Peugeot 308 Diesel as a Tow Vehicle

Submitted: Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 13:38

ThreadID: 72811 Views:10264 Replies:6 FollowUps:5

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Christopher

Hi,

I have bought a small Jayco 13 foot van 1100kg. I am considering purchasing a Peugeot 308 2 litre Diesel Auto Touring Wagon. I like its versaility and economy as a general purpose day to day vehicle.

Heaps of power with 320nm torque, rated to 1600kg towing, but being front wheel drive is this going to be a problem when towing?

Particularly as I live up a hill of about 15 degree grade.

What is the general opinion of caravan owners? Is FWD a problem or is this a misconception?

Any opinions of smaller economical vehicles suitable for towing. Maybe a petrol X-trail, or Diesel Captiva?

Thanks for your feedback

Christopher

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Reply By: Mitza - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 13:52

Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 13:52

Probably you will end up towing 1300 kg or even more when the van is loaded up with your stuff...

I guess rear transmissions helps when going uphills...

Diesel engines are a bit more powerfull than petrol ones and good fuel savers (especially when towing).

(I will follow up this thread because I have a camry 2.2 lt with 1100kg towing capacity and I want to know what towing weight becomes a stretch...)

AnswerID: 385961

Reply By: Tenpounder (SA) - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 13:57

Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 13:57

Hi there. I have reservations about the suggestion: your van, if it is 1100 kg tare, will end up around 1450 - 1500 ATM when you load gas, water, food etc. This assumes the tare is correct. If so, then you will have little or no margin. Also, the ball mass of the Jayco will probably be around 120 kg plus, and this may be above the Pug's max ball mass (which is more likely to be around 80 kg, being a small European car).
I am thoroughly biased, and really like FWD, so I would be less worried by this than about the weight issue (if you have enough weight on the back to upset front axle traction, then you probably have too much on the back, full stop, whether FWD or RWD).
My petrol Prado pulls a van with 1400kg ATM, and it does it fine, but then it ain't all that special up a long hill, but your Pug would have more torque (320nm vs 303nm [tho less power 100kw vs 132kw]), so with a weight distribution hitch to keep the front down (strongly recommended), you may well be OK, but only as long as you keep the van ATM down to, say 1400kg, and as long as you can get the ball mass right.
Does this help?

AnswerID: 385965

Follow Up By: mazcan barry - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 15:56

Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 15:56

hi
i agree in part with above and yes you will have to be very carefull as weight can quickly sneak up as you put all the extra things in that we take for granted

towing capacities on small european cars are in some cases rated higher than jap vehicles for instant
my 2005 vw golf has a reese hitch and is rated by vw to legally tow 1200kg and the towball rating by vw is 120kg as is the reese hitch cost $352.00 fitted

the pug also has a high towing capacity and i believe it's t/ball rating could or is probably 120kg also it should be in the owners handbook thats where i found my ratings for vw
i would strongly also suggest in your application using a WDH to keep the weight on the front end

FollowupID: 653521

Reply By: Mitza - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 14:15

Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 14:15

Do you need an automatic transmission cooler? Stonger rear springs?

How about the wear and tear of towing up to it's limits?

AnswerID: 385970

Reply By: Member - joc45 (WA) - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 14:19

Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 14:19

Can't comment on the suitability of the vehicle, but make sure you check the cost of a tow bar from the dealer or other places.
A friend bought a VW Jetta diesel, with the view of towing, then found out that the factory tow bar was about $2500. Checking around local towbar suppliers, was told nah, don't make them (probably for good reason). Obviously there had to be substantial changes to the rear of the vehicle to accommodate the towbar.
Gerry

AnswerID: 385971

Follow Up By: mazcan barry - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 17:17

Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 17:17

hi joc45
all they did to fit the reese hitch to my vw was cut a hole in the plastic bumper so the tongue assembly can fit through
the jetta is built on the same vw platform as the golf with a stretched rear to accomodate the larger boot area and i reckon reese will have a towbar for it golf $352.00 /2005 now ????? you may like to relay this to your mate?

but it has to have a genuine vw wiring installation kit as vw has digital electrics so you cant hook any wiring upto the vw system without special instal /kits $650.00 or it will interfere with cpu and engine management

i sust it all out and took a pos and neg feed direct off the battery terminals through an independant switch and created my own circuits from it i used 20amp wire and fuse and have several accessory items running from it front to rear to to suit my camper trailer deep cycle battery twin charger and other items without bother i showed a vw w/shop service manager my system
at first he was in doubt but after pointing it all out by coming direct off the battery it could'nt interupt anything and is intirely independant he ok"d my invention and they agreed it was'nt going to hurt the vw system

so use your brains and intuition and you can beat these high tech systems southern t/bars in adelaide hooked the wiring straight into the light circuits in the boot on my vw golf and it took a while but then started to interfere and was giving strange service imfo until one day i stopped on way to perth and it refused to start they traced problem to the wiring connects in the boot remove that and installed correct vw kit with no further probs
(( southern towbars in adelaide has change hand since and is not connected if still there to above))

FollowupID: 653535

Follow Up By: Member - joc45 (WA) - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 18:57

Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 18:57

Thanks for that Barry, will pass the info on. After he told me the price, I said he was being screwed, and to ring around towbar places in Perth. None he rang were interested, but I'll suggest he gives them all another try, otherwise to check your Adelaide source.
I'll bet there wasn't much in the VW circuitry! Yes, one should be able to take it all directly off the battery, with slave relays for the flashers, etc, which shouldn't affect the car's electrics.
Thanks,
Gerry

FollowupID: 653563

Follow Up By: mazcan barry - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 20:31

Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 20:31

joc45
just looked up www.haymanreese.com.au
they have towbars for jetta vw
vw rrp $448.00 ratings 1400kg/t/ball 75 kg product no 2435

the wiring harness kit is quiet detailed with connects to 2 fuse boxes and with built-in circuitry board and then 13pin plug back to 7pin trailer socket all inclusive
i got vw in osborne park to fit mine as it's quiet technical and has to be booted by techman after installationon vw system the golf kit no was :: PN- V1k0055204A instal kit towbar- e
i would get haymreese agent to fit towbar then take it to above to have wiring harness installed
and then when i fitted led lights on my 6x4 trialer i found i also had to purchase a load box trailer wi / PN vw-vga-055294load $205.00 with another circuitry board in it to change from digital to
led analogue talk about technical nightmares

this loadbox goes inline between 7 pin plug and trailer and is poly tied under trailer a/frame and can be transferred to other trailers if needed that have led lights
i before fitting l/box i had a small malfunction and took it in and the tech man looked at the towbar then called 4 more blokes who each had a look the foreman came over and said we cant fix this it's not a vw towbar i said listen mate its a reese t/bar and would"nt matter if it was made out of scrap metal from a scrap yard the electrics is vw harness fitted by you guys 3 mths ago so whats the problem he flinched and walked straight back to the even larger gathering by now at my vw and told them to reprogramme it now
it was done in 5 minutes end of story they just cant see past vw reality
hope this of further help

FollowupID: 653590

Follow Up By: Member - joc45 (WA) - Wednesday, Oct 07, 2009 at 00:58

Wednesday, Oct 07, 2009 at 00:58

Thanks, Barry, will pass that on.

FollowupID: 653624

Reply By: Member - Angus E (NSW) - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 19:37

Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009 at 19:37

Christiopher

Our second car is a 2004 Peugeot 307 wagon with 2litre TDI motor. I wouldn't consider using it as a tow vehicle and didn't have a towbar fitted for that reason.

The resale value is very poor and the after sales support is even worse than Nissan! ie non existent.

We are about to sell ours for that reason, and are looking to uupgrade to a Passat wagon. (towbar = $1800 fitted)

Another option would be the Subaru Outback which is due out with a diesel motor from next month. A dealer who sells both Peugeot and Subaru recommended the Subaru over the Peugeot when we spoke to him last week.

Angus

AnswerID: 386020

Reply By: drowned_rat - Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009 at 01:59

Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009 at 01:59

Front wheel drive won't have much problem on the bitumen but a bit of wet grass and a slight incline, like in a caravan park, and you will have a bit of fun.

I have spoken to a number of people towing small caravans behind small 4 cylinder cars without any significant issues. One woman with a small front wheel drive Nissan reckoned her previous vehicle which was an all wheel drive corolla (I think) was the ants pants.

You might want to look into the transmission as many of the Peugeots and Citroens were fitted with the ZF auto transmission. These were a "sealed for life" unit that was subject to failure, often less than 100,00km, and that is without towing. A friend had this happen at 65,000km (5000k out of warranty) and the minimum repair bill is looking like $7k. If you are buying the vehicle new you might want to ask about the transmission warranty and if it is affected by towing.

google the words: zf transmission failure peugeot

You might want to look into brakes on the van, The car weighs somewhere around 1,300kg, a bit of gear/water/food/clothes in the caravan and it could be equal or heavier than the car. Cable override brakes are fine but electric brakes give you the ability to apply the brakes manually from the car should you get the wobbles up.

AnswerID: 386818