I think Im right, but may be wrong....

[philip_374375033]

We bought a Lunar Quasar 616 on saterday at the NEC which has a MTPLM of 1550kg and whilst I know our current car wont pull the new van (VW Touran 1.9TDi) Im a little confused as to what figures to believe for a new tow vehicle.

Ive used whattowcar.com and am somewhat dismayed that the new CRV 2.2 wont pull our van at 85%, neither will the VW Tiguan so we would need to go bigger which obviously hits economy harder.

Do I go to the 85% of kerbweight rule, or what the manufacturers say the car can tow in a breaked trailer?

Ideally Id like to get a car that is frugal under normal load (90% of its use) but remains capable of pulling our new van with relative ease.

 

[Robert_374373903]

Like buying a bell then getting the bike to fit.

 

[philip_374375033]

Is that an issue?

To be honest, its a hell of a lot easier to buy a suitable car than it is to get a van that suits our needs, but thanks for the help anyway......

 

[Happy-Lappy]

Phillip,

I have a 2005 Lunar Quasar615 MTPLM 1450kg the kerbweight of my car is 1490kg this is about 96%

The 85% is a guideline not a set limit and by the time the car is loaded with passengers,awning etc this comes down to around 90% and I don't have any issues with this.

I'm sure the new CRV is more than capable of meeting your requirements,

best regards, Martin

 

[Parksy]

There's a question mark over the different towing limits for the CRV.

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/newforums/fm_messages.asp?FO=10&FM=412462

 

[Parksy]

There's a question mark over the different towing limits for the CRV.

]http://www.practicalcaravan.com/newforums/fm_messages.asp?FO=10&FM=412462

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/newforums/fm_messages.asp?FO=10&FM=412462[/quote
Should have added that it looks as though the CRV will be ok

 

[rob_jax]

Philip,

The legal requirement is that you don't tow a trailer above the maximum braked trailer weight nor beyond the difference between the gross train weight and the car gross vehicle weight.

These are often the same figure, but may not be (Renault is a good example here - and care is required)

Any trailer weight lower than this figure is legal - assuming your licence allows you to drive such a combination.

But towing a caravan isn't the same as the flat bed trailer used by the manufacturer to determine limits - and you now enter the uncharted territory of how different caravan body lengths, caravan aerodynamics, suspension, etc., affect you the caravan tows behind a car. And that's before you start loading it with your stuff.

So there's general acceptance that trying to keep below a ratio of 85% has a good chance of a stable tow - but there's no reason why towing above that figure shouldn't be stable either - but this is totally down to driver experience, safety and stability aids fitted to car and caravan, and how the caravan works in combination with that car.

What towing ratio do you get for the Honda?

Robert

 

[philip_374375033]

Thanks for your replies, they have been very helpfull.

Using whattowcar.com it comes back with 90%, but thats after Ive altered the van MTPLM to 1550 as per the Lunar catalogue.

Im confident in my ability to tow, but wasnt entirely sure if the 85% was a legal limit or not.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Philip,

I cant tell you if your outfit will tow well or not, as that is down to loading, road conditions, maintenance and driving style.

But what I can tell you is that you cannot rely on any of the third party web sites to have the correct details of your car and caravan.

There have been some proven errors, so always go the horses mouth i.e. data plate or dealer /manufacture to get accurate information.

Another source of significant error is the real vs the theoretical kerb weights. A quick check through this forum will show that most real cars weigh more than the published KW's. This can be due to factory fitted extras, and even the type of paint used!

Good towing is not jut down to weights, it affected by many factors such as those I mention above. Whilst keeping a to a low tow ratio is generally a good idea, technically you can tow up to the car manufactures stated limit (unless your driving licence says otherwise).

 

[Stephen_374341239]

Hi Philip

I have been finding this new car d not seem to be able to pull much in weight now days.when you go to work out the 85% am always up around the 95%. Also most nose wights seem to be coming down as well. I think t t do with getting cars lighter so hay burn less fuel.Does not help when you wish to tow a caravan though.

 

[Lutz]

On the other hand, with ever more cars being fitted with ESP+ as standard and the availability of electronic stabiliser systems for caravans, such as the AlKo ATC, too, the 85% recommendation is becoming increasingly outdated.

 

[Zafiral]

Lutz

I agree wholeheartedly.

However the 100% match is still an issue if you want to tow above 80kph in Germany I think..... Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Lutz]

Yes, that's right and quite frankly, I'd feel a bit wary of going over 100% with a caravan, even with all the latest technology at my disposal. But, on the other hand, 85% is getting a bit anachronistic.

 

[60North]

Hi

We've just returned home from an 800 mile round trip with our 2004 Quasar 615 (1450kg MTPLM) and 2005 RAV4 2.0D4D XTR. The outfit is about a 94% match.

We encountered some extremely windy conditions which meant restricting our towing speed at times but the outfit was quite stable.

I would point out that careful loading of both the car and 'van makes a huge difference to how the outfit performs in blustery/ windy conditions.

I agree that modern enhancements make the 85% rule less applicable but in poor conditions the heavier the towcar in relation to the caravan the better in my opinion. If we were to be doing much touring outwith the summer months I would certainly recommend a much heavier towcar than the RAV (and take the resulting hit on fuel economy the rest of the time)but for 'fair weather' touring I'm happy with the match/ outfit as it is.