Benefits and Concerns with a 120

[Jon Wildsmith]

it's Nick that has the 1800kg caravan (gross weight I imagine) although we used to have one that was 1850kg gross and a lot of people overload them so imagine what those ones must weigh there's a game we play when traveling, spot the wandering caravan and guess what's towing it

Maybe you should get a smaller caravan Nick and increase your mpg that way?

 

[Graham]

Have you considered a Discovery

yes, then I woke up and realized it was a nightmare phew

OK fare points, was just making certain that all options had been considered 120 it is then

1800Kg That seems like alot of caravan I'm not sure that my house weighs this much

.
The 120 towing ability is 2800kg.
Now that really has to be one hulluva' caravan.
A 1000kg car trailer, with a 120 dropped ontop of that is the brings you up to the 2800kg area.

G.

 

[BIG clean GREEN]

Sorry folks, no Disco and no smaller van, I've only recently aquired this van and it's as big as my house and we love it, so I'm going to have to work round it some how, you're right Jon there's no way I'd tow a twin axle without a decent sized 4x4, it'd sway like me after 6 pint

Here's a link to my van if anyone wishes to know what it's like !

http://www.caravanfinder.co.uk/2010/video-sterling-caravans-eccles-amethyst-new-caravan-2010.html

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

That's a touch smaller than our last one Nick and towing it with my 100 was rock solid. Can't see why a diesel 100 in standard trim would do less than 20 with that sat at 60 on the motorway whereas I suspect mine was doing about 16 when standard. We've gone to the other extreme now because it was too much like being in a hotel room or something and not enough like camping plus problems getting onto a lot of French sites with big vans. It's so snug we've yet to use the heater I've had 17mpg towing this one as my truck stands now whereas I'd guess at 13/14 if we still had the last one and yes Steven a Passat could tow this one safely but where's the fun in that

 

[lc 120]

I pull a 2.1 x tonne fully loaded van with our 120 and it is excellent, just returned from Europe and achieved 22mpg on average ....

 

[Nuclear Chicken]

The 120 towing ability is 2800kg.
Now that really has to be one hulluva' caravan.
A 1000kg car trailer, with a 120 dropped ontop of that is the brings you up to the 2800kg area

NO chance. The 120 is at least 2100kg.....

 

[Gary Stockton]

From Mr T himself:

Detail V6 D4D Auto D4D Manual
Kerb weight total maximum (kg / lb) 2080 / 4586.40 2190 / 4828.95 2180 / 4806.90
Gross vehicle weight total (kg / lb) 2850 / 6284.25 2850 / 6284.25 2850 / 6284.25
Towing capacity (breaked) (kg / lb) 2800 / 6174.00 2800 / 6174.00 2800 / 6174.00
Towing capacity (unbreaked) (kg / lb) 750 / 1653.75 750 / 1653.75 750 / 1653.75

 

[Steve H]

Has your mpg only suffered since you fitted your new tyres? Have you towed this new van with standard tyres or not? I ask because I tow an Avondale 556-6 which is 1350kgs all up with two spare batteries in the back for 12v rallys(no electric hook up). I just had a holiday in Wales with this setup and got 22mpg towing the van. My truck is bog standard apart from a pipercross air filter and rear silencer cut off. Also had injectors reconned August last year. I keep to 60 mph on the motorways and switch off O/D when going up hills and speed drops to 50 mph( autobox holds onto O/D until gets below this by then lost all momentum). I have considered getting a 120 but all that electronics and other issues puts me off a bit. I like to be able to fix it myself if it goes wrong.

Steve

 

[BIG clean GREEN]

Steve I only get 22 solo Now I'm thinking that perhaps I do need the injectors doing, how much did that cost you ? I haven't towed this van with Std tyres, but |I did tow my old one which was around the 1300kg mark and recall I got somewhere around 18mpg, I'd be a happy chappy if I could get just 20mpg towing !

Is there a simple test for the jectors or is it a strip down job ?

 

[sae70]

Steve I only get 22 solo Now I'm thinking that perhaps I do need the injectors doing, how much did that cost you ? I haven't towed this van with Std tyres, but |I did tow my old one which was around the 1300kg mark and recall I got somewhere around 18mpg, I'd be a happy chappy if I could get just 20mpg towing !

Is there a simple test for the jectors or is it a strip down job ?

This is interesting I'm getting sub 20 on a run and 16 when off road and Fiery's a SWB manual! I wonder wht she'd give towing your van Nick

Remember this viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10545&hilit=mpg&start=10

 

[Chris]

I found the manual to be very low geared. I thought that the manual, with short shifting and a motorway cruise would be great. It wasn't. My old auto LWB used to give me 28 mpg no problem with ATs on. OK we now have crap fuel with no goodness in, but the best I did in LB was 21 mpg before mods.
My 120 gave me 28 and I drove it like I stole it.

Chris

 

[Steve H]

My local diesel specialist tested the injectors for free. They found that two where opening 20 bar lower pressure than the others. That 's a difference of 300psi. They retipped and reset all four for £80 about 12 months ago. My truck now starts and ticks over much smoother and has stopped varying the tickover speed(used to blip up about 100rpm then settle back again). Mine was off the road for two days while the work was being done but it wasn't their fault it took so long as the wrong parts got sent to them. Truck now pulls stronger throughout the revs. I tend to cruise everywhere at 65mph when I can. The most I have got out of a tankful is 29mpg when we went to Newton Abbott for a weeks hols. I use Tesco diesel only for the points to get the deals for days out, etc for the kids. When I tow the van I put 200mls of 2 stroke oil in the tank and then brim it. Since having the injectors done I average 24mpg mixed driving per tank but I do have a light right foot.

 

[BIG clean GREEN]

Is there anywhere near us Chris, that'd do the check for free ? PT diesels, is that where you had yours done ?

Jon, you mentioned possibly something wrong with mine for that poor consumption, where would you be looking if it were yours ?

 

[Chris]

Yes. Trevor at PT. He might want a drink for doing them. Can't say he will do them for free. I'd think yours were fine Nick. They don't look, smell or sound wrong.

Chris

 

[BIG clean GREEN]

Just filled it up now and after driving it like miss daisy I received a whopping 21.6mpg, not good !

 

[Gav Peter]

I've just done a mpg check on Muxley - running the 35" muds, re-geared & with a rack on top I got 22.8mpg...

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Were you monitoring mpg, especially towing, before you put the km2's on? They will cause increased rolling resistance and reduced gearing which may be reducing the torque available at 60mph with a big van on the back enough to mean the torque converter is often unlocked (sounds like what you described) which would be very inefficient. What tyre pressures do you run?

If they've made no difference then IMO there's something very wrong with your fueling but you should see that as black smoke out the back?

 

[Graham]

The 120 towing ability is 2800kg.
Now that really has to be one hulluva' caravan.
A 1000kg car trailer, with a 120 dropped ontop of that is the brings you up to the 2800kg area

NO chance. The 120 is at least 2100kg.....

.
Hi NC,

OK, maybe I underestimated the weight of the 120 at 1800kg.
If it is around the 2100kg, then I didn't know.
So the total weight with car transporter and an LC120 at 2100kg on it is up around the 3100kg.
When I drove my brothers LC3, it towed very well with his other LC3 on it.

G.

 

[BIG clean GREEN]

There's no black/blue smoke to speak of, it starts well and runs evenly, there's no over/under revving so I assume all is pretty well under there !
Prior to the KM2s I was getting around 23-24 mpg solo, and I didn't have this van either.
I may have hit onto something with Chris earlier, I now always fill up at Tesco where as before I was using branded stations namely Esso, this would account for perhaps a couple of mpg.
The other query I have is, would having used veg oil cause any reduction, I'm on pure diesel most of the time now, I know that when I've used 30% veg oil in a tank I found it to be less mpg, which I expected but I wonder if that's now caused an issue with the fueling

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Prior to the KM2s I was getting around 23-24 mpg solo

Was that driving like miss daisy or just normal because you weren't paranoid about it then Tesco might be responsible for a couple of mpg drop local / solo but obviously that wouldn't explain mpg on holiday. What size are your KM2's Nick and what size is standard?