Hi Guys,

I have an 04 XR6Turbo sedan with an Auto, Ford Dealer tell me that it is Rated to 1600kg for the Auto's because you can burn out the Auto's.

I am just about to get a boat which has a Tow Weight of 1700 to 1800kg.

My question is the 1600kg rating a legal rating, meaning if I tow 1700kg and stack will my insurance company say we won't pay because you are over weight? or is it a manufacturers guidline so not to burn out the Turbo or Auto etc?

The standard XR6 with out a Turbo has a much higher Tow rating.

Is there anyone out there using there Auto XR6Turbo to Tow a Caravan or Big Boat above the 1600kg weight? If so did you have the heavy duty Tow Pack installed and any problems or have you killed any bits of the car?

I would hate to have to get rid of the car just so I can tow a boat.

Thanks

I dont think I would like to tow anything that wieghed more than the car it's self gets a bit wild when it comes to hills and stopping

Edited 27/06/07 07:54 AM27/06/07 07:54 AM by our06t

Mate I have the hayme and reese tow bar on my f6 tornado. I got this put on so I did nt have to cut the lower pannel out (its removable). It is rated at 2400 kgs this is the tow bar you need

Nathan

I have the same Tow Bar which is Rated to 2400kg, however the car itself is still rated at 1600kg because of the Turbo and Auto.

I towed the bobcat on trailer last week, it weighs 3000kg it towed well but the 3000 stall is a pain in the arse

Mate I,m in the same predicament my boat weighs 1800kgs dry it,s to do with under bonnett temps nothing to do with auto coz all manuals are rated at 1600 (clutch) I,ll think you will find all bf xr,s/Fpv are rated to 1600kgs-sh*t.you can bet if your over your cars towing limit insurance companies will NOT pay out

I towed the bobcat on trailer last week, it weighs 3000kg it towed well but the 3000 stall is a pain in the arse

How far did you Tow for, did the Temp heat up, do you Tow this weight often or was this a one off

Thanks

it was a one off but I tow a double horse float quite often it weighs about 2000kg have never had a problem in 3years and ute has 500rwhp

Mate I,m in the same predicament my boat weighs 1800kgs dry it,s to do with under bonnett temps nothing to do with auto coz all manuals are rated at 1600 (clutch) I,ll think you will find all bf xr,s/Fpv are rated to 1600kgs-sh*t.you can bet if your over your cars towing limit insurance companies will NOT pay out

The manuals are actualy rated at 1200kg (at least the BFII is) - but a mate of mine with an XR6 (non turbo) manual used to regualrly tow his rally car around (Evo - so with trailer ~2300kg). Apart from the diff getting noisy it was fine.

Extracts from Articles I kept when the XR6T first came out

The background of Ford Australia's Gordon Barfield:

"I've been in Ford for over thirty years. My most recent experience from about 1995 is time with Tickford, or FPV as it is now, as the program manager and planner; so I've been involved in all the XR products all the way from EL, GTs and T-series. I was involved in getting the turbo engine and the 4-valve V8 up and running - it was my involvement really that made it all happen.

Ford say the XR6T manual is good for lugging up to 1200 kilograms, while the auto version is rated anywhere up to 1600 kilograms.

"The only issue we had with the location we went for - at the front - was whether we were going to compromise the air conditioning and cooling performance. It's also a very difficult pipe run to get underneath the headlight and back again.

"We did a lot of engine cooling, air-conditioning and towing tests with the intercooler in position and decided to limit the towing load to 1600kg - whereas the standard Falcon can go to 2300kg. We didn't see that the owners of these vehicles would be pulling huge caravans - more like ski boats and things like that."

The XR6 Turbo is fitted with the V8-spec coolant radiator and fan - is that to compensate for the airflow restriction posed by the intercooler or simply a requirement of the turbocharged engine?

"It's because of the engine output - whenever you start making power and torque you make a lot of heat. Working with our radiator manufacturer, we were able to calculate the XR6 Turbo's heat rejection requirement was within the capability of the V8 radiator. That's why we used it."

But as to answer your question I have towed more than 1600kgs comfortably, with the torque in the perfect rev range you would have to expect that. I must admit though when I was going up some steeper hills and changed back a gear myself the engine temp did increase from 3/8 to 5/8 of the gauge.