Diesel or Petrol????

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Sun 21 Jan 2007 19:57
Diesel or Petrol???? - LongTallHowie
Hi,
Can you tell me the best car/engine/fuel for me. I have a diesel 2.2 hdi Citroen C5 at the moment, and also have a caravan that I use in total 4 weeks a year (travel to europe for summer holiday) the C5 pulls it lovely but do I need a Diesel? only drive about 8000 miles a year. If I don't need a Diesel what car and engine do you recommend ( I have around 9k to spend ).
P.S Caravan = 1300kg gross

Thanks
Mark
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Sun 21 Jan 2007 20:42
Diesel or Petrol???? - MikeTorque
With that kind of weight being towed go for a diesel as it's has the advantage of a lot of torgue and the extra engine weight of the diesel contributes to the tow weight ratio. The diesel will be much more efficient fuel wise than the petrol as it's not having to work as hard due to the high torgue at low revs compared with a petrol engine.

The Caravan Club advises that you should aim for a towed load that is no more than 85% of the car's kerb weight for stability and safety, that equates to a caravan of 1300Kg and a car with kerb weight of no less than 1520Kg. However, many car makers will not recommend such a high load ratio so check what a particular manufacturer recommends as a maximum tow weight otherwise your insurance may be worthless in the event of an accident.

Basically a car of the size of at least a Ford Focus II is the minimum sized car you would need to tow a 1300Kg caravan. Petrol engine would need to be at least a 2.0 (145ps) 3 or 5 door, diesel engine would need to be at least a 1.6 (109ps) 5 door. With £9K to spend you have plenty of choice, but consider the running costs as a 2.0 petrol will cost significantly more to insure and run than a diesel and a diesel will be easier to sell in the future.
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Sun 21 Jan 2007 21:00
Diesel or Petrol???? - LongTallHowie
Thank you for your advise. I thought sticking with a diesel was best!
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Sun 21 Jan 2007 23:37
Diesel or Petrol???? - MichaelR
This sort of money is sufficient for a BMW 330i. You wont really notice increased fuel costs with your low mileage, and you've plenty of weight and torque for the caravan.
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