Tow match

[stephena]

Found a caravan we loved today and were all set for an upgrade but i wanted to check a few things before I committed to the purchase... The van in question is a swift conqueror 565 and we love it.

Problem is towmatch.info doesn't seem to like our tow car in fact in have yet to find a tow car it considers a good match despite trying all the SUV's in our category, is this site just overly cautious? A 4x4 xtrail is not a recommended match, really???

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Look on the weight plate on your car, either on the door pillar or in engine bay. See here There should be 4 numbers and the difference between the first 2 numbers is the max trailer load (for an 'ideal' trailer). Also look at your V5c certificate, which should give the braked trailer weight, and it should tie up with the weight plate.

What is the MTPLM (Maximum Technical Permitted Laden Mass) of your caravan?

Then come back to us.

 

[paws]

So that folks can advise you, you will need to provide full details of the caravan, and the car.

The age of the car and its exact specification, trim level etc is essential information as is the year and exact model of the caravan.
Post back with all the details and one of the members here will probably be able to offer some advice
Regards and Happy Caravanning
paws

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Googling says that the Swift is 1664 kg MTPLM, which suggests a towcar kerb weight of 1960 kg. Xtrails are nowhere near that.

 

[stephena]

... and this is the point I was trying to make rather than get into the nitty gritty of my current Tow Car.

I am quite prepared to consider upgrading my tow car but I don't see a lot that can actually tow this van suitably.

 

[stephena]

Another way of looking at it, is there a site where I can list vehicles that are capable of towing this weight?

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Perhaps you need to fall in love with a lighter caravan.

PS - or perhaps a Range Rover.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi
Ignoring any budget restrictions or personal like or dislikes, there are actually quite a lot of vehicles available that cold tow the Swift with a ratio of 85% or less. Generally they are bigger and more powerful cars, and many 4x4s.
I'm not going to offer to list them, i'm not paid to do that.

 

[Raywood]

The 85% figure is only a recommendation and is not sacrosanct. I would not advise going wildly over it but up to 90% I would not worry which does open up a few more cars for you to look at.
Not sure which site you have looked at but some just seem to say no to anything over 85% without further information.
Unless you are a member you cannot fully access the CC service but that gives far more information and advice. Basically with a not quite perfect match it will confirm that it is possible but with reservations and also comments on power and other relevant subjects. There is a none members access but not sure how detailed a report you will get. You can get lots of advice and the matching service on http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/advice-and-training/choosing-a-vehicle/choosing-a-towcar/towcar-advice

 

[paws]

Hi stephena, If you are a fairly experienced "tug pilot" and have the appropriate driving licence then the following article might be of some assistance.

http://www.towcar.info/outfitmatch.php?model=3942&type_car=3703
However as the learned Professor has said, there are many vehicles that are capable of towing a Swift Conqueror its just a question of looking them up.

Your local Swift dealer should also be able to help and should know the MTPLM of each of the year models and layouts you are interested in and be able to suggest vehicles that have the ability to tow them.
Regards
and of course Happy Caravanning
paws

 

[ProfJohnL]

I must add a note Raywoods post.

Whilst I am sure all matching services genuinely want top offer good advice, All of them without exception have an achilles heel. The advice they can give is only as good as the information they have in their databases. We know from numerous posts on this and other forums, some of the information they have is wrong about some cars and caravans. and some models are not even listed.

It is essential you check the information they use is for your exact car and caravan, from make model year engine size fuel and output. body shape, and trim level. Do not accept anything that is not an exact match, as even similar models from the manufacturer may have important differences in relation to towing or being towed.

Ray has pointed out the caravan industries guidance about towing ratios and most of the matching services will adopt them and pronounce on that basis., It is important to understand that weight ratios alone do not determine if an outfit is a good match, but it is a usual starting point for when choosing a car or caravan. What is of probably more importance regarding the quality of the tow, is how you load the car and caravan, to get the best nose load, the proper maintenance of adjustment of brakes and tyres etc. And ultimately it how the outfit is driven. There are some very good towing advice courses offered by two main clubs and other various organisations.

The caravan industry tow ratio guidance figures should not be seen as fixed targets, and nothing about the outfits towing characteristics will have a step change if you exceed them, BUT it does make sense to always try to keep the weight of the caravan as small as possible. You must also be aware your car and caravan manufacturers specifications and towing limits must never be exceed under any circumstances even if the guidance suggests otherwise.

 

[Raywood]

If you use the CC matching service and put in the caravan details it will show the cars that the service believes can tow the caravan. I did try this with your caravan but had to guess the year and it showed 200 although most had a caution warning with them. If the year was wrong then it may give a different selection but there are certainly cars capable of towing it apart from the Range Rover.

 

[ProfJohnL]

.... it apart from the Range Rover.

Ray ????? :huh:

 

[stephena]

Caravan search is great thank you hadn't seen the option where by you can list suitable vehicles! New car this year, new van as soon as I can save enough pennies ; )

 

[1hammer]

Hi - I am totally confused about this.. The towcar.info website gives the option to increase payload in the towcar: by increasing this does the kerbweight (and therefore the 85% value) increase, or is the kerbweight always taken as that declared by the manufacturer regardless of what is loaded into the towcar?

i.e. the van I am looking to buy has an MTPLM of 1479Kg (Sprite Major 6TD) - would a Hyundai i40 estate with a published kerbweight of 1648Kg be ok for a novice (by loading the heavy kit into the car) or do I need a beast of a vehicle to tow this caravan?

My current car (Kia Ceed SW) has a kerbweight of 1389, yet the sticker on the door frame gives a gross vehicle weight of 1920Kg and a gross train weight of 3420Kg (giving a max tow weight of 1500Kg?) I know that my current car won't really pull the caravan I want, however what is the relationship between the vehicles kerbweight and gross vehicle weight?

Thanks
Very confusing..

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Hammer,

Welcome to the illogical world of caravan towing ratio's. What you have done is to fall into the trap of thinking the recommended towing ratio's are essential for a good and safe tow. The truth is they do not offer any guarantees and they have no legal significance, BUT they do offer a means of making a very general comparison between outfits, and they do follow the sensible consideration that its good practice to keep a trailers weight as small as possible compared to the tow vehicle.

Given that the tow ratio is ALWAYS based on the caravans Maximum permitted weight, and the car minimum possible weight, the result does not change if you load the car more than the caravan.
The process is always looking at the worst possible case scenario. and you can rest assured that the real world ratio will always be somewhat lower.

As for proposed outfit it would give a tow ratio of 89.7% In practice a few percent over is unlikely to make a massive difference to a properly trimmed caravan. It's probably of greater significance to load the caravan and car carefully - check out the loading advice here http://www.practicalcaravan.com/advice

What does concern me with your posting is that combined MAM of the car and caravan is likely to be over 3500kg and for this you must have cat Be or B+E on your driving licence - please check.

 

[1hammer]

Thanks for the reply - (I have cat BE on my licence)

 

[ProfJohnL]

Thanks for the reply - (I have cat BE on my licence)

That fine then

 

[Jujubeans]

Apologies for a question which has been probably answered 100 times, but I am going round in circles.....my car is a Nissan Quasquai 1.2 n-etc. I thought it was quite a substantial car....but maybe not when it comes to caravans! The door plate has a figure of 1860kg followed by 3060kg so does this mean a maximum tow weight for ever and ever of 1200kg? This really restricts our choice. Is it permissible to go a few kilos over or absolutely not? Thanks for a definitive answer!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Apologies for a question which has been probably answered 100 times, but I am going round in circles.....my car is a Nissan Quasquai 1.2 n-etc. I thought it was quite a substantial car....but maybe not when it comes to caravans! The door plate has a figure of 1860kg followed by 3060kg so does this mean a maximum tow weight for ever and ever of 1200kg? This really restricts our choice. Is it permissible to go a few kilos over or absolutely not? Thanks for a definitive answer!

Unfortunately this is not going to be a simple answer because there are other factors involved which you should be made aware of.

Your figures are correct but that applies to an ideal trailer.

Its very important to understand that caravans are by their size and weight
considered to be far from ideal trailers. So much so that the UK caravan industry has issued guidance for all but the most experienced towers to ensure their vehicle is able to tow the caravan and aim to keep the MTPLM of their caravans they use below 85% of the tow vehicle unladen weight.

As you don't quote us the Unladen Weight of your car we cannot tell you what the lower guidance weight would be. but my guess would be a ULW in the order of 1300kg ULW giving guided MTPLM for the caravan of about 1100Kg

 

[Raywood]

Apologies for a question which has been probably answered 100 times, but I am going round in circles.....my car is a Nissan Quasquai 1.2 n-etc. I thought it was quite a substantial car....but maybe not when it comes to caravans! The door plate has a figure of 1860kg followed by 3060kg so does this mean a maximum tow weight for ever and ever of 1200kg? This really restricts our choice. Is it permissible to go a few kilos over or absolutely not? Thanks for a definitive answer!

The 1860 should be the maximum loaded weight of the car and the3060 the maximum gross train weight. The car is fairly substantial but you have the smallest engine. Regardless of towing limits I would have to say that a 1,200 cc engine is never going to be satisfactory as a tow car it, is just not powerful enough. I would look for something bigger before buying a caravan if you want any kind of performance. I have driven very light caravans with 1300 engines and they managed but that was all.
The towing limit is based on the ability to restart the load on a 12% slope and not on towing performance. The wind resistance of a caravan front needs power to overcome and a folding caravan or trailer tent might be a better bet with that engine as the lower profile of these reduces the drag considerably.
You will also need to get the nose weight limit which should be in the handbook as you need to know what weight you can load onto the towbar. This should be in the handbook as will further information on kerb weight and other information.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with Rays assumption about the power of the 1200cc engine. I am not familiar with Quaquai so this may not be true for this car, but these days car manufacturers are having to go towards smaller engines to satisfy emission and efficiency targets. That has not stopped them eeking far more power out of these smaller units compared to units from only 5 years ago.

What you need to look at is power and torque they produce and base it on that rather than just swept volume.

Unlike decades gone past were there was no type approval on cars, these days if the whole vehicle type approval indicates a car has a towing capacity, at least the evidence is based on repeatable tests, and the car will do what the manufacturer claims.