I have had my 2015 Sharan SE 140 DSG for 6 yrs towing my Compass 482 without any effort it was perfectly stable. 2 months ago I bought a new Swift T48 icon. I have been caravanning for over 50 yrs and this is the 1st caravan that is un towable. Just finished my final journey in it at 50mph it sways but can be managed at 58 OMG it sways so fast thankfully the cars ATC applies the brakes. I found this very dangerous when having to overtake a slow-moving lorry which almost collided with me. The caravan supplier is adamant the car is at fault.
I've had the 2010 model Sharan SE Mk2 for 2 years now and have completed approximately 12,000 towing miles with it. The first year with a Swift Challenger 560 (similar weight to the Cadiz).
This has got to be one of the best non 4x4 towcars I have owned in the past 20 years. In all drive conditions: motorway, hills, country lanes etc. it just does the job well and without effort. The DSG 6 speed box is excellent and never faulters or overheats, even on tough summer trips to southern Europe.
The car gives an average mpg of approximately 29 with the van on the back and an easy 45 without.
Longlife servicing means one service every two years - bliss!
Acceleration when towing is surprisingly good and on the odd occasion when it's necessary to break the law to get out of trouble, it never fails to deliver. The Cadiz is a fairly weighty van but even in strong cross winds and despite the best efforts of evil truck drivers, it all stays nice and tight and to date I've never experienced any hint of snaking.
Cruise control and the DSG gearbox just take any remaining effort out of motorway driving. The management system keeps everything as optimum as possible.
The Sharan also has an electronic anti-wheel spin setting for take-up of drive and this works really well when trying to get away from standstill in a hurry.
Excellent towability, comfort, safety, reliability and great fuel economy for a car this size - in my book, a real winner compared to its only competion in this class - Ford's Smax and Galaxy.
Brilliant, Had this car chipped and does achieve 50mpg solo and 29mpg towing, Very happy, Very stable, Happy caravaning.
We drive an automatic we find when towing with the car being an automatic it struggles and strains sometimes to change into the right gear but once it does it tows like a dream not really had problems towing with a sharan and we are thinking of trading our x reg in for a newer model of the same car for towing purposes
I have a 54 plate vw sharan tdi 130 bhp,had the car from new and at mo towing a 2006 twin axle Bailey Senator Louisiana.prior to this i towed a large folding camper. the outfit is stable enough but i reckon it lacks power. We holiday touring france and cover approx 2500 miles, the mpg averages about 20 due to a need to change down on any slight gradient.The car would be ideal for a smaller van,extremely reliable with bags of space but looking into getting a car with more torque as we relly rate the caravan for set up and comfort.
Recently purchased a VW Sharan TDI130 on a 04 plate with 50000 miles to tow my 2003 Eldiss Odyssey 505 .........Brilliant !! . Rock steady in cross winds / HGV passings , and very frugal on the fuel....Bonus!! WAS towing with a Passat 130 TDI previous to this, plenty of power , but a bit scary over 50mph , the Sharan criuses along with ease at 60 mph (Legal limit ) . In conclusion this is a well balanced economical outfit .
caravan "what caravan" this pulls so well you dont know its on the back, performance up steep hills is the only noticeable difference, it dosent exactly strugge, but you know its there.
I used to tow with a landcruiser 3.0 td.best machine on the planet!I sold to brother cos of the running costs of fuel.bought a sharan.Big mistake tows like a horse.No it doesnt a horse would be faster.Ive towed for 12 years and i rate this car as good as a 1.6 vitara!If you want to die a slow death then use this car to go to scotland.by the time you get there it will be time to come home,your hols will be over.looking at terrano any comments e-mail me.
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