Towing with a V70 D5

[lespaul]

Hi,

I currently tow our caravan with a Kia Sorento which is a very capable towcar, I'm just tired of putting 70 pounds worth of diesel in the tank every 350 miles.
I'm looking at buying a 05 V70 D5 Geartronic as I think it will make a great towcar and hopefully not be so attracted to every petrol station as the Kia.
Anybody else gone from a 4x4 to a V70 and if so any regrets?

Darren

[JIM C]

I tow our caravan with a S60 D5 manual and find it an excellent towcar having plenty of torque and better than our previous V70 auto which I found was inclined to hunt a bit between 4th and 5th gear and the D5 is so much more economical as well.

[Paddler Ed]

Dad tow's with a D5 (and has done for about 7yrs now) and has no problems with it; it tows a Fendt so not a light van, prior to that a Knaus (again not light!)

Be wary of getting a car without self levelling, as the wheels might lift a bit. But other wise I think they tow like a train. Think that the mileage is a bit better, both solo and towing.

Dad tends to use a XC70's, but has in the past towed with 850's that were FWD. If you can there is a V70 AWD D5, but they might not be that easy to find. Actually, there's a couple on Autotrader...

2003 S

2005 SE

2005 SE (Another)

2004 SE

That's a selection; there were 11 when I looked on AutoTrader today. They'd offer the benefits of the AWD without as much of the fuel penalty.

Hope that helps

Ed

[gary1638]

Never felt the need for a 4x4, I use a 2004 D5 geartronic and am well pleased with the towing performance. My van is a Bailey Pageant S5, weighs in at around 1366kg., all the way to Italy last year, and will be again this year. Very stable tow, plenty of grunt, around 45mpg solo, and 28 towing.

Gary

[Supatramp]

It surely depends on the weight of your caravan.

If like me, you have a Sorento because of the weight ratio between car and caravan, then it's a matter of whether the V70 is heavy enough for your particular van.

In days gone by I towed large twin-axles with large saloons, but of course in the intervening years cars have got lighter and caravans heavier. There was a time when a Volvo 200 or 700 was the ultimate towcar, but that was when a 16' van was a big one!

[pdrvolvo]

Originally Posted by Supatramp

It surely depends on the weight of your caravan.

If like me, you have a Sorento because of the weight ratio between car and caravan, then it's a matter of whether the V70 is heavy enough for your particular van.

In days gone by I towed large twin-axles with large saloons, but of course in the intervening years cars have got lighter and caravans heavier. There was a time when a Volvo 200 or 700 was the ultimate towcar, but that was when a 16' van was a big one!

this is quite true.i have towed for nearly 30 years with a selection of volvo,s and found them superb towers.but vans have got heavier and we recently bought a twin axle but to keep the car weight to a safe limit and the cars power to a capable level i had to change our v70 for the only volvo heavy enough for the job the xc90.most twin axle vans are now around 1.5tons before you put anything in them so the towing vehicle has to be approaching 2tons and 200bhp.prior to this though the v70 2.4 170bhp was one of the best towcars i have ever used stylist,comfortable and very stable.

[wilkhaven]

I been towing for over 20 years now, and used to tow my current Avondale Landranger with a diesel Discovery.

I now tow the same van with a 2004 D5 Geartronic, and other than taking a little more care to ensure the van is not overloaded and the weight distribution is spot on, I have to say it is probably the best towcar I've owned overall.

As has been mentiond, the self levelling suspension is a must, but for trouble and hassle free towing the D5 is difficult to beat!

[Madleee]

The D5 can have it's ECU remapped to increase power should you want more.