17' and a Patrol

[b1900c]

Gday all
We are considering getting the new Patrol (3ltr manual) to tow the 17 footer.

There doesnt appear too be many towing expanders, or vans for that matter on the road. We see plenty with camper trailers.

Has anyone had experience towing bigger vans with these in regards to fuel economy and towing with the manual etc.?

Enjoy the cricket

Cheers

 

[MolongMick]

I'll be towing my Expanda with 2010 patrol. Not sure how it will go with fuel consumption, NissPat should shed a bit more light on that aspect of it.

I found if you were hard it used alot of fuel when I towed the Eagle OB, if gentle it was okay.

 

[stuartcarr2002]

Go the Pathfinder, more power, less fuel and unless you want to go hard off road the Pathy will do most things...

We found our Patrol was sluggish compared to the Pathy and that was towing our Eagle. That said ours was an 05 pre common rail, but similar power figures, plus ours had a chip...

Think about this, 350ish nm for an auto Patrol compared to the 450nm and a better 5 speed auto in a lighter car. Says it all...

That said the Patrol is slightly better in the stability side of towing than the Pathy, but a WDH and rear airbags solve that issue.

Either way at least you are considering a Nissan

 

[Pace]

Go the Pathfinder, more power, less fuel and unless you want to go hard off road the Pathy will do most things...

We found our Patrol was sluggish compared to the Pathy and that was towing our Eagle. That said ours was an 05 pre common rail, but similar power figures, plus ours had a chip...

Think about this, 350ish nm for an auto Patrol compared to the 450nm and a better 5 speed auto in a lighter car. Says it all...

That said the Patrol is slightly better in the stability side of towing than the Pathy, but a WDH and rear airbags solve that issue.

Either way at least you are considering a Nissan

agreed with the above, for us too, R51 ST-L manual all good.stuart, what air bag system do you run in the rear full bags or the inner spring type? do you have standard nissan towbar aswell?

 

[stuartcarr2002]

agreed with the above, for us too, R51 ST-L manual all good.stuart, what air bag system do you run in the rear full bags or the inner spring type? do you have standard nissan towbar aswell?

We have the inside spring bags from Firestone and due to Mr Nissan not making a towbar for use with WDH went the Heyman Reese towbar with the 550 WDH kit... Well worth the spend...

 

[Moto Moto]

I think it would do it easy. Probably not as easy as most of the current high output common rail engines, but it would still do it fine.

The thing i like about my Patrol the most is it feels like its in control of the van all the times. You just can't go past that extra weight for feeling in control of a van.

If you are into 4wding you will get one of the most capable off roaders in standard form. Plus, as of a few weeks ago they come standard with VDC and diff locks to comply with new VIC road rules:whoo:

But if 4wding is not a main drawcard, probably keep shopping.

I think there was a review on a Ti Patrol a few issues back in Caravan and Motorhome Magazine. It was more an advertorial than a review though.

 

[NissPat]

I just got rid of the 2008 Patrol auto as my van was close to ATM and I was over 2.5t towing capacity of the auto. It had no problems towing 2.7t but it wasn't a rocket up hills and did like to drink around 20l/100kg.
Just to stay legal I have now taken delivery of the new 2012 model GU8 but have not towed with it yet. Have to fit her out first.

As said above if you don't need a capable 4x4 go look somewhere else. The Pathy which seems to be one of choice pics for an all around compromise.

I'll let you know how the manual will go but already seems to be more torquey.

 

[straydingo]

If you get a Pathy, be very wary of any accessories added on that it doesn't take it over tow limits (ball weight) like mine is....

 

[b1900c]

Thanks for the input guys.
We do quite a lot of 4wding, so thats a big plus of the Patrol.
We are going for the manual version as it gives the towing capacity upto 3.2 tonne as opposed to the auto.

I would love the Ti version .... the budget won't stretch that far!!!
It appears most of the deals coming out at the moment have a "free" tow bar. Trouble with that is you can't use a WDH if required as it voids your warranty!

Thanks all

 

[andrea]

We have a 2004 patrol 3L TD manual and also a 2011 17.56-2. My husband travels at 110 in the 110km zones without any dramas. He does feel it on the hills a little but we drive it through the hilly part of Brisbane without causing any real delays. He thinks the sweet spot for fuel economy is around 90-95km on a flat run. When we towed the van back from Bundaberg to Brisbane (the back way through nanango etc so we had a lot of hills) and he stuck to the 90-95, I think he was getting around 15-16l/100 we haven't worried since though it isn't getting as good when he's travelling that little bit faster..... maybe 17-18?? We have the HR WDH (highly recommend this) and have suspension for towing (though not airbags). The vehicle, besides having a snorkle hasn't been enhanced at all (we brought it new so know the full history).

HTH

 

[Moto Moto]

Hey b1900c, did you decide on the Patrol yet?