerodynamic trailer.

Our previous Espace had a 1500kg towing capacity and when the trailer was on the back we were struggling to get over 60mph and as soon as we hit a hill it went backwards!