2013 yaris 1.3 as a towcar

[Mark1986]

Hello there, wondered if anyone could help me,

I have a 2013 toyota yaris 1.3 petrol with a maximum towing weight of 900kg and 101bhp. Would it be okay to tow a small caravan? I have seen quite a few lightweight caravans on eBay that have a MTPLM of less than 900kg.
My nose weight of the car is only 50kg so I am aware that i would need to load it carefully. There would be 2 of us travelling in my car. Does anyone have any experience of towing with this car? Would it be sufficient?
Any help would be great.

 

[Pauljw]

Hi Mark , I have no experience with the Yaris , but have a look on one of the car / caravan matching sites and see how it comes out in their opinion . 50kg tow bar weight isn't a lot however I used to tow with a 60kg nose weight on a Peugeot.

Paul

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

If the car has a max tow weight, and the van is less than that, then theoretically the car can tow it. However, performance will never be spritely, you will have slow acceleration and will probably need to work the gears a lot which can make a long tow very tiring.

 

[Pauljw]

As WC said , You would be working the engine hard and You would have to plan a journey very carefully. The matching site that I looked at said maximum gradient for a hill start would be 11% and if driving a maximum gradient of 18% . Not wishing to disappoint You , it doesn't appear to be a very good match towing a caravan that is 900kg

Paul

 

[ProfJohnL]

For reasons that have been explained extensively elsewhere in this forum, you cannot implicitly believe the outputs from matching web sites and services.

Every model of new car sold in the EU it has to have Whole Vehicle Type Approval. That process covers a cars ability to tow, and if the vehicle is quoted to have a Gross Train weight or Mass, then the difference between the GTM and the Gross Vehicle Mass is what the vehicle is rated to tow. This manufacturer has stated it can tow up to a 900kg loaded trailer. This includes repeated hill starts.

Where there may be a problem is the WVTA process only uses ideal trailers, and it is widely recommended that caravans are not ideal and as such the car should be have its towing limit de-rated for caravans. The suggestion is the the MTPLM of the trailer should not exceed 85% of the unladen weight of the car.

Look at the figures and see what you get

 

[Raywood]

I have towed with 1300 petrol units when I had a company car. They are not ideal but can manage if you can live with the weight limitations. You do need to check the Professors points first though.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I agree with Ray.

It will tow adequately. Obviously it wont have the same performance of bigger cars, but acceleration isn't everything.

From my own personal experience I have used a Renault Espace 2.2 Diesel with 115bhp. The Espace is only just a little more powerful but it weighs considerably more than the Yaris. It alao has a much bigger towing capacity but despite this even when towing the Espace is capabale of keeping up with traffic in most situations.

Granted the Espace is a Diesel compared to the yaris's petrol, and this means the Espace will have a torque advanatge, but considering the smaller car and trailer weight of the Yaris should enable it to be an adequate performer.

 

[Mark1986]

Hi thanks for all your messages I will bear these in mind. I had spoken to freedom caravans before who have said I could pull one with it. Also I have been told it could pull a trailer tent comfortably too, so not sure really. Lots of things to think about.

 

[ProfJohnL]

That's a coincidence, as I have just driven past Freedom caravans HQ in Great Haywood.

 

[thosoneill]

I towed my compass lynx 340/2 to Switzerland with my 1.33 Toyota auris - certainly not great acceleration however by using the gears it managed reasonably well