In the New Forest for Christmas with our new to us caravan. This was our first trip out with the caravan and the Freelander was superb, we covered 480 miles most of which was towing and returned 26mpg which i thought was very good. Apart from a day of rain which kept us indoors we made the most of the time we had and it was very pleasant. so we are back home now and wondering where to go next.
Happy New year to everyone

Well done wish I had gone caravanning in our new to us caravan but with a house move just before Christmas there was no chance.

Good evening, nice to hear of your news regarding the trip with your new caravan, may I ask which it may be plus if possible the weight? I posted a question on the forum quite a few months ago asking anyone who tows with their freelander 2 a larger weighted caravan or trailer as my Coachman vip 575 which we ordered back in February 2022 and was only delivered the 30th September weighs in at just over 1700 kg as we have the mover fitted as standard due to my gravel drive plus factory fitted A/C. My only thoughts were that knowing the car has a maximum of 2000kg tow capacity how does it perform?

1st October we traveled to Dorset for a week then onto Falmouth for a two week holiday and last week returned from a week in Lancashire, my car has done excellently with no issues and my fuel economy was 27.3mpg having shell v max, two adults and 1 gds.

We previously before lockdown were a Switzerland and France tourers with a ace award weighing in at 1450kgs, so like I asked the forum about the upper weight and how the car would cope.

I retired on the last day of March 2022 and used my lump sum to buy the caravan plus new awning and all the rest of the junk I call it so we don’t have any worries now with the new caravan etc just the car as it’s getting old at 2009 hse TD4 156k,
Kindest regards DaveP.

Hi Dave,

We have a twin axle Swift Challenger Sport 636. Its mtplm is I believe 1450kg (*edit its miro is 1450kg, its mtplm is 1650kg* ) is but also has movers fitted. Done plenty of trips with the van and car heavily laden with awning, 4 bikes and 'quite a few' bottles of wine when travelling back from France. The Freelander does it with ease only comment is my average mpg is only around 22 towing (Sd4 auto) Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

Last edited by Bobupndown on 5th Jan 2023 6:57 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Series 5 Bailey Unicorn with 1600kg MTPLM… it has impeccable towing manners and our current SD4 auto tows it with ease.

Our previous caravan was 1560kg and towed effortlessly with both, the current SD4 and the previous TD4 auto.

I have no idea what the fuel consumption is or was though. I simply fill it up to go and fill it up to come back again.



Edited to correct 'Unifotn' to 'Unicorn'

Last edited by ReggiePerrin on 26th Feb 2023 1:25 pm. Edited 1 time in total

I was supposed to have attached these on the original post, here they are now

Hi Daveyboy
The van has a max weight of 1491kg i weighed it before we left it was a little over at 1498kg i had a nose weight of 92kg, it towed perfectly and was a pleasure to use the motorways with cruise control set at around 63mph. Yours is a bit heavier but as others have confirmed you should be fine. i can not be certain of the exact weight of the swift which bobupanddown has but it is more than 1450kg, fully loaded is likely to be around 1625kg so similar to yours.
happy touring to you and everyone else this year

Quite right, 1650kg mtplm. Never actually weighed it but it tows fine 🙂 Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

Thank you to all who have replied to my request regarding caravans and weight, I can see also read that the majority have the standard width and not the new spec at 8 feet wide, we followed one last year around Cumbria with many narrow parts and thought “So glad my current caravan isn’t that wide, plus looking at the replacement no way it’s going to one of those”.
Although they are roomy inside but to tow? Nope.

Just hope this new year brings better weather early on so we can all enjoy our caravans and the freedom they allow us!

Kindest regards

DaveP.

My brother has a new 8 ft wide Bailey.
Space inside is brilliant and the extra width hasn't been a problem. He tows with a Skoda Kodiaq 4x4 190 tdi. Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

I tow a Swift Conqueror 645 MPLW 1745 kg with a FL2 SD4 190 auto using around 100kg nose weight. Very stable. No problems at all, except for the rate at which it slurps diesel! Can achieve sub 20mpg when trying, but being sensible (ie slow!), usually 22-25. It's considerable better than my previous V8 Range Rover which used to manage single figures towing!