I am pretty sure it is a Westfalia on VW group models, although I do not know if there is anything different from their standard range. I think Westfalia is the norm for many makes, although Bosal do a few.
Well it s confirmed there in black and white 4101-2526= 1575kg is teh difference between the GTW and the GVW which gives the braked towed weight allowed when the car is full laden.
This does not confirm if you need extra engine or oil cooling. See what your Skoda Dealer informs you.
There is a certain logic that if a manufacturer has Type Approved a car with a difference between GTW and GVW, then it should be able to tow that weight without additional modifications - but that may be disputed in any warranty claim and might need court action - although case law may be sparse in this case.
I reckon you're getting far too deep there Roger; I'd be happy with the manufacturer's legal tow weight! The complexity of answers here confuses; am so glad I didn't ask advice on here when I started towing. Simply looked at the plate as above which as PRof clearly sees is the legal line! I don't think I would have dared go out towing anything!
Years ago we would just look at car and caravan and make a logical (or often illogical) guess. I am pleased that things have changed but it can be confusing. And the gray areas are often muddied by the ‘not so sure’. Which is why I don’t add my two pennies worth.
I wish that legislators would keep things simple. KISS
John
I wish that legislators would keep things simple. KISS
John
I really don't know how legislators could make it any simpler without compromising some sections of the towing community and without prejudice. In fact, if they were to take into account all variables that affect safety, stability, etc., the law would become a lot more complicated and confusing for many.
A look around a caravan site during school holidays would give some idea, especially as the front locker is opened for the first time. 😂
Also amazing how many couples with no children have a complete living room/kitchen /outdoor terrace set up in their awning .
Frightens me how so over limits some people can be
I would quite happily tow a caravan at 100 % and a bit over , "If my axle loading" were able to take it. Maybe thats the difference. I always go for saftey, tyres, loading whaterever.
A lot of other folk are ignorant of these factors when they first start out.
And many ignorant whilst many years into caravanning.
A lot of other folk are ignorant of these factors when they first start out.
And many ignorant whilst many years into caravanning.
I agree there are a lot of people out there who buy caravans and go off in them without doing any proper research and inevitably make mistakes. I am no sure the answer was the towing test we had as that does not cover many things including safe loading, weights, etc.
Not sure how viable it would be, but something more all encompassing could make life safer, but I doubt that will happen.
The towing test, or more likely the preparation for it, had the advantage of fast-tracking knowledge and information to beginners that took us old-hands many trips to aquire from pure experience, in some cases literally learning the hard way.
Many old hands find it difficult to KISS "keep-it-simple, s----" as we, I include myself, tend to over-complicate things which baffles beginners rather than helping them.
When DVSA were looking at changes that could improve safety the conclusion was that because caravan accidents were statistically very low and the outcomes were far less than other vehicle accidents, there wasn’t a strong case on cost benefit to introduce more bureaucracy.
I'd agree,although you cite preventing accidents through mistakes there seems very little evidence there are many accidents and these may not be through mistakes either. We don't know. So I conclude modern cars and vans are safe and there is plenty of margin in figures quoted too.. The most recent accident I saw was in the high winds. There were plenty of warnings about high sided vehicles etc but you simply can't educate or legislate for stupid.
My approach is very laid back. I'm conscientious about preflight checks but I never get hung up about weights etc.
My approach is very laid back. I'm conscientious about preflight checks but I never get hung up about weights etc.
Caravanners (and indeed all drivers) should be wary about starting out with towing. It's a massive change to the dynamics of a vehicle, and there are other important factors such as weight limits.
Hopefully they will do the essential checks for weights when they start out, and and get all the details sorted. From that they will have the knowledge of what spare load margin they may have, and gaining some experience, and if they maintain consistent loading etcetera, that may not need to to measure everything quite as pedantically.
But if (as many caravanners find out) they are close to any of their legal limits, you cannot afford to take such a casual approach, becasue it might be all to easy to exceed one or more of those limits.
Not only would you be committing an offence of over loading, it will affect your insurance cover.
Where margins are close there is no place for casual practices.
DVSA would have looked at all types of trailer since there's no legal way to differentiate caravans from any other type.
In terms of insurance and the DVSA I have to agree-if you get caught-there simply aren't any or very few checks and if you have an accident they don't weight things do they; in fact if no one isn't hurt they don't investigate. I am not advocating over loading-that was not my point and quite clearly it is wrong. The point I am making is that if, as some here seem to imply , there are hundreds out there who don't bother with weighing checks and constantly make huge mistakes you can only deduce that really the margins are so great that overloading is a bit irrelevant! Sorry am being devils advocate but I hope you see what I mean!
To put it simply, those who decry the current caravan crop as making mistakes and being careless can't have it both ways-either they are not making such big mistakes as they'd like to think or these mistakes actually are not nearly as important as they are saying! Anyway, basically we should all be vigilant, stick to the law as it stands and be as careful as possible to keep the roads as safe as we can-there are enough clowns on them who aren't towing. Personally from what I see those with caravans on the back are a fair bit more careful than the every day road user!
Not quite correct as it wasn’t just DVSA, the clubs and motoring organisations and some insurers participated in the study. But you are right that caravans are not a big percentage of trailers. It was when siren voices were calling for MoT and registration.
This output from DVSA road safety checks showed 1 in 6 caravan were unsafe. But did they only pull over those that looked iffy.
Here’s the HoC report that I posted in another thread #74 refers
Page 3 - B+E automatic?
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From a practical standpoint the axle will not fail at 1Kg over its rating - 10% would at my guess be a reasonable overrating. An uprated van will usually take you to or close to the axle limit - as is the case with my Unicorn S4 Seville and it would be unsafe to do that if the axle failed within a few Kg of that figure.
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