i have renault scenic 1.5dci kerb weight 1340k but with roofbars and bikerails etc now weighs 1480k ,book shows 1300k max tow, what size caravan can i tow up too and would the engine be powerful enough.
scenic
- Thread starter terry_5128036
- Start date
Damian
Moderator
Terry, the kerbweight is 1195kgs and the 85% guide is 1016kgs with a max tow limit of 1300kgs.
You need to check the max train weight too, as that is the very maximum you can weigh on the road, car and van combined.
The only weights the Police and Ministry men will accept are those stamped on the respective plates of car and van, or those published by the manufacturer, without additional items.
By adding the roof mounted items, you have not increased the towing capability, you have reduced it by that amount.When you add on the bikes, that reduces further, and increases drag on the car, reducing performance even more.
The 1.5 has not got much in the way of top end power, so you may be struggling on hills, and, as has been found in the past,they suffer from clutch problems when reversing, to which Renault say,,,,,,,,dont reverse with them!!! and wont replace under warranty if towing has caused the problem.
You need to check the max train weight too, as that is the very maximum you can weigh on the road, car and van combined.
The only weights the Police and Ministry men will accept are those stamped on the respective plates of car and van, or those published by the manufacturer, without additional items.
By adding the roof mounted items, you have not increased the towing capability, you have reduced it by that amount.When you add on the bikes, that reduces further, and increases drag on the car, reducing performance even more.
The 1.5 has not got much in the way of top end power, so you may be struggling on hills, and, as has been found in the past,they suffer from clutch problems when reversing, to which Renault say,,,,,,,,dont reverse with them!!! and wont replace under warranty if towing has caused the problem.
Damian has made a good point regarding checking the gross train weight. Renault's, in particular, are crippled with a relatively low gross train weight that often limits towing capacity below what the specified max. towload would suggest.
Don't be fooled by the 1300kg max. towload figure. If the car is fully laden, the max. permissible gross train weight (which I think is 2950kg) could limit the towload to just over 1000kg.
yes you are right with the train weight,i shall have to forget a caravan and stick to my trailer tent.as with two adults and three kids there is no caravan to us weight wise.even looked at four births and using awning and annex, probally end up with two births and kids stay at home.only joking. still interested to know if anyone tows with 1.5 dci 86bph scenic .
Hi
we had a 1.4 16V Scenic and successfully towed an Eriba 310GT Touring (3 berth) with 2 adults & 2 kids, BUT it did suffer from a severe lack of power so I spent a lot of time in 3rd and pulling over to let cars past.
have now changed it for a 2.0 diesel Kia Sportage and happily driven over 1k miles in the last week with no probs.
I would imagine your 1.5dci would have more torque than ours did, but your still looking at a small caravan and would struggle to find a 5 berth - although ours is a 3 berth with an awning and inner tent.
let me know if you want any more info.
cheers
Mark (",)
we had a 1.4 16V Scenic and successfully towed an Eriba 310GT Touring (3 berth) with 2 adults & 2 kids, BUT it did suffer from a severe lack of power so I spent a lot of time in 3rd and pulling over to let cars past.
have now changed it for a 2.0 diesel Kia Sportage and happily driven over 1k miles in the last week with no probs.
I would imagine your 1.5dci would have more torque than ours did, but your still looking at a small caravan and would struggle to find a 5 berth - although ours is a 3 berth with an awning and inner tent.
let me know if you want any more info.
cheers
Mark (",)
I have a Grabd Scenic 1.9 diesel and am just about to buy a caravan. The max towing weight of 1300Kg is for when the car is loaded with the driver only (no other passengers or luggage). The weight you need to look at is the gross train weight - basically, the car's kerb weight + the caravan's total weight (i.e. the unladen weight + what you put in it) + the weight of all your passengers and luggage.
For me, the gross train weight is 3050 and kerb weight is 1530. The van I want is 1048 unladen. This leaves me with 472 Kg for caravan contents, luggage and passengers. This isn't a lot, but it should be OK.
It's actual illegal to drive above the gross train weight, so I plan to go to a weighbridge with van loaded and a full car to make sure it's all OK.
By the way, the Renault owener's manual quotes a figure of a maximum towing weight of 850Kg (for my car) "in all other situations" other than driver only. I have spoken to Renault about this, and this refers to "if the car is fully loaded". They are sending me an official letter to clarify this should I need official proof.
I think we're going to have to forget taking the bikes with us, as they will add too much weight - and hire bikes when on holiday. I'd rather not change the car, as it's great and just we wanted for a family with young children.
I hope this is useful,
Andy.
How sure are you that the kerbweight of your Grand Scenic is 1530kg, Andrew? Every car that comes off the production line has a different kerbweight so any published figure can only be a guideline. Often, the actual kerbweight is higher, sometimes over 100kg, so you may have less payload available than you think.
There's no need to wait for an official letter from Renault. The minimum that you may tow will be the Gross Train Weight limit minus the max. permissible Gross Vehicle Weight of the car.
The Gross Train Weight is, as you say, 3050kg. The max. Gross Vehicle Weight will probably be 2200kg, leaving you with 850kg max. towload. It's easy, really. I don't know why Renault make everything so complicated, even in their explanations.
My wife has a Scenic 1.5dci and the handbook contradicts the weights shown on the vin plate. Clear as mud.
The VIN plate takes priority but if there is a discrepancy between it and the owner's handbook I would take the matter up with Renault.
Just out of interest, what are the differences?
Just out of interest, what are the differences?
Thanks for the comments. I have since discovered that as this car does not come with a spare wheel as standard, it is not included in the kerbweight - there goes another 19Kg. Also, I need to add c25Kg for the weight of the towbar, oh and 5Kg for the sunroof.... This just brings everything so close to the gross train weight that we won't be able to carry as much kit as we need - awning for example.
I've come to the sad conclusion that the car I bought new 1 year ago(which is fantastic in every other respect) is just not up to towing anything other than the smallest of caravans. So, the first caravan is going to have to wait a couple of years until we can afford to replace our other car with something capable of towing, and spacious enough for a family on holiday.
I'm sure there's a reason why Renault have such low gross train weights - I'd be very interested to know what it is - braking capacity, strength of chassis?
Thanks for your help.
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