Ratty3 said:
i drive a Volvo S80 2.4 auto diesel With a towing limit of 1800kg, think I'm ok on my licence.
I think you may have misunderstood the reference to the licence. If you don't have category B+E on your licence you are limited to an out fit of combined MAM not exceeding 3500Kg.
It does not have direct relationship to the braked trailer mass or weight limit
MAM stands for Maximum Authorised Mass, and is the upper weight or Mass limit, not the actual weight of the outfit which should never exceed the MAM figures.
In its simplest form the combined MAM is the sum of the cars GVW (MAM) and the caravans MTPLM (MAM) In reality and for simplicity and safety its best to ignore the effect of the nose weight.
You don't tell us exactly which model of car and caravan you are comparing. Year on year specifications change and that can make a difference to the weights and limits, so its best to always quote make model year and exact variant as even trim levels can change important criteria.
But a quick stab at finding some details suggests the latest Volvo S80 2.4 D S 4d Geartronic has an unladen weight of 1583kg, Whilst I don't have the GVW for the model cars in this class usually have a load capacity of at least 300Kg which gives a GVW or MAM of about 1883kg and the only MTPLM (MAM) for the caravan I could quickly find was 1500 for a 2004 model This gives a combined MAM of 3383kg which creeps in under the 3500 limit, but depends on the load capacity of the car which I might have underestimated.
The combined MAM is not the same as the GTW stamped on the cars data plate. To explain, consider a caravan that has an MTPLM of 2000kg, but you only load it up to 1800Kg. The car can technically tow it because its only 1800kg but you can't drive it on a Cat B only licence because the combined MAM exceeds 3500.
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