Towing with a Vitara????

Jieboy · 12 June 2006, 00:03

Need to buy another vehicle to tow with after getting stuck with the megane. Thinking about an old 1.6 vitara. What are your views on this? Is it a capable vehicle to tow a 320kg jetski with? Is the 4 wheel drive system any good? just dont wanna get stuck again. An d finally.... are they relaible?

Nos4r2 · 12 June 2006, 00:05

You could tow a 320kg jetski with a metro....

If you want proper reliability and better towing ability though buy a diesel.

BogMonster · 12 June 2006, 02:51

I haven't towed with a Vitara though I have done a lot of towing and have driven a Vitara so my guess is...

ok for something that sort of weight though I wouldn't tow a heavy load as the Suzuki engines don't have much torque at low revs so a smoky clutch will put in an appearance fairly quickly

4WD system is a basic part time 4x4 system on Vitara as I recall, so ok for getting up a slippery slipway but you can't use 4x4 all the time on the road like, say, a Discovery where 4WD is permanent.

Suzukis in my experience ARE reliable - very - but like most things you get to "a certain age" and then start pouring money in to them big time. Just don't buy one "of that age"... and "that age" is hard to define.

Scrumdown · 12 June 2006, 07:36

I used to have a 1996 LWB Vitara 1.6 16v it had p-lenty of grunt and towed pretty well - the couple of inches the LWB gives you makes it more stable at speed. No problem ever off roading in it! Have a look at this website of somebody i knew in North Wales who really off roaded his Vitara! He is now selling body lifts etc on ebay - might be useful to keep your car ut of the water at the slip.

VITARA WEBSITE

stuartbull2 · 12 June 2006, 07:37

I recently purchased an old (95) Vitara to tow my 4.5 mtr RIB,having sold my Fiesta (2002) which happily towed my Sea doo (now sold) Weight of new boat all up was marginally over the 500kilo's which was exactly half the weight of the car ,this gave a max train weight of 1.5 tonne which is the limit for the Fiesta,having seen a boat pull a small car backwards down a slipway at Brixham I decided to give up ,hence the Vitara.

The Vitara is a great little 4x4 ,no problem plucking my RIB out of the water at all,seems very reliable so far and made much better than you may think(I actually prefer it to my previous 4x4 a RAV 4) also the Vitara is auto which is nice)

No real vices so far,I reckon the bodyshell is prone to rust,especially the rear,I have had my bumper off and trated all the metalwork there. Be sure to hose down well after each trip to the slipway.BTW the Vitara seems to have a separate Chassis/Bodyshell -different.

Regards

osprey__viper · 12 June 2006, 08:14

Another for you to consider is the Land rover Freelander. Some good deals to be had at the mo, due to the arrival of the new freelander expected in November. If you consider this route, then IMHO go for the td4 with auto box.

ollyit · 12 June 2006, 08:41

my suzuki sj413 pulls my boat out the water and tows well enuff for me (essentially same car as the vitara just lighter) (in 4wd), - slip is very stoney and sometimes just blatent shingle and weed - 2wd everywhere else - you'll have no worries

TimMcC · 12 June 2006, 08:53

Hi

Just sold my wife’s 89 1.6 Vitara last weekend . Had it for years , no problems . Pulled my 4m SR up some steep slipways without any problems . The only negative comments I would have is that being the short wheeled version it wasn’t the most stable on the road ( especially some of the roads we have over here ) and it was quite thirsty when towing .

Tim

benc · 12 June 2006, 09:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jieboy

Need to buy another vehicle to tow with after getting stuck with the megane. Thinking about an old 1.6 vitara. What are your views on this? Is it a capable vehicle to tow a 320kg jetski with? Is the 4 wheel drive system any good? just dont wanna get stuck again. An d finally.... are they relaible?

Could you not just use a rope? and leave the megane on the non-slippery top part of the slip way?

ollyit · 12 June 2006, 09:09

do-able for sure, sometimes the trailer launches up with the rope method - all about trailer nose weight and gentle pulling initially, taking up the slack and good clutch control,

Tim M · 14 June 2006, 22:18

My mother had a Grand Vitra (2l petrol) but sold it becuase a: it was very crampt (the boot was big enough to get about two bags of shopping in) and it was very thirsty (it was automatic which didnt help). However we retrived a boat on the beach with it once and it performed pretty well.