I have a 2011 2.0 litre diesel Titanium (163hp). The drive at our house is relatively steep (roughly a 1 in 8 slope) and I have to reverse the caravan up on to it. I've found a few comments on the internet that the reverse gearing on the S Max is not great for towing, although these all seem to refer to the pre 2010 models. I used a friend's Discovery to get the van onto the drive and, of course, it was easy! However, before I incur the cost of having a towbar installed on the S Max is anybody able to comment on ability of the S Max to reverse a (1200kg caravan) up such a slope. Thanks for any comments.

why not get a caravan mover?or a winch.

saves the gearbox on the smax.

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your advice but is anybody able to comment on the reversing capability of the S-Max?

the distance involved is only about 15 metres so its not too great and I'm not keen on spending c£800 on a mover although it would be cheaper than having to replace a gearbox/ clutch/dual mass flywheel!

Three years ago i made the change from a 3ltr Grand Cherokee 215bhp to an smax 2.0 140bhp, i have to admit that i was more than dubious about its performance especially as my twinaxle is just under 1600kg! And i have to admit that i've been very impressed with its towing ability and holds a good speed on some decent gradients as recently tested on the A30. As for reverse i've never had a problem even whilst reversing onto steep pitches (although never over 15 metres) as i don't have a mover fitted its the only way to move it and even when pivoting on the axles it doesnt struggle,