50mph up hill while towing

[Northern Bongolow]

I have a new fuel filter in there only been in a week or two, I have a k&n air filter and that's all fine.

is it the k and n thats designed for the bongo, or another one thats been fitted. try runing it under load without this fitted.

[maxi_77]

Hi
Apart from what weight the caravan stands at, what are you loading into the Bongo PLUS what are you loading into the caravan....as already asked, what sort of incline are you tackling, and how far had you been driving ?
When your Bongo is under normal load, does it cope with similar hills adequately?
IF you are on a bit of a trek, I suggest that the addition of a transmission cooler would be the way to go if you are really hauling, as the transmission gets a bit warm and slows everything down.
From personal experience, I towed a lightweight caravan (1100 Kg), plus you don't want to know how much was inside...about 400 / 500 Kg at a guess ...PLUS the Bongo had the middle seats pushed all the way forward, and the rear seats up, two of us and 2 large dogs, and the rear of the Bongo laden so that I only had 8" to see out of the rear...all up weight over the 85% mark ...In France it REALLY struggled to gain hills, and the Swiss mountains it was a bit better, as it was cooler, and the Greek/ Bulgarian mountains it was better still (cold)....In the warm, I was stopping every couple of hours to let the transmission cool, and off we went....The transmission slowed us to a crawl...I had seen similar warnings on the Forum relating to this before we went.
The above is an indication of what can be towed....CAUTIOUSLY...but a trans cooler may have really helped!.....
I suggest you ask / PM Alacrity for his valued opinion...he might even supply a kit, if that turns out to be your problem....I was lucky not to fry the autobox ...and the Bongo does everything it should normally
Cheers
Helen

We used to tow a 1500kg van pretyy well loaded with no problems, the biggest problem was keeping the lot below the speed limit on motorways as there was always plenty of oomph available even on the hills

[peanutcrusher]

the k&n filter is the right one for the bongo, I think I will check the banjo filter and see if there are any bits in it blocking it, should be fun having never done this before

[M 80NGO]

I have just got back from Eastbourne towing my 950 kg caravan behind the Bongo with end conversion, in the caravan we have the awning, clothing, food and enough stuff for our 5 day mini break, the boys also took some fishing gear and body boards, also a full 7kg gas bottle so i recon that the complete caravan weighed in at about 1200kg add that to the weight of the bongo + 2 adults and 2 kids and your looking at around 3 ton + train weight.

My bongo cruises best on the motorway whilst towing the caravan between 2250 rpm and 2750 is comfortable, yes it slows on hills but that only to be expected and it slows more on steeper hills but by being gentle on the throttle and not letting it downchange to many gears keeps the momentum going. please remember that those lorries that come past on the hills have 440 bhp + and 12 speed split g/boxes.

Also along on the trip were our friends + 2 kids with there laden 4 berth caravan and 03 plate Landrover defender 90 when we got to our campsite we discussed the trip down there and came to the conclusion that the two vehicles are very evenly matched when towing tho due to his having a manual g/box he has a slight advantage on the steeper hills, both had used about the same amount of fuel 147 miles on just under 1/2 0f a tank of fuel.

My advise to you is this, Get rid of the k&n filter and get an origional airbox and filter in there as mazda intended, a k&n sucking cool dense air will give you 5 bhp max, the same filter sucking hot thin air can rob you of up to 15bhp, are you pre planning as your driving or are you waiting for the hill before you try to get momentum ? i was some times down to 40 mph on the hills but remember that your better off taking your time and give the bongo an easyer life as possible, keep us posted

[peanutcrusher]

my k&n air filter fits in the original air box in place of the old filter i have not removed the air box, do you still think it will make that much difference. i have still to check the banjo filter as well.
i did build up speed for some of the hills where possible but the power still dropped off, i have been having a bit of a problem with my leak off pipes and the system been getting air in when left over night so start as been a little slow while its clears the air, do you think this would be effect this as well or just the starting up.

[M 80NGO]

my k&n air filter fits in the original air box in place of the old filter i have not removed the air box, do you still think it will make that much difference. i have still to check the banjo filter as well.
i did build up speed for some of the hills where possible but the power still dropped off, i have been having a bit of a problem with my leak off pipes and the system been getting air in when left over night so start as been a little slow while its clears the air, do you think this would be effect this as well or just the starting up.

If its in the origional airbox then its fine, i was imagining a mahooosive cone filter a-la vauxhall corsa stylee , the fuel system should be airtight so its possible that it could be sucking air under load thus robbing you of performance, towing with an old style autobox is an art and you gotta remember that when towing

[Aunt Trumpet]

Hello mate,

I've checked and cleaned my banjo filter a few times..always been ok to be honest but if you get stuck and need a hand I'm in Pompey too so send me a msg and I'll be glad to help.