Hi all and advice please

[Wayne16]

Hi all

I wonder if anyone can help. I'm a complete novice at caravanning and I'm looking to purchase my first. I saw a caravan I liked and I went on a couple of tow match sites and got 2 different answers, 1 saying perfect match and the other saying it's an illegal match. The caravan centre that I saw the caravan for sale at told me the match was fine. So if anyone can help me decipher exactly what weight I can tow I would really appreciate it. I have a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 cdti exclusive ecoflex estate, the vin plate numbers are 2120kg 3370kg 1-1140kg and 2-1020 kg. Does this mean I can tow a fully laden weight of 1250kg? Also forgive me for sounding stupid but as there are only 2 of us plus 2 dogs if I bought a caravan say 4 berth and for example it said fully laden weight of 1400kg as there would only be 2 of us and not the 4 it bases the weight on would that be ok or does it not work like that? Any help would be much appreciated

Wayne

 

[Cotty]

https://www.gocaravanning.com/towcars/
Try here....

 

[Cotty]

http://www.towcar.info/towing.php
Or here...

 

[chrisn7]

As you have found out third party sites don't always provide accurate information.

Look in the tech section of your cars handbook. It will tell you your cars kerb weight, the maximum braked trailer weight your car can tow, and the gross train weight.

Its important to compare the first two weights, as most calculations refer to kerb weight, but some vehicles have a lower braked trailer weight which would then apply.

As the name implies the gross train weight is the cars maximum laden weight allowed (not the same as kerbweight), plus the caravans maximum weight (MTPLM). This should not be exceeded, and you should check that your licence allows you to tow this. Note that keeping the car and/or the caravan lighter makes no difference - the stated limits always apply

 

[Raywood]

Just to explain the legal point on licences. If you passed your test after 1997 you will be limited to driving a combination of no more than 3,500 kg. Frankly with an Astra you should not be approaching this though.
The towing advice from the two major clubs and NCC is that the caravan should not be more than 85% of the cars kerb weight. Having towed with an Astra they are very good tow cars and exceeding this by a bit should not be a problem but I would certainly not go above 90% as a newcomer. I am not sure about the permitted towing weight for that engine though.
The cars kerb weight and the gross train weight should be on the registration document.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Wayne,

You tell us you are a novice. This leads me to speculate that you passed your driving test after 1st January 1997, which is a very important date for caravanners. Towing caravans with a domestic car is covered by Group B entitlements, and they changed on this date. If you have a pre 1997 licenc skip the next three paragraphs.

If you passed your test before 1/1/1997, the you will have been awarded entitlement BE, This covers virtually all possible car and caravan combinations, but after this date you would only be awarded Entitlement B and that limits your possible combinations to a combined Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) of just 3500kg.

Applying that to your car of MAM 2120kg and generic 1400kg caravan that gives you 3520Kg which is over the Cat B licence limit. To drive this outfit you must either have the pree 1/1/97 Cat BE or take an extra test to be awarded cat B+E. Or you must find a caravan of MAM not exceeding 3500-2120 = 1380kg

Driving licences only consider maximum weight limits rather than actual measured weights, so under loading a vehicle or trailer does not change the legality of driving it with a Cat B only licence.

Now we must look at the car from its mechanical capability. Your data plate tells us the Gross Vehicle Weight GVW is 2120kg. This is the heaviest the car can be when fully loaded You must not exceed this. The other important figure is the Gross Train weight (GTW) and is 3370kg. This is the maximum weight the car and trailer can be, so it follows that GTW 3370 - GVW 2120 = 1250kg Maximum Towed Weight the car can pull when the car is fully loaded.

In simple terms you can only consider a caravan of maximum weight of 1250kg. BUT that is only the weight carried by the trailer's wheels, you can also add the nose load to that figure, as teh nose load is not towed but carried by the car. Its a legal technicality, but thats the way the regulations are written. So on the basis that you will need a minimum nose load of 50kg, you could look for a caravan of MTPLM 1300kg.

That is within your Cat b licence limit and in relation to the towing ratio
will be MTPLM 1300kg divided by Kerbweight 1440, will give a ration 90%. Perhaps a little high for a novice but with care should be manageable.

Look in the advice section (pages 15 & 16 of the forum for information on how to load your caravan, but do also bear in mind that safe towing is about careful driving, ensuring the vehicle and trailer in good condition, especially tyres and brakes, taking note of weather and road conditions.

For a well written description of driving licence entitlments and relaevant dates see:

http://www.drivex.co.uk/driving-licence-info/#catb

 

[ProfJohnL]

Just to explain the legal point on licences. If you passed your test after 1997 you will be limited to driving a combination of no more than 3,500 kg. Frankly with an Astra you should not be approaching this though. .

Hello Ray
The license does not consider the "weight" of a vehicle, it considers the weight capacity, the wording is "Combined MAM" not "weight" Its this point that has confused so many.

The data plate for the Astra as quoted by the poster gives a GTW of 3370, which is in my book "approaching 3500, The Astras effective towing capacity is also approaching 90%.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Having towed with an Astra they are very good tow cars

That is a subjective statement. I down-sized from a 2007 Vectra 1.9 150PS to an 2014 Astra 1.7 130PS, both towing a van with MTPLM of 1210 kg, and noticed a considerable difference. The Vectra would hold speed on cruise control going up slight inclines on motorways but the Astra would slow down. With the Astra I had to work the gears and being lazy I didn't like it. I thought of changing it to a 1.9 in less than a year, by which time Vauxhall were just discontinuing the larger engine. Hence I now have an Insignia with 2 litre engine and power of 170PS. I can now be very lazy on motorways, lovely towcar.

 

[Beachball]

Hi Wayne Welcome to forum enjoy