Good Tow Cars?

[handbrake]

Poo-trol delivered yesterday. Makes my wife's Q7 look like a small front wheel drive runabout.

Noel, I know you will be disappointed but a turbo is going straight into this thing.

[FineLine]

Poo-trol delivered yesterday. Makes my wife's Q7 look like a small front wheel drive runabout.

Noel, I know you will be disappointed but a turbo is going straight into this thing.

LOL, Go hard Mark.

[hrd-hr30]

Whatever. I'm aware of the legal towing limits. Works for me when I use it for a tow car 6-8 times a year. I prefer it to 4WD's as there is much less tyre flex. Speed wobbles in a patrol at 100k/h wasn't fun. I've got my hands on load leveling bars so will give that a try sometime soon.

BTW the car at the time sitted only marginally higher so it's not as loaded as it looks. But lowered cars would probably frowned apon here as well as that's illegal too. Lighten up.

whatever. just don't recommend it as "fantastic" to others.

The speed wobbles weren't caused by the 4WD tyres if that's what you're getting at. lol sounds like the load was poorly setup on the trailer. Drawbar weight is important to the towing dynamics.

[kristafa]

just adding 2c, we have a new navara 2.5L intercooler turbo diesel, tows our cars around effortlessly and IMO peak power output means nothing in a tow car

5 seats, tonnes of space for wheels, jerry cans, tool boxes, jacks, etc.. plus the added bonus of great fuel ecomony 650km/65L mixed driving

[Beer Baron]

yeah the navara's are quite good. I've used a navara STR turbo diesel for years for towing. has a chip, exhaust, more boost etc to get it going and now has plenty of torque. the only downside I can name is that Russ (giant) literally ripped the arse end out of his after a couple years of regular towing.

we've lent the navara to mates who have done some retarded shit in it too, like drive off with the jockey wheel down etc and it's still survived. and like you say they have lots of cabin space for stuff you want locked up and a decent amount of room in the tray too.

[bri73y]

Can't beat my VW R50 Touareg. V10 Twin Turbo, chipped, makes approx 300kw + 980nm Torque. Could tow a house if it had too!!

Somedays it feels quicker than the car it's towing......

Don't ask me about fuel consumption though, cause it's seriously the last thing I'm worried about considering I've got a temperamental GTR on the trailer behind!!

[Beer Baron]

Can't beat my VW R50 Touareg. V10 Twin Turbo, chipped, makes approx 300kw + 980nm Torque. Could tow a house if it had too!!

Somedays it feels quicker than the car it's towing......

Don't ask me about fuel consumption though, cause it's seriously the last thing I'm worried about considering I've got a temperamental GTR on the trailer behind!!

lol, no can't compete with that brighty. the tool-rag's are a great car. I'd be happy to borrow it any time it's free.

[bri73y]

lol, no can't compete with that brighty. the tool-rag's are a great car. I'd be happy to borrow it any time it's free.

You would've been half a chance if you asked to borrow the GTR instead!

[evil_weevil]

I think the Navara will be my next car

[Beer Baron]

You would've been half a chance if you asked to borrow the GTR instead!

fair enough, but who'd want a GTR? I still have 2 GTRs of my own plus the RS evo6, silvia and a couple of other less mentionables. Hell I'll lend you one of mine (pls fix any problems you encounter with it along the way).....

seriously though that toureg must be GTR like in fuel consumption. I'm guessing in the 20L/100km range? but there is a lot to be said for travelling in comfort and style and a richly tuned GTR with some stonk easily dips into the 20s as well.

[Beer Baron]

I think the Navara will be my next car

for the money they are not a bad option mate. just don't buy our black STR as it's fking thrashed!!! it's been chipped and running as much boost as it could handle from about day one and from memory spencer has had it briefly under water (less said about that the better). actually no that was the CRV he put into the drink. the navara has also been loaned out to the aforementioned geniuses who have done all type of crap to it (like the jockey wheel incident), but so far it holds up well and has done a shedload of kms with plenty of my trips to Oran Park, EC and wakefield and trips to bathurst, winton, PI, even QR. it's been around. it tows quite nicely at speed (110-130) but at that speed it drinks the diesel something fierce as it's always on boost. much more economical if you are not in a hurry and can sit on around 100km.

having said that if brighty will sponsor me I'll happily jump into a toureg or even a 200 landcruiser. the new V8 diesels make 200kw same as the petrol V8 but have a 6 speed auto box and 650NM of torque! thank jeebus they have a 90something litre tank as you'll need it.

[bri73y]

fair enough, but who'd want a GTR? I still have 2 GTRs of my own plus the RS evo6, silvia and a couple of other less mentionables. Hell I'll lend you one of mine (pls fix any problems you encounter with it along the way).....

seriously though that toureg must be GTR like in fuel consumption. I'm guessing in the 20L/100km range? but there is a lot to be said for travelling in comfort and style and a richly tuned GTR with some stonk easily dips into the 20s as well.

It's not too bad around town, I return just under 12l/100km which is on par with the RS4 it replaced. Different story when towing though, I think 20l/100km would be conservative!

I did my first full track day two weeks ago at EC with my GTR now tuned on E85, did 150kms of track time, used 120litres of fuel!! WTF!!

Definately not complaining about the fuel consumption in my VW.

I checked out your Evo6 last week, very nice piece of kit. In fact if you've still got it in 6 months let me know cause I'll be very interested. It's exactly the car I want for Tarmac Rallies now that my GTR is almost fully track oriented.

[Beer Baron]

that's pretty good for such a big unit. How'd you like the GTR now on E85? Are you happy with the tune/power etc? I'm thinking about switching my new car over as well. It's already got 1000cc injectors which by the sounds of things may only just be enough. I'll need another fuel pump though for sure, current one is a single and only 280l/ph.

Yeah the RS was a real find, but I am in deep shit with my 'lady friend' as currently at home the garage is now full of my 'stupid' cars and our daily is now out on the street. I need to clear at least one space quick smart or I might be living in a car soon. My RS would be perfect for tarmac rally stuff. Just needs a good cage and away you go. It was set-up at Cyber in Japan for the owner who wanted to get into gymkhana and motokhana type stuff which is pretty popular over there. All the diffs etc are sorted, has the ohlins nicely set-up and the close ratio box is great. Lovely tune in it too. If I were keeping it I'd just put it onto E85, cage it and have some fun. At the current rate I may well have it in 6 momths too!

[bri73y]

that's pretty good for such a big unit. How'd you like the GTR now on E85? Are you happy with the tune/power etc? I'm thinking about switching my new car over as well. It's already got 1000cc injectors which by the sounds of things may only just be enough. I'll need another fuel pump though for sure, current one is a single and only 280l/ph.

Yeah the RS was a real find, but I am in deep shit with my 'lady friend' as currently at home the garage is now full of my 'stupid' cars and our daily is now out on the street. I need to clear at least one space quick smart or I might be living in a car soon. My RS would be perfect for tarmac rally stuff. Just needs a good cage and away you go. It was set-up at Cyber in Japan for the owner who wanted to get into gymkhana and motokhana type stuff which is pretty popular over there. All the diffs etc are sorted, has the ohlins nicely set-up and the close ratio box is great. Lovely tune in it too. If I were keeping it I'd just put it onto E85, cage it and have some fun. At the current rate I may well have it in 6 momths too!

To be honest, didn't notice any real difference on E85. Mind you I was running on '08 H1 Dunlops that didn't really let me get any power down and give it a good blast. I'm going to the Twilight meet next week at EC and will be running some better tyres for that so I'll hopefully notice the difference then. 39's is the goal, did 41 at Superlap on 98 (mind you engine only lasted 2 laps!) I'm running ID2000's injectors with 3 pumps so fuel supply doesn't seem to be an issue. the biggest difference is how many more jerry cans I now have to carry!!

Gotta love the 'stupid' car bit! I'm about to build a shed on my property to house all my GTR gear (and possible Tarmac car soon), my better half reckons it's a waste of money as the GTR is only ever at the mechanics anyway!

[Beer Baron]

Yeah it's funny I used to think a GTR with 350kw drank a lot of fuel till you see one with 350kw on E85... 39s is fairly hauling but like you say from 41s at superlap it should be doable. Your wife is dead right but we do need sheds as sometimes the mechanics workshop is full of dead GTRs with no room for mine and in that case we need to store them at home for a while. My mechanic had the nerve to ask me to come move one of mine so he could paint his floor. bastard. It wasn't even a broken one I just didn't have the space in the garage so was quietly not picking it up for a while....

I love the shed idea.I say why not build 2 and rent one to me?

I need to pull my finger out. not long ago 45s at eastern creek was quick in a 32. now it's back of the pack. Especially with berry (and dave loftus too) running in the mid 30s last year and with all the stuff Mark is doing with the 34 I'm guessing it'll be low 30s or even high 20s next time out...

[Russman]

I can tow my 33 at 140 kph and its stable as. (on a private road of course)

[badhairdave]

I've recently been given a 2010 4lt 2wd hilux for work with the uprated tow pack ~2200kg from memory.

I don't know whether the rear springs are stiffer with the tow pack or it's common to all hilux's but the ride is abysmal. I actually prefer it with a car and trailer on the back.

The other thing i've noticed is the tow bar is really low, resulting in a lot of rake on the trailer and also makes it difficult to get my (not very low) cars on to the trailer. I'm thinking about flipping the insert part of the bar to try and gain a bit of height. Does anyone know if it's ok to do or am i going to end up with a snapped hitch in the middle of nowhere?

[Marlin]

Flipping the tow bar tongue over is AOK mate, go for it

Maybe a sandbag or two up the back might help when you're unladen?

[FineLine]

I've recently been given a 2010 4lt 2wd hilux for work with the uprated tow pack ~2200kg from memory.

I don't know whether the rear springs are stiffer with the tow pack or it's common to all hilux's but the ride is abysmal. I actually prefer it with a car and trailer on the back.

The other thing i've noticed is the tow bar is really low, resulting in a lot of rake on the trailer and also makes it difficult to get my (not very low) cars on to the trailer. I'm thinking about flipping the insert part of the bar to try and gain a bit of height. Does anyone know if it's ok to do or am i going to end up with a snapped hitch in the middle of nowhere?

Done it on several occasions for the same reasons.

No probs at all.

[blackrex]

Most of the Japanese utes are like that, Toyota used to supply all of their test Hilux's with 500kg's of sandbags in the tray, to "give journalists a real world feel for the vehicles handling" but mainly to hide the stiff rear spring rates and resultant oversteer biased handling caused by not enough weight being over ther rear wheels.