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.