Hi, welcome to the forum (name?).
Firstly, be sure to buy a Diesel D2a (the update with the new headlights etc), then see Mike at
Total Rover Tech and organise an ECU power upgrade and (if the budget stretches) an upgraded intercooler. You'll get HEAPS more grunt from the vehicle.
I'd also recommend an auto transmission and steel rear springs. The auto for the smoothness of towing, and the steel rear springs for the ease of upgrading to a heavier set.
Depending on the nose weight of the van, have a look at the Hayman Reese upgraded tow kit and weight distribution hitch. Go with a Tekonsha (or similar) pendulum style electric brake controller. Don't use a Hayman Reese, as these work on time, rather than brake effort needed.
I'd definitely recommend that you get the auto properly serviced and checked BEFORE you tow, and seriously consider ANOTHER transmission fluid cooler. While the extra cooler is not mandatory, it's cheap insurance against a blown transmission. That said, the transmissions are pretty strong, but also pretty expensive to fix.
Use LT (Light Truck) construction tyres all round, especially if you have got a lot of nose weight.
My advice is the you DO NOT use any Cooper tyres, especially as you are towing. I speak from personal experience when I say that they can fail, catastrophically. If they are already on the vehicle when you buy it, I'd recommend that you get rid of them ASAP! ( I was going to add quite a bit more in the last couple of sentences, but I also know that the Australian Cooper distributor still monitors this site, and I don't feel like appearing in court on a libel suit).
Regarding economy while towing, my vehicle is chipped but has a standard intercooler. I towed a 3500kg 11 metre caravan 750 kms in one day into a headwind for most of the trip, and averaged about 16l/100kms. Pretty good when you consider the size and weight of the van.
Economy around town depends how hard I hit the loud pedal. On the last tank I got about 700 km from about 80 litres, so I'm happy with that. Most of that was peak hour driving.
Parts availability... Well, not great, but the network of members here always goes out of their way to help anyone who needs it. Just recently one of the members ran some parts out at about midnight to meet a group that was stranded. As you get to know the vehicle, and with help from the collective experience here, you'll sort out the preventative maintenance required, and the list of parts that you need to take with you.
If you have any questions on the fair few sub topics in this post, please ask away. I am pretty sure that I am the only on here who is mad enough to tow the kind of weights and sizes I do, so I normally answer the "How heavy can I tow" kind of questions first...
Geez, I think that this is the longest post I've ever put up...
