can i tow a twin axle with my renault espace?

[Noel_374318809]

we have been looking at twin axle caravans and we particularly liked the swift charisma 650 its perfect for my family as it looks great and the layout is spot on. weight wise i have been told i can tow it, but i have a 1.9 dci on a 56 plate, the question is do you think its got the guts to pull it?

any info would be great

thanks.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Noel

I note that you have chosen a large people carrier, and a large caravan. I therefore guess that you have to accommodate a larger than average number of holiday makers - and that is where you may have a problem:

Renault in their wisdom have had a tendency to specify quite large maximum trailer weights (MPTLM), and whilst the cars are capable of handling such trailers, you can't have a fully loaded car and trailer at the same time. If you add the weight of the loaded car and the loaded caravan together, it must be no more than the car's stated Gross Train Weight (GTW) allowance.

I understand that later models have had revised GTW's but you must check your vehicles specification, as changes to specifications are not retrospective, unless a letter of conformance and a new plate is fitted by the vehicle manufacture.

I do not have the exact specification for your car, but what my sources tell me is is that:

The 1.9 Dci Espace has a kerbweight of 1755Kg and a maximum permitted towed mass of 2000Kg.

The Swift Charisma 650 has an MPTLM of 1710Kg, That gives a towing ratio of 95%.

On the face of it thats OK but I have 2000 Grande Espace 2.2Dt with similar specks but I have a GTW of only 3700Kg, That means I could tow your caravan , but I would be left with only about 250Kg for passengers and any other luggage or bits and pieces in the car. - which is not very much for six or seven people.

It is essential that you get the details about YOUR car, either from the hand book, or data plates on the vehicle, Failing that your Renault Dealer should be able to find out for you.

PS. My Grande Espace is a great tow car, it does handle a fully laden twin axle trailer that I use (2000Kg). The 1.9 engine actually produces more power than mine, so it lead to an even more capable vehicle.

 

[Stevel]

From memory the Espace has quite a low towball weight.

 

[David_374319640]

Hi

Good to read your comments and advice. Not yet a caravan owner but I have a similar query. Am considering a caravan . A 6 berth ..more that likely a twin axel abbey /similar.. To be honest we have no idea about what is needed to pull it although we do have a grande espace 05 2.2dci. Thought that would be fine. But we have 3 kids (not teenagers ) + bikes etc... so maybe this might take us over the limits on pulling.

Will have to research all the limits and stuff but what do you think.?

I have looked around for the tech specs of cars..no luck so far. Mine was used car and seems to be missing a few spec books.

Thanks

 

[Cockovan]

Hi David,

You might find http://www.whattowcar.com/ useful as a guide but bear in mind it is a Dutch site and specifications for UK cars can be slighhtly different.

Just to throw another spanner in the works the Caravan Club give a guide figure of 40bhp per tonne of total weight (car, van and load) as a guide to the power to weight ratio although torque has to be considered as well - diesels are better than petrol in this area.

Hope this helps without over complicating things.

Alan

 

[Happy-Lappy]

Noel,

I have a 2.0l 16V Espace (yom2000) and pull a T/A Lunar Quasar 615(MTPLM1450) although this is close to 100% we don't load the caravan with any heavy items and if we need the full awning, I remove the rearmost seats. I carry 2 adults and 3 teenagers, plus 2 BMX bikes and a lightweight portch awning, I will be honest and say yes, it does struggle on long steep hills, but as you have the dci, you will no doubt have a better low end torque then my petrol version. When all weights are added I am still under my MGTW. The MIRO of the van is 1205 and the towball limit is 80kg. If you still need a 6 berth loof at the new Quasar 615 (MIRO1245) or a Bailey, as these are also lightweight,

best regards, Martin

 

[Herv]

Hello Noel

I note that you have chosen a large people carrier, and a large caravan. I therefore guess that you have to accommodate a larger than average number of holiday makers - and that is where you may have a problem:

Renault in their wisdom have had a tendency to specify quite large maximum trailer weights (MPTLM), and whilst the cars are capable of handling such trailers, you can't have a fully loaded car and trailer at the same time. If you add the weight of the loaded car and the loaded caravan together, it must be no more than the car's stated Gross Train Weight (GTW) allowance.

I understand that later models have had revised GTW's but you must check your vehicles specification, as changes to specifications are not retrospective, unless a letter of conformance and a new plate is fitted by the vehicle manufacture.

I do not have the exact specification for your car, but what my sources tell me is is that:

The 1.9 Dci Espace has a kerbweight of 1755Kg and a maximum permitted towed mass of 2000Kg.

The Swift Charisma 650 has an MPTLM of 1710Kg, That gives a towing ratio of 95%.

On the face of it thats OK but I have 2000 Grande Espace 2.2Dt with similar specks but I have a GTW of only 3700Kg, That means I could tow your caravan , but I would be left with only about 250Kg for passengers and any other luggage or bits and pieces in the car. - which is not very much for six or seven people.

It is essential that you get the details about YOUR car, either from the hand book, or data plates on the vehicle, Failing that your Renault Dealer should be able to find out for you.

PS. My Grande Espace is a great tow car, it does handle a fully laden twin axle trailer that I use (2000Kg). The 1.9 engine actually produces more power than mine, so it lead to an even more capable vehicle.

 

[David_374319640]

Noel,

I have a 2.0l 16V Espace (yom2000) and pull a T/A Lunar Quasar 615(MTPLM1450) although this is close to 100% we don't load the caravan with any heavy items and if we need the full awning, I remove the rearmost seats. I carry 2 adults and 3 teenagers, plus 2 BMX bikes and a lightweight portch awning, I will be honest and say yes, it does struggle on long steep hills, but as you have the dci, you will no doubt have a better low end torque then my petrol version. When all weights are added I am still under my MGTW. The MIRO of the van is 1205 and the towball limit is 80kg. If you still need a 6 berth loof at the new Quasar 615 (MIRO1245) or a Bailey, as these are also lightweight,

best regards, Martin

Thanks for that info and advice much appreciated.

 

[paul_374321266]

Noel,

I have a 2.0l 16V Espace (yom2000) and pull a T/A Lunar Quasar 615(MTPLM1450) although this is close to 100% we don't load the caravan with any heavy items and if we need the full awning, I remove the rearmost seats. I carry 2 adults and 3 teenagers, plus 2 BMX bikes and a lightweight portch awning, I will be honest and say yes, it does struggle on long steep hills, but as you have the dci, you will no doubt have a better low end torque then my petrol version. When all weights are added I am still under my MGTW. The MIRO of the van is 1205 and the towball limit is 80kg. If you still need a 6 berth loof at the new Quasar 615 (MIRO1245) or a Bailey, as these are also lightweight,

best regards, Martin

hi, i have a 99v grand espace 3.0 v6 any 1 have any ideas what i could tow with this???

Thanks in advance, Paul.

 

[paul_374321266]

hi, i have a 99v grand espace 3.0 v6 any ideas upto what weight i can pull on this??

Thanks in advance, Paul.

 

[Lutz]

Have a look in your handbook or on the VIN plate. I think you'll find that if the car is at kerbweight it may tow 2000kg but this is reduced on a 1-to-1 basis by the amount of payload that you put into the car.

 

[paul_374321266]

hi lutz, i have 5 kids ranging from 4 upto 16 so the payload in the car can be quite high. will have to weight every one and see what we get left over =/

Paul.

 

[Julieann]

We have just bought a new caravan - before the "deal was done" the dealer checked the weights for us. My advice is to ask the dealer to check as well as doing your own checks. We also looked at whattowcar.com which was helpful.

Good luck!