Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

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ChrisAbout
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Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

Post by ChrisAbout » Fri May 11, 2018 9:16 pm

My wife wrote off her '07 Territory recently (which was also my tow vehicle) and now wants to purchase a new demo 2017 Nissan X-Trail ST 2WD. It's a 2.5l 4cyl rated at 1500kg max towing capacity for $28k. I like the fact that it's FWD as it helps at the ramp, but I am a little skeptical about that lack of torque when towing.

I haven't weighted my rig, but prior to the Territory I used an auto Opel Astra hatchback 2l tdi for towing it, also rated at 1600kg. That towed really well for over 4 years incl. lots of Portland trips.

Has anyone driven/owned/towed with one before and could provide some feedback?

Thanks

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Re: Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

Post by blacklab99 » Fri May 11, 2018 10:58 pm

Chris, I don't know what the new Xtrails are like, I thought they were AWD's ?
My wife has an older model, 2.5ltr, in all honesty a great car, economical, been trouble free.
I used it to tow my boat, minus motor, floor windscreen, basically stripped out, to Hastings and that's as far as I would want to tow with it,
Yet alone fully kitted out and fueled up.
It really doesn't have the torque in it, I believe to tow a fibre glass boat fully loaded over say 5mtrs without it struggling, yet alone hauling it out of a slippery ramp. My wife's Xtrail is 4-5 years old, but I believe its modelled on the same engine.
What size boat have you got ???

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Re: Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

Post by smile0784 » Sat May 12, 2018 12:31 am

Fwd are.hopeless on ramps cos all the pressure is in the rear wheels and the front is lifted.
And your goi g from a 2.4t tow rating to max 1600 but my brothers struggle to pull the 6x4 trailer with 1/2mt of stones.

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Re: Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

Post by ChrisAbout » Sat May 12, 2018 2:57 am

^^^
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Re: Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

Post by Mattblack » Sat May 12, 2018 7:44 am

I think smile meant Front Wheel Drive when he said "Fwd are hopeless on ramps"....and it true, Front Wheel Drives are hopeless on ramps. The new X-trails are great little cars, might struggle pulling anything heavy though

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Re: Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

Post by Scraglor » Sat May 12, 2018 8:28 am

Can she get an AWD? My ix35 AWD tows a 5.3 quinnie fine. Not ideal, but pulls it around no worries, and the AWD means its fine on a slippery ramp.

I used to have a front wheel drive with a 3.5ltr six, would just spin the wheels on the ramp, had a couple of hairy moments

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Re: Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

Post by KeenAds » Sat May 12, 2018 8:48 am

Hi Chris not sure what rig you have or weight you want to tow but you can't go wrong with a falcon or comodore. I personally prefer the falcon and have one with 250k on the clock and it doesn't miss a beat, heaps of power for a 6 cylinder.

You should be able to find either one with low kms just make sure it has full a service history. The only modifications you will need are the tow pack of course but also fit an external transmission cooler and upgrade the standard brake rotors to a slotted / cross drill and heavy duty pads and you will have no problems at all. If the back end drops to much for your liking put in some heavy duty springs and your set to go. These are easy modifications you can do yourself and parts are cheap.

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Re: Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

Post by frozenpod » Sat May 12, 2018 9:46 am

smile0784 wrote:Fwd are.hopeless on ramps cos all the pressure is in the rear wheels and the front is lifted.
And your goi g from a 2.4t tow rating to max 1600 but my brothers struggle to pull the 6x4 trailer with 1/2mt of stones.

Nar, FWD if setup well tow just fine. Front wheels being out of the slime at low tide can be better than RWD.

The T32 has heaps of different tow ratings so pick the exact model carefully.


We have a T31 2.5lt petrol CVT rated to 2000kg with 200kg down ball weight.

I have towed tandem trailer full of stuff about 1200ish kg without issue almost like it wasn't there.

I wouldn't want to tow 2000kg with it though.

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Re: Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

Post by purple5ive » Sat May 12, 2018 9:52 am

if you want to tow YOUR boat and have reasonable fuel economy get a Turbo Diesel.
and id rather an AWD Than FWD at the ramp tbh.
why not get another territory diesel?

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Re: Nissan X-Trail as a tow vehicle?

Post by ChrisAbout » Sat May 12, 2018 10:05 am

Having owed a little hatchback FWD turbo diesel for 4 years and towed/launched this same boat with it A LOT of times in all of WPB & PPB, Apollo Bay, Pt Fairy, Portland, Pt Mac, Pt Welshpool and Pt Albert - I can vouch that a FWD is definitely not hopeless towing or pulling boats at ramps.
In fact on many occasions my FWD was better than the wife's RWD Territory, which wheel spun on low tide.
As with anything, slowly and carefully does it.

That being said, I do agree that the X-Trail is underpowered and without sufficient torque to tow my rig adequately. To test it, I took a local private one equipped with a towbar for an extended test drive this morning, came home hooked up my boat and went for a drive. It struggles, so that answers my question.

I've discussed with my wife and we will look at a 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3L turbo diesel. Not a demo, but a better suited vehicle.

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