850 2.0 glt auto estate as tow car

[iisansi]

Posted this elsewhere before becoming aware of this forum - so apologies to all who have seen it before.
Now, hopefully to a wider audience :

"I've owned a selcetion of Volvo Estates - 240's, 740's, 940, some manual, some automatic, and all have been very acceptable towing vehicles. Not long had this 850 (fitted with 2.0/20v engine), and while otherwise seemingly fine (no oil consumption, no water loss, performance good, mpg around 30), it is ABSOLUTELY AWFUL at towing my 2-berth caravan (gvw 850kg). Just returned from break taking in peak National Park - what a nightmare - struggling with any incline, and going up a 1 in 7, it changed down all the way to 1st with revs still dropping - if hill had been any longer . . . I hate to think. Even on motorways it struggles to maintain 50 - 55mph. According to owners manual etc, this vehicle's towing capacity is 1600kg, so it should handle my little caravan without a thought!"

Any one else any experiences? or got any advice to offer?

If this is typical, then it's bye-bye 850!

[pdrvolvo]

hi,

thats an interesting post.i,ve towed with almost every model of volvo all were brill except one.that one was a 940gl that was a 2.0ltr manual.all the others were above 2.0ltr and have been great.i personally dont recommend cars below 2.0ltr for towing .now i would have thought the 850 would have been adequate for the job concidering the caravan weight and it is certainly not typical.i used to own an 850glt 2.5ltr 20valve and it went like a train when towing.solo it was probably the quickest volvo i,ve ever had.i know that the peak district can be very up and down but even so the 850 should be well up to the job especially with a two berth van of that weight.what makes this odd is the fact that she runs fine solo.

regards peter.

[peter8315]

hi, i have towed with 2ltr manual 940, 2.3 manual 940 turbo, and recently with 960 auto 3 ltr, all on lpg, and to be honest the 2ltr was fairly good but yours is an auto and i dont think that is up to it, i went up a steep hill at whitby this year in the 960 and had to drop it down to 1st gear and it was only just holding its own, i have come to the conclusion that my next car is going to be a diesel as these are well known for having far more torque, regards, Pete.

[saturnuranus]

My dad's old 2.5 10V was a very useful tow-car. For the cost difference between one of those and your 2.0 20V car I'd be tempted to sell it and get one with the larger engine and a manual box .

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

Deffo ditch the 2.0, my Dad had a 2.0 20v and I thought it wasn't too bad, maybe a little underpowered, but the difference between it and the 2.5 is night and day. Although I never towed heavily with either cars, there was a noticable difference with a full load of people.

[iisansi]

Thanks to all for responding.

I think there is a concensus/pattern emerging here!

Know anyone with a diesel variant? . . . . .!

[JimDay]

You could always go for a V70 I bought mine at the end of Jan this year & it tows with no problem we went on holiday last month to the Isle of Sheppey towing an Elddis 2 berth & came home with a 4 berth Swift Charisma & it tows that perfectly & it's an auto.