Transporter T4 - which model best for towing?

[Laurence7]

Am looking at getting a Transporter T4 as a tow vehicle. I'd be towing a bike-engined race car, with spare wheels and equipment on a light-weight twin-axle trailer - all up weight of loaded trailer, about 1200kg.

There's a bewildering range of engine options on the Transporters Which one would be the best choice for high-speed towing, fuel economy, reliability, durability and drivability?

Are there any stand-out best models? ...or turkeys?

[S3Swiss]

Best bet is to browse the comments on the brick-yard.co.uk forum where all VW van types lurk. I use a 1992 2.4 D with TB Turbos' turbo added. Great at towing my XR2 on trailer at 65+mph(ahem) - 35-45mpg. Later T5s (2.5Tdi) have had flywheel issues (dual mass flywheel) but if you think how many there are on the roads, the vast majority seem to avoid this problem.

[onomatopoeia]

Syncro transmission, if they offered that on the T4 (I have it on my T25, but that's a completely different beast to the T4).

Can't beat 4wd when towing, especially when the paddock turns into a marsh after some rain.

[snott]

i had a 93 2.4 diesel, great van. i towed my race car to sweden on 2 1/2 tanks of fuel. on long runs they hardly use fuel and they arent too slow

[heightswitch]

personally I wouldn't go for a T4 or T5. They are great but in my opinion far far far to expensive for what they are due to all the surfer type dudes buying them!

To buy , kit one out and having it looking good will cost you a fortune.

I bought this instead for a couple of grand, rust free apart from a bit of tidying under the battery tray, bare metal re-spray another couple of Grand. It just needs its american racing alloys and its Sidepipes now to be great.

OK Its thirstier, but how many race meets are you driving to in it? and lets face it 26 out of a transporter versus 21-22 out of this isn't much different

Its different though. Lazy, cruises at motorway speeds silently, 220hp so pulls anything

Why people want to pay 6-7k for ex AA vans that have been to the moon is beyond me but each to there own.