Towing with a ZS

Enright · 03-05-12, 10:58 AM

Has anyone used their ZS for towing? If so, please can they comment on their experiences?
I've just fitted a Witter tow-bar to mine, but the towing specs for the car appear to be rubbish!

Put it this way - I wanted to pull a Pug 206 CC back home for the missus, but even though that is only 1140kg compared to the ZS's 1230, the little Pug can supposedly lug about 550kg unbraked, or 1100kg braked, whereas the much bigger ZS is limited to 500kg and 1000kg.
I'm confident that the (ZS particularly in TD form) is quite capable of dragging about more than it says, but will be very nervous about being pounced on by plod.

ZS · 03-05-12, 11:03 AM

Have you got a Towing Licence then? I've been driving 11 years and am not allowed to tow as my licence prohibits it...

I have towed (in my old 180 saloon) an espace in an emergancy situation, in that instance it was the Police that asked me to do it as my car was more powerful than their Landrover apparently...

Enright · 03-05-12, 11:39 AM

Yeah - I'm 43 and passed my test when I was 18.

"All drivers who passed a car test before 1 January 1997 retain their existing entitlement to tow trailers until their licence expires. This means they are generally entitled to drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 8.25 tonnes Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM). They also have entitlement to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kgs MAM."

It's purely the car's capabilities and the legal implications I'm bothered about.

talkingcars · 03-05-12, 12:22 PM

The biggest I've towed with my ZS180 was a camping trailer with a T16 and gearbox or a 1.4 K4 with gearbox and metro subframe and an engine hoist - licence wise isn't a problem - can drive a 44 tonne artic..........

Fred68 · 03-05-12, 04:38 PM

I towed my freelander home on Saturday. It weighs 1550Kg the trailer weight was 950Kg!! So that's 2500Kg's hung of the back of my Pajero that has a towing capacity of 1800Kg's !! Total train weight of 4.7 tons!! And about 15 mpg

MG6Turbo · 03-05-12, 04:43 PM

I towed my M5 with the zs.. Had no issues with the zs. Oh but it was supercharged..lol

G

Fred68 · 03-05-12, 05:11 PM

To be fair it's MGR that set the towing weight low not the car!! It was probably to reduce the chance of warentee claims. The Freelander uses the same engine and gearbox combinations as the ZS but has a 2000 Kg's towing capacity even though it only weighs 200-300 Kg's more!! The TD and 180 will pull much more than the book says you just can't legally !!

zsserbia · 03-05-12, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred68

To be fair it's MGR that set the towing weight low not the car!! It was probably to reduce the chance of warentee claims. The Freelander uses the same engine and gearbox combinations as the ZS but has a 2000 Kg's towing capacity even though it only weighs 200-300 Kg's more!! The TD and 180 will pull much more than the book says you just can't legally !!

So true, I hope at least ZT 260 is good for more in the book

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFNkrwRmba8

Any 2 litre derv would pull a house out of it's foundation ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ueX-A3X6PY ) but safety is another issue, ZS being a lightweight, front wheel drive, etc...

talkingcars · 03-05-12, 08:23 PM

It's not to do with the hp or torque of the engine but the strength of the chassis, when I was a kid a mates dad managed to write off his nearly new Granada 3.5 V6, he was told that 2 horses in his horse box would be over weight but he did it any way and stretched the car by several inches!

Ritchy · 03-05-12, 09:07 PM

never thought about towing a car with a rope as coming under the towing part of my licence(been towing vans about at work), can anyone clear this up for me

regards to towng a trailer i think i still can on my licence but its only up to a certain weight?