Towing with a Volvo V60 estate

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birchhill

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Hi, hoping for some experience from a Volvo V60 estate owner. I'm considering a Volvo V60 T6 estate (hybrid plug-in) for towing a horse/trailer combo of c. 1400kg. The numbers all stack up on paper - the kerb weight of the car is 2000kg, its towing capacity is 2000kg, and it has plenty of torque and 4WD.

But! Towing with a smaller estate car makes me a bit nervous :-) So I'd love to know if anyone else has experience of towing with the same set up. Has it worked for you?

Fingers crossed, as it looks like an ideal set up for what we need. This'll be our second car, used mostly for shorter runs and occasional towing - so I ideally don't want to get a more expensive SUV like an XC60 or a diesel (our main car is electric - which is no good for towing long distances).

thanks!
 
I’d be really iffy about using it as a planned regular tow car. Maybe a once in a blue moon if I need to tow in an emergency but otherwise it’s probably just on the wrong side of not a sensible choice. Could you consider the 90 version xc spec?
 
birchhill said:
Hi, hoping for some experience from a Volvo V60 estate owner. I'm considering a Volvo V60 T6 estate (hybrid plug-in) for towing a horse/trailer combo of c. 1400kg. The numbers all stack up on paper - the kerb weight of the car is 2000kg, its towing capacity is 2000kg, and it has plenty of torque and 4WD.

But! Towing with a smaller estate car makes me a bit nervous :) So I'd love to know if anyone else has experience of towing with the same set up. Has it worked for you?

Fingers crossed, as it looks like an ideal set up for what we need. This'll be our second car, used mostly for shorter runs and occasional towing - so I ideally don't want to get a more expensive SUV like an XC60 or a diesel (our main car is electric - which is no good for towing long distances).

thanks!
Click to expand...

Volvo V60 Recharge Plug-in Hybrid T6 AWD Plus towcar review

An expert review of the Volvo V60 Recharge Plug-in Hybrid T6 AWD Plus which assesses its qualities as a towcar as well as a solo car, with ratings and technical details plus an accompanying YouTube video.
www.caravanclub.co.uk www.caravanclub.co.uk
Caravan and Motorhome Club review. I would suggest that you would be find, it’s not about the size of the car so much as its weight.
 
phizz4 said:

Volvo V60 Recharge Plug-in Hybrid T6 AWD Plus towcar review

An expert review of the Volvo V60 Recharge Plug-in Hybrid T6 AWD Plus which assesses its qualities as a towcar as well as a solo car, with ratings and technical details plus an accompanying YouTube video.
www.caravanclub.co.uk www.caravanclub.co.uk
Caravan and Motorhome Club review. I would suggest that you would be find, it’s not about the size of the car so much as its weight.
Click to expand...
The caravan they were testing it with weighed 1500 kg.
 
I say this every time these threads come up but I tow a 401 (total weight including horse about 1400kg) with two diesel estate cars - a Subaru Outback and an old Volvo XC70. Both have a kerb weight of around 1700kg and a tow capacity of 1800kg. They do absolutely fine and I've never felt unsafe towing with either of them. I tow up some real hairy hills (we ride a lot on the North York Moors) and so long as you don't mind chugging up them at a very steady pace, they're perfectly okay. I still maintain that you don't need a massive car to tow one horse. If you have money coming out of your ears and can afford to run a huge thirsty car as a daily drive, then fine, crack on. But many of us can't.
 
phizz4 said:

Volvo V60 Recharge Plug-in Hybrid T6 AWD Plus towcar review

An expert review of the Volvo V60 Recharge Plug-in Hybrid T6 AWD Plus which assesses its qualities as a towcar as well as a solo car, with ratings and technical details plus an accompanying YouTube video.
www.caravanclub.co.uk www.caravanclub.co.uk
Caravan and Motorhome Club review. I would suggest that you would be find, it’s not about the size of the car so much as its weight.
Click to expand...
These reviews are very useful, they're usually pretty scathing about anything that (in their opinion) doesn't cut it.
 
I tow a 401 with a volvo S60 2l diesel. Manages ok and tows well on the motorway but I would not go any bigger trailer wise. Lack of ground clearance is my biggest problem.
I would go with a higher suv if you have the funds.
 
angel7 said:
Lack of ground clearance is my biggest problem.
Click to expand...
Yeah that's true, this is a really good point. Both our cars are pretty much the highest clearance any estate cars have, and even so I have to be careful parking up on really rutted fields. Not a problem you really have to think about if you're driving a Land Rover or the like!
 
thanks for all the responses, they've been really helpful - the ground clearance one is a really good point, so I'm going to see if a we can stretch the budget to an SUV. first rule of horse ownership - have a figure in your head, then double it :-)
 
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