Caravan Trip to Queensland

[SamF]

I have just hitched my 17 foot caravan to my Kluger and headed for an 8 week trek to and around Queensland. The caravan weighs about 1345Kg unladen and probably about 1600Kg loaded. Out first leg from Melbourne to Albury, the Kluger averages 16L/100K and the leg from Albury to Cowra (using secondary highways and passing some hilly country) we average 18L/100K.

The Kluger has no problem towing the van, sometime I hardly know it's there. However I now know why Toyota recommend that you tow in 4th gear instead of 5th, and that is because they have set their torque converter lock-up to be far to sensative and even on the slightest incline it keep locking and unlocking the torque converter. No great drama. I select 5th gear on level parts and manually drop down to 4th when running uphill. Apart from that, very pleased with the economy and towing experienced.

I will keep this topic updates as I progress on my trip, for those interested.

[holmesie]

Thanks Sam - will be interested to see how much the economy varies, and any other towing experiences you think are worth passing on.

Travel safely in the meantime :)

[Kruzenvax]

Well, I towed my boat today... not a far distance but what a contrast comparing to my previous car... Everything from the towbar height to the power (the only this that reminded me of the boat was the rear window) was great. But it took time to get used to the position of the handle in "S"... couple of times it was like "Oh %^%^%^% - something wrong with it":D

[holmesie]

Can't wait to pull my boat out of the shed again.... 'cos that means a fishing trip

[Blackkluger]

what speed do you avg for that economy? Also how can you tell if the torque converter locks up?

[SamF]

what speed do you avg for that economy? Also how can you tell if the torque converter locks up?

I normally travel at about 95kph (100kph on the speedo). You can see the torque converter lock by the fact that at 100kph (speedo) the RPM drop from 2250 to 1750 and because it is so sensitive on a anything above a dead flat road or a decline the RPM hunt between 1750 and 2250. So I just pull it back into 4th gear and it sits at 2500rpm.

[SamF]

I have just hitched my 17 foot caravan to my Kluger and headed for an 8 week trek to and around Queensland. The caravan weighs about 1345Kg unladen and probably about 1600Kg loaded. Out first leg from Melbourne to Albury, the Kluger averages 16L/100K and the leg from Albury to Cowra (using secondary highways and passing some hilly country) we average 18L/100K.

The Kluger has no problem towing the van, sometime I hardly know it's there. However I now know why Toyota recommend that you tow in 4th gear instead of 5th, and that is because they have set their torque converter lock-up to be far to sensative and even on the slightest incline it keep locking and unlocking the torque converter. No great drama. I select 5th gear on level parts and manually drop down to 4th when running uphill. Apart from that, very pleased with the economy and towing experienced.

I will keep this topic updates as I progress on my trip, for those interested.

31/07/08 Currently in Warwick, the Kluger has been performing faultlessly. Best economy so far was about 15.5L/100k worst 18L/100K this was going up and down some hilly country around Cowra.

[holmesie]

worst 18L/100K this was going up and down some hilly country around Cowra.

Sorry about that - I'll have them removed for your next visit

[Glug]

G'day All (my first post)

What braking system are you using and where was the best place to put the the brake controls?

I have a large campervan, a small fishing boat and a tandem trailer: the tinny is light weight, the tandem has the standard hitch brake, only the van has electric brakes which worked well with my last car (mazda tribute).

[holmesie]

G'day All (my first post)

What braking system are you using and where was the best place to put the the brake controls?

I have a large campervan, a small fishing boat and a tandem trailer: the tinny is light weight, the tandem has the standard hitch brake, only the van has electric brakes which worked well with my last car (mazda tribute).

Welcome Glug - there is some info here on brake controllers - Prodigy seems popular, take note that the installer doesn't mount it where it will interfere with the operation of the driver's knee airbag

hope that helps

Cheers

Edited August 7, 2008 by holmesie

[Glug]

Hey thanks holmsie, that helps a lot. :)

[SamF]

I have just hitched my 17 foot caravan to my Kluger and headed for an 8 week trek to and around Queensland. The caravan weighs about 1345Kg unladen and probably about 1600Kg loaded. Out first leg from Melbourne to Albury, the Kluger averages 16L/100K and the leg from Albury to Cowra (using secondary highways and passing some hilly country) we average 18L/100K.

The Kluger has no problem towing the van, sometime I hardly know it's there. However I now know why Toyota recommend that you tow in 4th gear instead of 5th, and that is because they have set their torque converter lock-up to be far to sensative and even on the slightest incline it keep locking and unlocking the torque converter. No great drama. I select 5th gear on level parts and manually drop down to 4th when running uphill. Apart from that, very pleased with the economy and towing experienced.

I will keep this topic updates as I progress on my trip, for those interested.

Hi from Warwick we went to Toowoomba and then on to Rainbow Beach before moving on to Noosa. From Noosa we went to Bundaberg and we are currently in Rockhampton. The Kluger has not missed a beat. Towing is easy and comfortable. Petrol consumption is still 16-18 L/100K. We start going south in two days time.

31/07/08 Currently in Warwick, the Kluger has been performing faultlessly. Best economy so far was about 15.5L/100k worst 18L/100K this was going up and down some hilly country around Cowra.

[SamF]

I have just hitched my 17 foot caravan to my Kluger and headed for an 8 week trek to and around Queensland. The caravan weighs about 1345Kg unladen and probably about 1600Kg loaded. Out first leg from Melbourne to Albury, the Kluger averages 16L/100K and the leg from Albury to Cowra (using secondary highways and passing some hilly country) we average 18L/100K.

The Kluger has no problem towing the van, sometime I hardly know it's there. However I now know why Toyota recommend that you tow in 4th gear instead of 5th, and that is because they have set their torque converter lock-up to be far to sensative and even on the slightest incline it keep locking and unlocking the torque converter. No great drama. I select 5th gear on level parts and manually drop down to 4th when running uphill. Apart from that, very pleased with the economy and towing experienced.

I will keep this topic updates as I progress on my trip, for those interested.

Hi, it is now the 6 September and we have been to Toowoomba, Rainbow Beach, Noosa, Gladstone, Rockhampton and then back to Brisbane before coming to Surfers Paradise. The petrol consumption is still in the range quoted previously. The Kluger has handle the caravan very well. While in Rainbow beach we accidently strayed on onto the beach where 4WD are loaded onto the ferry for Fraser Island. This meant we had to travel about 0.5 k across heavily rutted sand and then do a U-turn on the ferry before heading back. I had 4 adults on-board and the tyres at normal inflation. The sand ruts were about 180mm deep. The Kluger did not miss a beat and handled it all with ease.

Hi from Warwick we went to Toowoomba and then on to Rainbow Beach before moving on to Noosa. From Noosa we went to Bundaberg and we are currently in Rockhampton. The Kluger has not missed a beat. Towing is easy and comfortable. Petrol consumption is still 16-18 L/100K. We start going south in two days time.

31/07/08 Currently in Warwick, the Kluger has been performing faultlessly. Best economy so far was about 15.5L/100k worst 18L/100K this was going up and down some hilly country around Cowra.

[SamF]

I have just hitched my 17 foot caravan to my Kluger and headed for an 8 week trek to and around Queensland. The caravan weighs about 1345Kg unladen and probably about 1600Kg loaded. Out first leg from Melbourne to Albury, the Kluger averages 16L/100K and the leg from Albury to Cowra (using secondary highways and passing some hilly country) we average 18L/100K.

The Kluger has no problem towing the van, sometime I hardly know it's there. However I now know why Toyota recommend that you tow in 4th gear instead of 5th, and that is because they have set their torque converter lock-up to be far to sensative and even on the slightest incline it keep locking and unlocking the torque converter. No great drama. I select 5th gear on level parts and manually drop down to 4th when running uphill. Apart from that, very pleased with the economy and towing experienced.

I will keep this topic updates as I progress on my trip, for those interested.

Hi, it is now the 6 September and we have been to Toowoomba, Rainbow Beach, Noosa, Gladstone, Rockhampton and then back to Brisbane before coming to Surfers Paradise. The petrol consumption is still in the range quoted previously. The Kluger has handle the caravan very well. While in Rainbow beach we accidently strayed on onto the beach where 4WD are loaded onto the ferry for Fraser Island. This meant we had to travel about 0.5 k across heavily rutted sand and then do a U-turn on the ferry before heading back. I had 4 adults on-board and the tyres at normal inflation. The sand ruts were about 180mm deep. The Kluger did not miss a beat and handled it all with ease.

Hi from Warwick we went to Toowoomba and then on to Rainbow Beach before moving on to Noosa. From Noosa we went to Bundaberg and we are currently in Rockhampton. The Kluger has not missed a beat. Towing is easy and comfortable. Petrol consumption is still 16-18 L/100K. We start going south in two days time.

31/07/08 Currently in Warwick, the Kluger has been performing faultlessly. Best economy so far was about 15.5L/100k worst 18L/100K this was going up and down some hilly country around Cowra.

27/09/08 We got back home yesterday after coming down the east coast. Traveled a total of 8500Ks. Very impressed with the Kluger's towing ability and it off-road capabilities. As stated previously the best fuel consumption while towing was about 15.5 L/100K and the worst was 18.5L/100K. Did not use a drop of oil on the whole trip. The highest speed reached with the van was 130Kph (while passing a slower van) and the car and van were completely stable. Most of the time I towed at 95-100kph.

[peedub]

Gidday everyone, first post, maybe a bit long but I'd love to share with you my towing story.

Part 1

I had a subaru forester towing an avan cruiseliner ("A" frame pop up, looks like a prism when set up, but folds down to car top height when touring), it did the job but the poor subie was on the limits with weight and tow ball download. Weight of the avan was 1400 kgs approx, towball needed weight distribution hitch (WDH) as this particular model is fitted with A/C well forward of the trailer wheels and contributes to a healthy towball weight. A better towing vehicle was needed.

A long internet search and vehicle review/test drives were conducted since the beginning of 2008, with the old problem petrol vs diesel cropping up quite a bit, fuel economy was a paramount concern. Short listed were the Santa Fe crdi, Sorrento crdi, Ford Territory, and the Kluger kxr awd. In the end money parted from the wallet to buy a Kxr awd pearl white kluger in June this year. The Sorrento was oh so close, particularly the on paper specs, they are really impressive, if you are interested a review by Gazza73 on the Sorrento forums is spectacular regarding the towing and 4wd capabilities. 4wd low range drive was not a necessity for me, but awd was a requirement for the kluger for towing, just my preference.

During all the research, fuel economy for these vehicle were digested and noticed during test drives etc. Forums about real world towing econ were available for everything, but the Kluger real world econ figures were light on the forums. Kluger test drives on the freeways showed 8-9 lt/100km, impressive figures, but what would it go to when towing the Avan. This was an unknown when I bought the kxr, so was hoping I had done the right thing when I settled on it finally. There was the agonizing doubt that I should have gone diesel, but with the 20 cent difference between petrol and diesel I was prepared to have a slight econ disavantage with a petrol kluger. Touring with a caravan is becoming a costly pasttime, will I be able to afford the kxr's towing costs? Well here is my experience.

I just toured SE Qld and northern NSW in the kxr for 2 weeks towing my Avan. Itinery was Brisbane to Stanthorpe via Kilcoy, Esk and Perservence dam to Crows Nest for first overnight, then to Stanthorpe. Many hills and the climb up the range. I used cruise control, sat on 90 ks, tyres 38 psi, temp low 20s. Econ in Crows Nest showed 14.5/100, which I thought was pretty good with only 1000 kms on the clock when left home. Cruise control would pop back to 4th then 3rd at 3500 rpm to maintain 90 ks on some of the climbs, the kxr awd pulled up the hills really good. Handling impressive all the 2 weeks with the WDH used all the time when towing.

Edited October 6, 2008 by peedub

[peedub]

Part 2

Over the compulsory medicinal reds in Crows Nest, I thought i would go to stanthorpe using cruise control on the flat only. Any hills would be negotiated manually to see if i could improve the econ to stanthorpe. The technique was finessed to Stanthorpe with the econ dropping to 14.0/100. A trip was planned to Tamworth to catch up with some old friends. Fuel topped up in Stanthorpe, 356 kms to Tamworth, minor sightseeing, 20c temp, no A/C used. econ was 12.8/100. Yes 12.8 lt/ 100 kms. 46 lts put in to the second click on the bowser. really remarkable considering the terrain driven. Return trip was 400 ks due to sightseeing etc, A/C used 90% of the time, econ 13.5/100, and yes 54 lts to full, second click. I now know that the kluger can be used economically with my avan to tour into my retirement years. The final reading I had totally towing was Warwick to Brisbane reverse route via Crows Nest, no Perseverence Dam detour this time, temp 30c, A/C on the whole way and pulled in to see 13.3/100. I am extremely happy with these figures.

So what was my driving technique. I towed in Select mode. Due to the relative light weight of the van lockup was used on the flat, alternating between 1700- 2200 rpm if minor rises were experienced. Through judgement, if a hill was ahead i would pre-empt the gear change just on the grade change and select 4, set the current econ to 20.0/100 with the throttle and the kxr would pull up the hill at 2500 rpm at 90 ks no problem. Higher grades required S3 at 3000 rpm, current econ set to 25.0/100 with the speed decaying to 80 ks, sometimes 70 ks. As there were overtaking lanes everywhere I wasn't holding anyone up, and I wasn't thrashing the engine with high rpm and therefore higher fuel consumption. If there were no overtaking lanes I would maintain the 90 ks up the hill and accept the reduced economy to be a sensible driver.

Caveat. This was posted to give future and existing owners some idea at least of a towing econ figure. My driving style is just that, not everyone would have the patience to plod along. If so accept a higher figure. Daily conditions change, I might not ever attain 12.8/100 again, but gees I will give it a go. Maybe I had favourable wind conditions. Remember this was the awd model, A/C used, towing a small caravan same height as the kxr, in hilly terrain. A bigger van is going to use more fuel as Sam F has related to us. I feel that the combination of kluger and cruiseliner or faired poptop is a great match. I can't wait to take it out on the coast road next holidays to see what I can get on the flat econ wise.

As a last remark, talked with a few guys who had terracan crdi and they were doing 12-13 lts/100ks towing small jaycos , millard and windsor vans. The high tech 3.5 ltr engine is right up with those crdi engines. Food for thought for potential buyers. One petrol jeep cherokee guy was using 22.0/100 towing a large van. When I work out how to post a pic I’ll show you the outfit.

Thanks for your patience guys, and I hope this helps someone.

Edited October 6, 2008 by peedub

[holmesie]

Welcome peedub and thanks for sharing your story - nice technique and economy results :)

Cheers