just been given a VOLVO 340gl variomatic 59,000 geuine milage 2 owners [elderly] no rust, original specs, 12 months mot, previous owner not able to drive it due to ill health in his 70s, how much is it worth and will it pull a 850kgs caravan okay

Hi Bob, Welcome to the family.

Yes it will, but it won't be any ball of fire! (actually the variomatic is perfectly ok towing a van - no torque converter to overheat. Do make sure the belts and the centrifugal clutch are correctly adjusted though)

'factory' specs are:-

Max. trailer weight - 900kg.
Optimum towball weight - 45kg. (at max trailer weight).
Max. towball weight - 65kg,
Min. towball weight 5% trailer weight or 25kg. whichever is greater.

Sounds a little trite but it's worth only what someone will pay for it! At the moment CVTs seem to make very little money which is a shame.

Hope the above helps - Mac.

£300-£400 would be my guess if it's pretty much spotless. Any faults, especially bodywork or transmission, and the price starts tumbling. If you found the right person who was really keen you might make more, but those people are few and far between.

Ed

Hello. This is the first post I've seen about caravans. Please could someone let me know the spec for a 1.7? Just bought a 340GLE (for under £30) to pull my (free) caravan - max 770kg laden weight on the caravan, which sounds fine to me, but the towing spec would be very handy.

Thanks!

My comment re: towing would be that much over 1/2 the rated weight won't be much fun. There's a difference between "it'll do it", and "it'll be an enjoyable experience".

Towing 80% of the car's weight is bound to be strenuous - it makes me giggle that some of the VOC camping types probably wouldn't dream of exceeding 3000rpm, but they'll happily sling a massive weight behind the car, which is (on balance) probably far more taxing for the car.

Don't get me wrong, I'm far from against it (a car is there to earn its living, however smart), and I imagine the CVT box will make life a lot more effortless. The 1700 should have no problems, as it has a decent power to weight ratio. I worry a bit more about the 1400, as it doesn't exactly bomb along when only pulling its own weight around - but all you can do is see how you get on! At least the big chassis will be an advantage in terms of stability.

cheers

James

Now this car is Renault 5, it has 1,4l engine, same as in Volvo I believe.

Video is old, but still gives good lesson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvW79yRBUGU

oh no, car with variomatic has more than enough traction for such a hill, provided the clutch is adjusted properly.


The lower weight allowed for the CVT is purely because of own weight/ total train weight / stability issues.

In areas with strong side winds pulling a large caravan with a 3-series is not a very stable experience indeed. A lot of this can be remedied by using a decent stabiliser coupling.

personally, I wouldn't use a 1.4 manual for caravanning, but CVT... easy!! its made for it....

when kept in a decent revving zone, 1.7 and 2.0 should have no issues as well, sedan verions are slighly less stable (more rear overhang)

greetings Wouter

That Renault 5 could even have been the 1.1 model

Id've thought saloons would be more stable for towing? Theres less side surface area due to the rear pillar being narrow compared to the hatch.

aerodynamics are only minorly influential at 50 miles/hr.

the extra distance between rear wheels and towbar head matters because its the lever at which the sideways force acts on the car.

wide/ low profile tires help a lot!!

greetings Wouter

Ah yes, I see!