SUV for Towing

I presume 1600kg unladen. 2 - 2.2T loaded with gear?

I'd be going Prado, Pajero, Hilux, Triton.

Your Mazda has a rated tow capacity of 1600kg braked, 750kg unbraked, so it is not really suitable for towing your 1600kg van.

A quick trawl of the web on the Mazda auto transmission will reveal why you probably wouldn't want to tow anything with it. The engine is pretty powerful and that part would have no issues.

The question of what to upgrade to depends largely on what your budget is, whether you want new or used, petrol or diesel, manual or auto.

$120,000 or so will get you a V10 Touareg which will tow your van with ease :)

If you want a SUV in Australia you will need something like a Commodore SS ute or a Falcon XR8 - they are the only sport utility vehicles I know of in Aust.

I do not believe there are any 4wd or awd SUVs sold in Australia. If you want one of these you will need to go to the USA where any 4wd is called an SUV - we do not have these in Australia because we call them 4wds, softroaders or AWDs but not SUVs.

Garry

For similar money to an X Trail you can get into an Hyundai Terracan Diesel which is an excellent and economical tow vehicle.

Hi John.F,I have a Jayco J Series Pop Top,which I tow with our Ford B.A.Falcon,we fitted a trans cooler $320.00.A Hayman Reese tow bar and adjustable load distribution hitch.The van is around 1700 / 1800 kg,s loaded.The Falcon handles it all with ease,we averaged 16.8 l /100 klms on our last trip up to Hervey Bay.
I have looked at all types of 4x4,s,with the price of diesel steadily climbing the Falcon will do for now.
Have a look at the Ford Territory another great tow vehicle.

regards Frank.M

FWIW,

I'm doing a trip to NT in a CRV towing a jayco dove.
It has a towing capacity of 1500kg with electric brakes (standard on a CRV). A dove only weighs around 900kg, so shouldn't be a problem.

GC

Watch out for X-Trails.
My son's outlaws had a manual Xtrail. Burnt the clutch completely manouvring their van at about 20K. Switched to a Falcon Wagon and are happy..
The X -Trail also has well known auto trans overheat issues in sand, which causes the car to refuse to go after a short time. I would think that this may also apply to towing, but I have no direct evidence of this.
Regards Philip A

John F ,
yes my Falcon is a BA Model 4.0 litre Six four speed auto,doubles as a town car from home.
I also fitted a Tekonsha prodigy brake controller,and Polaris camera system on the car and van,works like a dream,along with Aussie Truck mirrors,best on the market in my opinion.No problems in the towing department at all.Cheers Frank.M.