Towcar of the Year winner announced

We have a 2017 Ssangyong Rexton W automatic seven seater. An outstanding car to tow with. Surely the club is bowing down to its advertisers again? Like all magazines and clubs, keeping the money rolling in is far more important than facts.

I mean, ANY Vauxhall in that list is plain wrong. Hahaha!

I am now probably in my last year of caravanning!  We have enjoyed our hobby since 1976 when we bought our first van a Sprite 400 as a taster and then a new Abbey Durham 2 years later.

Our latest and probably last van is a 2014 Coachman 565 Pastiche, a fairly heavy beast requiring a pretty strong towing vehicle in order to be confident of coping with all problems.

It will not be my problem, but I really do fear for the future of our hobby.

The current pollution frenzy has encouraged a new breed of small cars powered by even smaller engines, delivering high BHP but not a great deal of Torque.  There are of course many new cars and SUV's fitted with a variety of hybrid and electric power sources.  But I have yet to find one capable of towing my heavy Coachman over long distances of 250 - 300 miles in one day.  Journeys that I do now without having to plan fuel stops etc.

Caravans are already changing and getting lighter, fine in one way but will they offer the long stay comfort that my wife and I enjoy now? So I would expect to see our hobby changing considerably in the future.

The CC is already experimenting with "Pods" and possibly Yurts etc, so is that the way the future will take you?  Not me!  Is the concept of towing your holiday home time limited? Will future members expect their accommodation to be waiting for them at their destination?

The Times they are a changing!

TF

Are these issues part of the trend towards motorhomes?

Quite possibly CY. In many ways I wish that I had changed some time ago, but its too late now.  I doubt if I will continue after this year.

The trend towards MH's started a long time ago. You only have to look at sites today especially in early & late season to see that, and also of course dealers compounds.

But given that just about all of the MH's are powered by the much reviled diesel (Not by me I would add) I suspect the moving finger might soon be pointed at them too!

Cheers!

TF

Mazda still have a 2.2 diesel so I don't think you have to worry for use. .

420nm of torque and 175ps is easily enough to tow my 1700kg swift, and this car gets heavier each revision, my model is now 1743kg....

Power and torque available shortly perhaps next year. 190ps and 450nm.

But the Mazda still has more doors than cylinders 😉

And uses less fuel.

And yet.........

This diesel engine has been continually dogged with issues, oil rise, dpf failures, manifold draw ever since its launch in 2012 in the Cx5. By some measure the most complained about diesel engine of any volume manufacturer. It has proved impossible for Mazda  to overcome and shake these problems so much so they have given up trying and are reverting to Adblue in the latest versions.

Bit of shame for them as the Cx5 is well regarded by many but the diesel engine has proved just too much of a lemon for some.

Tj

Yes the early engines did have issues, oil rise due to DPF regens being interrupted for some owners.

Myself I had the vacuum brake pump changed on my 2013 car, I was only made aware of it when my car had its 2nd service, and a Mazda campaign was to check for excess wear on a particular vin range of cars.

Mine was within that range, and was only likely to have the premature wear cam issue, both can allow metal shards into the oil ways, leading to oil starvation and killing the sequential turbo's as a result.

I decided to change mine as a preventative measure and bought another as no car comes close for my needs, and I have looked at other cars, generally costing £10K more.

All the engine failures can be traced back to the vin range which is common knowledge on the forums.

We don't have adblue on the UK cars as it meets euro6 with out it, and always has done since 2012, the yanks are going to get it due to the USA being more stringent on nox emissions.

As for DPF failures never read about one.

Oil rise has only been a problem for a few people, I have some myself but yearly mileage of only 7K means its never been a problem.

And a mechanic who is also on his second CX_5 reports zero oil rise on his 2017 car, as does my neighbour who hasn't had any oil rise on both his cx-5's, his latest one being a 2017 car, who also tows.

I fully expect to be buying another when the 190ps version comes out, with 450nm.

manifold draw? never read of any issue.

What is meant by 'oil rise' and 'manifold draw'?