KneesUp
Guru
I currently have a Honda Civic 1.8 petrol, which serves very well. It is reasonable in all respects - room, economy, comfort, speed. It is exceptional in regards to reliability (albeit I'm comparing it to previous cars, made, amongst others, by Fiat, Alfa and Seat) Basically it suits me very well - it's utterly unexceptional but does everything I want of it pretty well, and it cost peanuts to buy and maintain too. Ideal.
However, we've been thinking of upgrading from camping to caravanning for some time now, and one stumbling block is that the Honda is not the most accomplished tug, because although it has 140bhp (not loads, but theoretically enough - I'm not looking to pull about a massive 'van, there are only 3 of us) all the torque is at the top end of the range and I fear towing with it would be painful for all concerned. On uphill bits of the A1 this week I couldn't maintain 70mph in sixth gear in the wind, and that was just with a bit of luggage and two bikes on the back. Presumably this was down to wind resistance because when we camp with the camping trailer you can't really tell that is there, but then it's only a 5ft x 3ft trailer so not exactly heavy, and it's lower down than the bike rack. Anyway, it doesn't bode well for attaching a caravan.
So, I'm looking out for something that could replace the Civic. Something that is petrol, that doesn't do horrific mpg (given that 90% of my driving is not for holidays) and would be equally as reliable and acceptably comfortable / roomy etc. The other issue I have is that I live in a terrace house and parking is tricky, so ideally I don't want anything longer than the Civic - I have to drive past enough 'not quite big enough' spaces as it is! Hence the need for a dense car - one that weighs a fair amount (for a decent ratio of car mass to caravan mass) but isn't that big. I'm also not a fan of off-roader type vehicles, but quite like the idea of 4x4. So far I've come up with the Skoda Yeti 1.4TSI 4x4 (the 4x4 adds mass too, so that's useful for two reasons) as an option, but I'm not that taken with VAG stuff and their petrol engines seem not to have the best reputation. So any other thoughts appreciated. Cheers.
However, we've been thinking of upgrading from camping to caravanning for some time now, and one stumbling block is that the Honda is not the most accomplished tug, because although it has 140bhp (not loads, but theoretically enough - I'm not looking to pull about a massive 'van, there are only 3 of us) all the torque is at the top end of the range and I fear towing with it would be painful for all concerned. On uphill bits of the A1 this week I couldn't maintain 70mph in sixth gear in the wind, and that was just with a bit of luggage and two bikes on the back. Presumably this was down to wind resistance because when we camp with the camping trailer you can't really tell that is there, but then it's only a 5ft x 3ft trailer so not exactly heavy, and it's lower down than the bike rack. Anyway, it doesn't bode well for attaching a caravan.
So, I'm looking out for something that could replace the Civic. Something that is petrol, that doesn't do horrific mpg (given that 90% of my driving is not for holidays) and would be equally as reliable and acceptably comfortable / roomy etc. The other issue I have is that I live in a terrace house and parking is tricky, so ideally I don't want anything longer than the Civic - I have to drive past enough 'not quite big enough' spaces as it is! Hence the need for a dense car - one that weighs a fair amount (for a decent ratio of car mass to caravan mass) but isn't that big. I'm also not a fan of off-roader type vehicles, but quite like the idea of 4x4. So far I've come up with the Skoda Yeti 1.4TSI 4x4 (the 4x4 adds mass too, so that's useful for two reasons) as an option, but I'm not that taken with VAG stuff and their petrol engines seem not to have the best reputation. So any other thoughts appreciated. Cheers.
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