we have a 07 territory rwd and tow a 16ft pop top with no problems.the van weighs about 1500kg loaded.we have done about 16000k towing the van and have no complaints.petrol consumption is no different than towing with a petrol 4wd.on the highway you forget the van is behind you. the only drawback is the small fuel tank . not towing we average about 700k to the tank,towing about 380k,depending on the wind.would probably be less with a heavier van.in nth qld you don't see many territorys towing but when we travelled to the southern states they were quiet common.we are now looking for a larger and bit heavier van but would not be changing the territory.
all depends on personal preference and if you're going off road,or if you want the extra expense of buying a 4wd.
hope this helps
rocan

ford will be releasing a v6 this year, as yet they do not produce a v6 only an old fashioned in line, if it is a v6 then the motor is not a ford engine, it will be a rebadged something else which is very common, ford and nissan often swap

your tow weight and the van weight are far too close for my liking, once you fill up the water tank (100 lites = 100 kilograms) you are down to 200 kilos difference, chuck in some clothes and bedding plus a few trinkets and I think you are pushing it to the limit

if you are halving your economy then the vehicle is working too hard, if it was me, and it is not, I would look at something else, maybe a toyota or nissan, a good average difference in towing and not towing fuel economy would be an expected 25% - 30% unless it is constant winds or very hilly or speed higher than 90 kms, any greater average than that and the vehicle is working too hard

if you buy the ford auto, check to see it has a transmission oil cooler and the fluid is not run through the radiator, check the rear suspension is up to it, fords are reknown bum draggers, install a haymen reese tow pack, the ford drawbars would not pull a wet sack across a sand dune

if it was me, and it is not, I would buy the prado, not because of what the dealer said but from what I know, which is more than I will let on in the forum

buy once, buy properly, no regrets!!!

We been looking at the Ford Territory too.....a Nissan dealer suggested a X-Trail 2.5lt petrol in preference to the diesal..I cant get my head around the idea of a 2.5lt engine verses a 4.0ltr one...I know my Ford AU struggles at times towing my CT up hills....how can a engine half size do better?
the main thing I'm look'n for is extra ground clearence...the AU crunched nastly over the spead humps the CP had.


Dave

its all in the gearing Dave, 2 - 300 rpm does not sound much, but it is the difference between getting up that hill in overdrive and getting up there in fourth, the split gears on the bosses kenworth are roughly 250 - 300 rpm apart and thats all it takes

your au would cruise effortlessly at 110 sitting on about 2250 rpm or thereabouts, the same speed with a four cyl would be possibly 2300 - 2400 rpm the extra revs get the job done, the bore stroke also comes into it, the longer the stroke and greater the bore then the greater the torque but lower the revs, and also the shorter the stroke the faster she will "recover"

little blue weighs in at roughly 2000 kilos or two tonne (shes a fatty) and yet she is dragged along with little more than a lawn mower engine, 1.8 litre petrol, with the five speed she cruises easily on 100 kph, but if a butterfly crosses our path then I'm looking for fourth, and with sqeeky behind then I'm dragged back more, it doesnt bother me, I set a schedule and if it means getting up an hour earlier so be it

You can tow anything with anything the question is for how long can you tow it. Go 6 cyl and diesel , get the biggest tow weight you can just in case you load it up with crap along the way. Those Toyota's take some beating for pure grunt and work off the black top even if it's only on your drive way . Found the Fords 4wd more suited to estate work, like the Landrover Discovery looks good But! not a patch on the Defender.

Sorry davo, must have to disagree with the Prado choice, have a friend who has HAD one anfd experienced the horror or its towin capibilities pulling a 2 tonne van,the best of the toyoto 4wd was the 80s series, the 100s were too heavy for the same power output,
may I suggest that you look at the power to weight shift before you make any discision, the towing unit must be at least 1/4 the weight again, of the trailer
I use an old GQ nissan (2 tonnes)for the last nine years, towing a van of 1250 k, had not a spot of hassle in some very heavy going

Thanks everyone for your feedback.  

Basil, I must admit the Kia Sorento has quite impressive features and seems to tick all  the boxes when it comes to it's towing capacity. However I spent 25 years in the automotive industry where I constantly bagged Korean vehicles (mainly thanks to the early Hyundais - used to call them "Speed Humps for Nissan Patrols"!) so how can I live with my friends and conscience if we end up buying a Korean car????  ha ha .......... Made in China to make matters worse!!  

But then again when I bought a Mazda in 1972 I was ridiculed for driving Jap crap but it had much more "fruit" than Aussie cars, lasted 10 years without breaking down and by the late 70's Japanese cars had a reputation for building excellent, reliable vehicles with standard features that Aussie cars hadn't even thought of at the time.

So maybe it's time I look at Korean cars with an open mind and considered a Kia on it's merit.

Mike - our previous vehicle was a GQ Patrol - petrol with gas conversion, had it for 10 years, reliable, gutsy for towing but I've got to consider Sue, driving it around town when our caravaning trip is over.   She reckoned the Patrol was like driving a truck, hard to park, poor turning circle, she is only 5'4" and just about needed a step ladder to climb in it, even though it has side steps. She also says her arms muscles started bulging after driving it even though it had power steering. Thankfully the only thing it didn't do to her was to put hairs on her chest!!!

Basil, I'm not sure how highly you regard Jeremy Clarkson of UK's Top Gear TV show, but to say he was less than impressed with Kia Sorento's is an understatement!

If you click on the link below he starts talking about Monty Python's "Dead Parrot" sketch then scroll down the page.........

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article1116712.ece

the bottom line is that all the above vehicles are good in their own right, I dont agree with the not towing with front wheel drive there is no documented proof to say they are worse than rear wheel drive as long as you stay within towing constraints the same as any vehicle, we will be taking our Mitsubishi magna v6 front wheel drive up to Uluru and the Alice towing a camper trailer and I envisage no problems, haven't had any yet hauling two tonne trailer loads of broken concrete out to the landfill site

however if I was about to trek off into the wilds for a non specific time then the choice would have to be the big four, holden, ford, Toyota or Nissan simply because of parts availability up north, out of these the next question that MUST be answered TRUTHFULLY is where do you intend to travel

given the size of van stated above and you may wish to "explore a little" then it could possibly be broken down to two, Toyota or Nissan 4wd, given the previous references by other posters and my experience with both the jackaroo and the territory type holden and ford 4wd I would steer away from these two as well as the kia, not sure of parts availability

my next problem would be "can I fix it" if it does a fan belt/radiator hose can you get to it, can you service it yourself, given that most workshops are now in excess of $100 per hour and a lot more up north it very quickly becomes an expensive affair for a minor problem and a death sentence in isolation, the modern vehicle is DESIGNED to not have the backyard mechanic touch it, so an older model is what I would choose

out of the two (Nissan and Toyota) I lean towards the Toyota simply because I have one and am fully aware of their reliability and parts availability and to be able to work on it myself also just a quick drive north of port Augusta off the blacktop will show Toyota's ten to one, from this deductive reasoning the next choice is model, tow capability's coupled with monetary availability will tell you this answer,

all answers must be attacked TRUTHFULLY, dont go in with stars in your eyes or you will quickly fail

Basil Faulty wrote:

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Yes, most amusing, almost amusing as Clarksons Top Gear Caravanning video......  http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=12110

 The thing with Clarkson is it is a case of the man who cried wolf....

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Yes you're probably right Basil, sometimes Clarkson seems to compare the performance of vehicles with Formula 1 racing cars - he seems to focus too much on how quickly they take to get from 0 to 100mph.

As for the video on caravanning it appears to have been removed due to
unauthorised use...... I bet it was fairly humourous.