Towing one pony with Grand Vitara anyone?

[Mossi]

Hi, Does anyone have any experience of towing with a Suzuki Grand Vitara? I am considering towing my 14hh Welsh D, with a 2L petrol, long wheel base Suzuki Grand Vitara (2002 model), which has a braked towing capacity of 1850kg. My pony weighs around 430 - 450 kg and I'm hoping to get a lightweight trailer. Also, are single horse trailers ok, or are they less stable than a double? I will only be going to local shows and hopefully not up/down any very steep hills! Thanks.

 

[STRIKER]

doable but very expensive petrol wise, is it the kind that is permanently in 4 wheel drive, we sold ours far too expensive on a normal journey.

 

[Mossi]

Hi, thanks for replying. I already have a 1.6 SWB Grand Vitara and that has the option of 2 or 4 wheel drive (but wouldn't like to tow with SWB with 1600 kg capacity), so I would think the 2L petrol would have the same 2 or 4 wheel drive options (but with 1850 kg towing capacity), but I will check thanks. I have seen a pristine one previous owner 2L petrol model for sale, which is why I am asking about towing with it. Did you tow with yours Postputasocinit, and was it the 2L petrol model? Thanks

 

[Annagain]

I've never driven one so can't comment on performance but an Ifor Williams 505/506 (used it as it's the most popular make but it's one of the heavier ones) is 905/920kgs so with a 450kg horse on it that would take you up to 1370kgs - well within the towing limit for either of the vehicles you're talking about. The bigger the limit the better though. The single IW403 is about 780kgs I think so that would be roughly 1200kgs but you could get a double trailer that weighs less. Something like a Bateson Derby is only 675kg (but rear unload only) so you'd barely be over 1100kgs with that one, or a single Cheval Liberte with front unload is about 650kgs so again around the 1100kgs. I've towed a single and didn'f find it any more unstable than a big Equitrek.
There's a lot of useful info on trailer weights and tow cars on this website: http://www.towinghorsetrailers.co.uk/index.htm

 

[ROG]

Is this for B or B+E licence towing?

If for B then what is the GVW of the vehicle?

 

[STRIKER]

no we did not tow with it.

 

[Gloi]

I tow my 350kg pony with a 2L diesel Citroen and a single Ifor Williams trailer. It pulls like there's nothing there and I've never had a problem with the single trailer being unstable.

 

[holeymoley]

I imagine the vitara is a bit like the Toyota rav 4. I remember looking at them a while ago. When we had the rav, we towed my 14hh pony with an old bahill trailer with the partition out , this took us up to roughly 1300kg max , and the rav could tow 1500kg. We went on motorways to shows, parked in fields at shows, went along potholed roads to forests and we managed absolutely fine! I imagine the vitara would be fine. The only thing is in reality these cars are not made for towing so you may find that it takes its toll on it.

 

[Shysmum]

Seen it done - would never do it myself..

You need to do the maths as Rog says - that's the only way to work it out.

 

[Max123]

I have a 2006 1.9 Diesel Grand Vitara. It is not a towing machine like a Pajero etc but it is perfectly able to tow an IW 505 with 1 horse mostly 15.1HH but have had a 161HH. For me it is 99% of the time my run around and I only travel with a horse box locally occasionally so fulfills both requirements for me. If I had a need to travel further or more frequent I would consider something different but for your needs I would think it is perfectly adequate

 

[Chunkie]

I tow my 401 with my 15.3 section D with an automatic 2.5l Grand Vitara. It is brilliant, although the petrol consumption is awful, I don't travel far to shows so that isn't an issue.

 

[Mossi]

Thanks for your replies everyone. I have a pre-97 license so that's not an issue. I don't use my car for commuting to work or the yard (I live that close I practically live on the yard) so that's not an issue either. Anyway I'll have a think and thanks again for sharing your experiences.

 

[ROG]

Hi, Does anyone have any experience of towing with a Suzuki Grand Vitara? I am considering towing my 14hh Welsh D, with a 2L petrol, long wheel base Suzuki Grand Vitara (2002 model), which has a braked towing capacity of 1850kg. My pony weighs around 430 - 450 kg and I'm hoping to get a lightweight trailer. Also, are single horse trailers ok, or are they less stable than a double? I will only be going to local shows and hopefully not up/down any very steep hills! Thanks.
I have a pre-97 license so that's not an issue

A double trailer with an empty weight of 1000 with a horse weighing 500 will still leave a margin of 350 with a 1850 towing capacity

 

[kgj66]

Hi, I don't know much about towing weight etc but I have towed with a 2l petrol grand vitara for the last five years and haven't had any difficulties. The clutch is now starting to go, but that is after 5 years of abuse and probably towing more than I should (usually 15.3 TB, and sometimes with another pony or horse). It definitely struggled with two but was manageable providing I remembered to pick up enough speed before going up hills! With the one horse it was fine- albeit I'm sure not as good as a car that is more built for the job!

I am about to switch to a diesel version of the same car purely because I don't want to invest in a clutch when I know there are probably other things starting to to as well.

Overall I love my car, and to tow short distances with a pony I think it would be fine.

 

[Zero00000]

Friend used to tow with this, it was awful, I didn't think we would make it up hills and often used to have to find an alternate route, Very expensive too.

 

[Mossi]

Hi everyone, I have an update. I have sold my Vitara and have bought a 2003 reg short wheel base Terrano, which can tow 2.8 tonnes. I have also managed to get a nice refurbished Rice Europa lightweight trailer, so both vehicle and trailer should be more than adequate for towing my 14hh Welshie. Thanks again everyone for your advice and opinions.