New caravanner needing help for the safety of my young family

[Lee_374361419]

I do hope that someone can help and I apologise if this has already been covered.

I am new to caravanning and have just come back from from our first week away - It was brill.

Me, my wife and young daughter want to invest in a new MPV to replace our Subaru Impreza 2.0 AWD which hasnt struggled with our Elddis Whisp EB450. However the possibility of another child means we want more space and are due for a sensible tower. I have been onto the whattowcar site but nothing combines with my 94 Whisp. We really want to buy a Seat Altea 1.9 or 2.0 diesel but dont know if this is safe, also we have considered the C-Max diesels. Please advise as I am worried about safety of my family. Many thanks to those who reply.

 

[Gumbo]

What is the weight of your caravan, miro + mtplm

just to make sure we compare the right van

 

[Lee_374361419]

As it is an old van 1993 previous owners must have misplaced the books - so the only thing I have to go off is the plate on the side of the van which states: M.A.W 1090 kilos and C.A.P kilos

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Lee - empty the van and take it to a weighbridge and have it weighed. This will give you a good idea of the unladen weight. I would have thought that if you made an allowance of approx 150kg. to give your max perm. load you will have a good basis to start your calculations for a tow car. Using the guide rule of caravan weight being equal to 85% of the tow car weight you have the knowledge of which car would be suitable. There are other points to be considered such as max tow ball weight - again work on the assumption of 75kg and you should be OK. To obtain the tow ball weight of your van - place a piece of wood under the tow ball vertical and rest it on a bathroom scale so that the feet of the van are off the ground and the van appears horizontal. The tow ball weight can be adjusted by the amount of kit you have in the front locker. Apart from the gas cylinders which should always be kept vertical, any other heavy pices of kit can be stored in the van over the axle at low level. Try not to put heavy goods to the rear of the van as this could induce snaking. The car weight would be the unladen weight but with a tank of fuel - no people in the car or any bits and pieces.

I have tried above to give you a basic guide to caravan/car weight ratio guide. No doubt some one else on this forum could be in a position to give greter technical advice and not the simpler lay man's approach I have given. Good luck with your new venture.

 

[John_374361410]

Hi, I would recommend the Mondeo turbo diesel 140 bhp. I have the new estate and it is an amazing towcar. I got rid of a discovery 3 recently which towed like a dream (due to fuel prices), and was sceptical whether the Mondeo would tow as well. Even in high winds it is rock steady. I tow a 17ft Sprite and don't know it is there most of the time. It has NCAP 5* occupant rating too. Worth a look and they start at a reasonable price too for the Edge model, which is still very comfortable inside.