Caravanning with an XC90

Hi All

Have just sold my V40 and am now in the market for a good tow vehicle, I'm seriously considering an XC90 for towing my caravan. I have been looking for an XC90 with manual tranmission but a couple of dealers are trying to persuade me to go for Geartonic. Any comments to help me through this dilemma would be appreciated.

[langdale]

The manual version has a foot operated brake. You might find this very awkward, especially when trying to do a hill start - you need 3 feet!

[Rooster]

What about an XC70 D5, they use the same 4wd system and engine as the XC90 but in a lighter car, so better fuel econamy, they don't have as much ground clearence but i think you would be suprised quiet how well they handle off road.

They also have a normal handbrake so would be better for them hill starts

[tj101c70]

Originally Posted by rob eddon

Hi All

Have just sold my V40 and am now in the market for a good tow vehicle, I'm seriously considering an XC90 for towing my caravan. I have been looking for an XC90 with manual tranmission but a couple of dealers are trying to persuade me to go for Geartonic. Any comments to help me through this dilemma would be appreciated.

My Xc90's spend most of there life towing !! horse box, 2 ton rib, and a LR defender,etc at over 2 ton, No bother at all, would advise a ECU power upgrade mind, to give them that little extra umph ! Have found them excellent towcars, a lot more refined that a Discovey for instance,

All my have been the geartronic versions, not interested in a manual, and both have the same footbrake system for a park brake, which with the auto, i very rarely use !!

The XC70 is the same running gear, and is about 10mpg better, but the 90 has about half/ton extra pull capacity !!

Do you really need an XC90? Do you have lots of kids/dogs?

I pull my Bailey Senator Indiana with a C70 convertible T5 and I cannot hardly tell it's on the back.

You need to look at what van weight you need to pull. My van is 1260kg and max. 1500kg laden which is about the largest single axle van.

Most people recommend only pulling 85% of car's weight but as long as the weight is balanced correctly in the van and the nose weight is ok there is no real issue. Mine is completely stable.

If you are seriously looking at buying a Chelsea tractor then consider the Lexus RX400h. This will return more MPG as is more exclusive.

[JsR]

Originally Posted by langdale

The manual version has a foot operated brake. You might find this very awkward, especially when trying to do a hill start - you need 3 feet!

Even with the auto version I have a problem. I live in a very hilly area (south Wales, UK) and I find the parking brake in the XC90 extremely awkward to use. When sitting at lights etc. I don't use it but just keep my right foot on the brake (because of the weight of the car it has a tendency to roll back on a hill). I never know when or if it will hold or roll so I always sit with my foot on the brake. When it comes time to move off again if I have any doubts I'll swap feet and use my left foot to operate the brake like a clutch pedal. I wish that the design was to have either a normal handbrake or to have an automatic-off system - but that would be too late for me. I guess I'll get used to it over the years. Also, I hate the BANG that comes when releasing the parking brake - I'm sure it can't be doing the mechanism much good. One more thing - I've seen letters in some magazines where drivers in the car behind get 'mad' when the guy in front at the lights is sitting with their foot on the brake - apparently they get upset by the dazzle (personally I can't say I've ever been worried by this). Would hate to start generating Road Rage but don't see any alternative with the XC90 in hilly areas.

The whole parking brake thing is my biggest problem (designwise) with the vehicle - why they didn't stick with a standard hand operated mechanism where the brake can be released gradually and gently I'll never know.

My beef over!