New Buisness/daily/tow Car

[ardie]

Recently my brother wrote off his car and needed a daily, so I sold him my AU as I was thinking of getting something nicer and was sick of that bucket of bolts anyway.So now I'm left with just my 33 atm as I pounder the decision on what is next, so I thought I would open up my decision to the people of SAU in hope of making my decision easier.

I work in real estate so I need something that will look respectable and display the right image, as well as give a comfortable ride for clients. It will also need to tow my trailer with the 33 on it when I go to the track as well as be able to carry all the spare rims and tires so nothing small and coupe like. I would like something that isn’t a slug as I couldn’t bear driving around something as gutless as the AU again and I would like to tinker with it and modify it over time for a bit of fun. Nothing too insane, just a few bolt ons (chances are it will get out of hand knowing me).

Here are a few of the short listed cars, any thought, comments or further suggestions would be much appreciated.

- Aristo

- Chaser

- Ls1/Ls2 powered commo

- Xr6t

My personal favourite at the moment is the Aristo, however I would like others thoughts and comments on these and other alternatives.

Cheers

Ryan

Edited September 6, 2007 by ardie

[readyGO]

jzx100 or r34 4 door

[jimmytim]

jzx100 or r34 4 door

I'll second this.

[ardie]

Well googlebot, thats an interesting suggestion.

As for the r34 4 door, no thanks, couldnt justify keeping one of those puppies as a tow car plus the stigma thats attached to skylines isn't really what I would like to be associated with me when I'm at work.

JZX100 is def up there, would prefer a 2j tho

[AlexCim]

Nice DAYZ kit series 2 stagea sitting at perfect legal height with a 2 tonne tow bars from towbars of woden in ACT.

I tow my silvia around with it all the time. Also towed a KE70, S14, S14a too without worry.

[**JaR**]

F6 Typhoon

[Al]

I wouldn't classify any of the cars above to be a Skyline tow vehicle. At the end of the day a Skyline is a heavy'ish car, add a trailor, wheels, tools, etc you're looking at about 2400kg of towing weight.

I would at least get an XR8 or maybe consider a large 4WD.

[N1GTR]

Old pajero

Old V8 commodore (as al said)

Old landcruiser

Or the comfy way (hell, why not, its just a daily), get a 10 year old berlina/calais driven by old people and use that, they're REALLY comfy for long trips and have auto everything pretty much......thats why ive still got my berlina That would also be a good work car as parts are cheap enough and the cars dont look too old

[R31Nismoid]

Workout what car your towing first.

As there are rules/laws surrounding the tow vehicle depending on the load you are towing.

So workout what car fits, you'll find a light Aristo probably is illegal as a tow car

[GTRgeoff]

Actually Ash if the trailer is override brake equipped then the towing comes down to the capacity of the tow vehicle. Unbraked then the trailer mass is limited. How else do prime movers tow such large trailer combinations legally? There is the matter of whether the car will survive towing without significant support such as bigger radiator, trans cooling, brake packages etc which is why I chose not to use the V8 Soarer as a tow vehicle, plus I needed a general haulage machine.

In my case I went for an auto BA XR8 ute with leather and hard lid. An incredibly comfortable car, the auto only can tow 2400kg as the manuals are restricted to 1600kg. The turbos suck as tow cars especially the Typhoon. Also the BOSS290 engine is too peaky with the wrong cams for towing.

I'm towing mt 18ft 'glass half cabin and the GTS30tt racecar on trailer. The only change needed is the HD towbar that is $400 to replace the 1600kg factory job.

[R31Nismoid]

Yeah i thought there was more too it, towing isnt something ive ever had to investigate

[ABuSD]

Id go chaser

[tip]Try and edit your 1st post to add a 'pole' and include ur list of cars, ud prolly get more responses that way!?!?

[saff_cossie]

I wouldn't classify any of the cars above to be a Skyline tow vehicle. At the end of the day a Skyline is a heavy'ish car, add a trailor, wheels, tools, etc you're looking at about 2400kg of towing weight.

I would at least get an XR8 or maybe consider a large 4WD.

Agreed, definately none of the above especially given the industry you work in.

I wouldnt go a ute for the same reason despite their towing capability but agree on the Typhoon or another sportier Falcon

[GTRgeoff]

Al, the ute was my option, but the XR8 auto sedan (BA onwards) is also capable of the 2400kg tow weights. As I mentioned the manuals and the FPV variants aren't suitable tow machines due to either the low limit (1600kg on all manuals), the power delivery and torque profiles or for the BOSS 290 engine the cam profiles which puts the peak torque and power too far up the rev range to be useful.

The ute is heaps of fun though, just over 1300kg........and no traction control through a solid rear axle and LSD standard. Brings out the bogan in me.....

[ardie]

I'm really not all that experienced with towing so please excuse the noobness of my questions. So what are the negatives of an Aristo in relation to towing? I know the torque is produced higher within the rev range in comparison to a larger displacement type engine, but its not like I need it to be a weapon when towing, plus they arn't an rb20esque engine. I would have thought that a 2j with cooler, exhaust and management would have been more than adequate to tow my 33, I have towed it using my AU, a mates clubby (duhhh, of course that would work) and another friends old work ute (cant recall the make of it right now).

Also, to those people who are just throwing out random suggestions, please read the thread and answer appropriately while supplying an explanation or evidence that correlates with your answer. I'm just looking for information as like I mentioned, I am a noob tower haha.

[ziad]

check the towing capacity of the aristo. it might not be rated to tow 2.5tonns, hence effect the suspension, by loading it up soo much. the reason that the typhoon/xr6 might not be that good is cuz the torque comes a bit later and in a lump due to the turbo, might cause issues with wheel spin (esp when wet).

considering the field of work you are in i would recomend a luxury spec car. hence I would go xr6 or a V8 or a 4wd like territory. but maybe a ML320/diesel (yes it will be slow but they are not that expensive and it is a merc sure to impress)

[phunky_monkey]

I had a pretty similar criteria that you do when it came ot buying my daily. I chose to go with a VXII Clubsport and am very happy with my choice.

Personally, I think it looks good, goes well, is comfortable, has a decent enough image for clients etc, can do the occassional DECA or similar in it, and it can tow. I did make one compromise in regards to towing, that being I had to have a manual, but I'm fairly confident it'll tow my 180 without a problem. From what I've read on LS1 forums it will tow it with no problems, the 1600kg limit is there to protect the clutch. For the amount of towing I planned on doing with it I felt it was worth the risk.

Dane

[ABuSD]

U know a good idea also is to try and check out the cars your interested in in the flesh. Cos u might realise one, some or all dont actually meet your needs.

After reading Phunkys post im starting to think chaser may have small rear seat area along with Aristo. For comfort and a good image id say step back a few commo models and go for say a WH Statesman or Grange. We all know the got HUGE rear space and are also quite pimpin!! The only problem I can see with the Fords and Holdens is imo theyd depreciate ALOT quicker. But cos u use ur car for work i think theres something u can do to get re-imbursed(Tax scams ).

[phunky_monkey]

Yeah, they do depreciate like all hell, but if you buy one a few years old like I did you can pick them up with largest chunk of it already done. Poor guy who owned my car before me would have lost a lot of money...

[Beer Baron]

the first thing you need to know before getting car reccomendations is what is the budget? if it's high then I'd go for a audi Q7 or something. nice image, big, sold beast. should be able to tow a 33 no problem. if your budget is $5K then we are looking at a different kettle of fish entirely.