307 HDI 2lt Wagon. 2007

[lockwood116]

H i Pug owners. Would like to get some comments on the suitability of using a 307 HDI 2lt Manual Wagon for towing a small pop top van which weighs about 800kgs. Any suggestion or comments appreciated.
Graeme

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[FBvisitor]

Not really an answer for you Graeme but I've come across a couple of UK sites where the general consensus was no problems.

Can't remember if they were Pug or caravan related.

The Poms aren't of the mindset of a big car required for towing vans as most (well me anyway) aussies are (for good reason of course).

Use your friend google and I'm sure you'll find a suitable answer.

Cheers.

[DB2126]

A few years back I met an older guy on holiday at Hawks Nest who had a 307 diesel Hatch which he said he used to tow a small van. He lived at Swansea in NSW, wore a Peugeot cap and said he had a 505 at home, so he liked his Pugs and his vanning holidays. I asked him about towing with the 307 and he said he said it was great.

But you main issues will be the Van and the tow rating of the car. Does the Van have brakes? I would imagine the 307 would only have an unbraked towing limit of around 600Kg's which would mean a van any heavier would need brakes - I know little about vans.

[Fouroh3]

We pull a camper with our 1.6hdi manual transmission and it tows like beauty! Amazing torque from the small diesel and once rolling along it will pull along in top gear in cruise control very well.
Have a read of the manual, you'll find they are rated higher than you think
Cheers,
Rex

[sgt_doofey]

Our 2.0L HDi has a towing capacity of 1400kgs for the 6sp manual. Ours is the same as yours, just manufactured a year earlier
I don't tow with ours though. I have a Falcon for towing and never bothered to get a tow bar fitted.

[rodh]

The problem with towing a van with almost ANY Euro car is the very low towball weight limits they typically have compared to the towball down-force of a typical Oz van.
I have a 306 and a new-ish Subaru Liberty to tow the Jayco camper. I would have loved to have an all-French garage but NO French car can legally tow my camper.
Cars such as the 307 , C5 and Laguna specify a max of about 60-80 kg on the towball. My Jayco is light at 900 kg and has the Oz-typical 10% of total weight ie 90 kg "on the ball". It would be a breeze to tow it behind a C5 or HDi Pug but it's illegal!
If I was only towing occasionally I'd ignore this minor fact(!!) but seeing we regularly use the Jayco it had to be the Subaru or cough, cough.... a Commodore or retch.... a 4WD.
So it's sad but true. You can't legally tow an Australian van (apart from the REALLY tiny ones)with a French car

[littlebig]

I've done some serious towing of a loaded camper trailer with my 2006 307 XS HDi (1.6.l) ... I guess the trailer was 500kg all up ... and the only issue was reduced suspension travel as the wagon was fully loaded too.. The car is brilliant tow wagon. The 1.6 was amazing ... the 2.0 can only be ideal. Consider load equalizer bars to transfer load back to the front wheels and reduce download on the tow hitch (not a problem in itself, as the factory tow set up is pretty robust).
Mechanical brakes will help but may not be necessary in a legal sense.