choosing a tow vehicle, model?, V6?, V8?

[Chris V]

Fellas,

I want to buy a smallish pop-top caravan (the type where about 1 foot pops up) - will probably weigh around 1100kg loaded up.

I want to get a commodore wagon but having some trouble deciding on the model. I've spent hours going through these forums trying to get some anwers but I still need help.

Does anyone have any rough fuel economy figures for V6 or V8 while towing something similar?

I drive about 15,000km's a year and will spend about 1/5 of that towing the van and I'm not sure if i'm better off with an 8 or its just overkill.

I wanna spend about 12K on the car, can anyone recommend a particular model I should be going for? Exec? Berlina? SS?

Does one have advantages over the other for towing?

Do I need the trans cooler for the 8?

Please help if you can.

[illusionalvr]

i have a vr v6 auto, and it seems to have enough torque, but it just isnt heavy enough. exec,belina, etc doesnt really matter, its just what you desire. ive heard that V8s arent overly bad if your not gunning it all over the place. spend abit more, get a V8, spend abit less, get a V6. a V6 is gonna be thirsty anyway.

but any imput would be handy.

[TVR-190]

12k - you could get a vx ss for that cash, or if you want a bit of luxury a vx calais v8.

My mate used to tow his 1200kg boat with his vx exec (v6) did the job (just) but also wore out parts quickly. Id say got super6 / v8 just for the better torque, you will thankyourself should you need to overtake on the highway, or just wanna get off the line a bit better.

[Blown V6 Hatch]

For towing, V8 for sure. Definately fit a decent size trans cooler to a tow car, regardless if it's a V6 or V8.

[sleepa]

For towing, V8 for sure. Definately fit a decent size trans cooler to a tow car, regardless if it's a V6 or V8.

Agreed. Mine has no trans cooler and the auto is missing a gear from I suspect towing stuff. First thing thats going on after I get the auto fixed.

[jay_wr8]

there was a guy that came into work to have his van repaired a couple of weeks ago, it was a full size tandem axle van and he was towing with a lowered v6 vt, said he's never had a problem even with a full car load, i've also seen people tow pop tops with Camrys and also a corolla, if you want a v8 get a v8 but it will cost more in fuel and is not necessary at all

[STEALTHY™]

VT Berlina wagon with an LS1, plus manual conversion.

[jay_wr8]

VT Berlina wagon with an LS1, plus manual conversion.

my next car...hopefully

[nemesis_adrasteia]

For towing, V8 for sure. Definately fit a decent size trans cooler to a tow car, regardless if it's a V6 or V8.

agreed trans cooler is the way to go.

id go the V8 cant see fuel economy being very good either way with the van on, but the 8 will have better torque.

[Blown V6 Hatch]

I would think the V6 would use the same amount, if not more fuel than a V8 towing a load. Simple fact is, the V8 won't need to be worked as hard to do the same job.

[Tom_1569]

Agreed the V8 wont need to work as hard, but I can use my V6 to tow a tinny and about 1 tonne of other crap in the tub and boat, and still hit 12L/100km's and sit at 110km/h comfortably. Ill be honest, there was no way in hell I was going to bother hitting the boat ramp loaded up, I unloaded my shit at camp then put the boat in, but theres enough power. A small pop top isnt exactly heavy, for 1500km's a year I wouldnt worry about getting another car dedicated to this. I have done well over 10,000km's with the boat on since March and havent worried about power for towing (im on P's so a V8 isnt an option anyway).

The fact you have 12k to play with, theres no reason why a LS1 couldnt be in the option, great towing, and still good fuel economy, not much more then the 6 if driven sensibly.

[Blown V6 Hatch]

Agreed the V8 wont need to work as hard, but I can use my V6 to tow a tinny and about 1 tonne of other crap in the tub and boat, and still hit 12L/100km's and sit at 110km/h comfortably.

My 5 litre averaged about 12-13L/100 when i towed my ute across to Traralgon to get it painted. That's right, full sized car and tandem trailer on the back

No way a V6 would do that.

[GTP 85]

My last car was a VN v6 5speed wagon. extractors and full system, HD clutch, cai... etc etc was in great working order. Struggled to tow my VS on a car trailer Not enough grunt to get off the line any quicker than walking pace. Once moving it was ok. From that effort i felt it would suck on a trip interstate... so bought a VN v8, much better

[Reaper]

I can only compare more modern cars however I have done several hundred thousand km towing some pretty heavy stuff.

As a direct comparison it between the LS1 and V6, the LS1 used the same amount of petrol towing pretty much the same load. For holiday driving I presume you are talking about long (ish) trips at highway speeds in which case it's not so much the caravan weight that is the issue, more the windage as it acts like a large parachute behind your car. You will find a happy spot where fuel economy is still good whilst you are making good time however if you increase your speed by even as little as 10 km/h the fuel economy goes thru the roof. The extra torque of the V8 will make this window a little faster than the V6.

You also need to consider the weight of the crap you have in the van you are towing and in my experience its more the braking you need to be careful of rather than engine pulling power.

Reaper

[jay_wr8]

braking shouldn't be an issue if you get a van with electric brakes and have a brake controller fitted and adjusted properly,
a couple of people are comparing towing a caravan to a car, a car would probably put around 2x as much weight on the tow ball compared to a correctly loaded caravan,

i mentioned this to one of the boys at work today, he believes you would use just as much more pertrol in a v8 than a v6, and the only advantage of having an 8 would be the torque off the line/overtaking/ect... but in having more torque your using more petrol

[Blown V6 Hatch]

My 5 litre averaged about 12-13L/100 when i towed my ute across to Traralgon to get it painted. That's right, full sized car and tandem trailer on the back

No way a V6 would do that.

My last car was a VN v6 5speed wagon. extractors and full system, HD clutch, cai... etc etc was in great working order. Struggled to tow my VS on a car trailer Not enough grunt to get off the line any quicker than walking pace. Once moving it was ok. From that effort i felt it would suck on a trip interstate... so bought a VN v8, much better

i mentioned this to one of the boys at work today, he believes you would use just as much more pertrol in a v8 than a v6, and the only advantage of having an 8 would be the torque off the line/overtaking/ect... but in having more torque your using more petrol

Did you even read those 2 posts? Facts, not "believing".

[sleepa]

A couple of years ago I ended up using a VN V6 to tow a car trailer with a 1200kg car on it for 200kms, then a falcon for 350km in a day and she was fine, averaged 12.4L per 100km too. Only problem was at around 90 to 100 it was a little hard to keep at speed.

[illusionalvr]

buy a big old dodge.

[Blown V6 Hatch]

buy a big old dodge.

There goes any sort of fuel economy out the window...

[Shearer]

I've towed a speed boat with my VN V6 and it did that with very well.

Also....avoid towing heavy loads in overdrive. Autos shift in and out of overdrive constantly (especially later electronic autos) causing overheating issues.

[Tree cutter]

A supercharged six comes standard with a trans cooler and has good torque down low. I have only towed a car trailer with mine but it did it easy. I didnt check my fuel economy though. I figure if you tow anything then you are going to get crap fuel economy because your engine is working harder and you cant use overdrive unless you want to kill your trans.

[vn_v6]

go v8, my dad drives tandem tippers, he had a 250hp freightiner, that he needed to fang to carry loads uphill, then he bought a 350hp freightliner, and it used less fuel because he wasnt thrashing it allover the palce just to get it to climb, and it was so much easier