vw passat cc

[Firkle]

Hello Prof
Thank you for the clarification of terms.

My personal reasons for choosing to run a caravan of only 1500kg instead of its maximum are for stability and responsiveness.

I run at about 96% of kerb weight and a nose weight of 85kg, which is 5kg less than the VW integrated towbar spec. and with this setup the outfit is very stable, even when passing car transporters at the maximum permitted limit on the French autoroutes.

I feel that if I towed a 1800kg caravan" the tail would wag the dog".

Likewise when I wish to overtake something I do not have a problem with a lack of power and hill starts in the Pyrenees have not given me any problems at all.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi Firkle

Thanks for getting back on the subject.

I can certainly agree that responsiveness will suffer as the towed weight increases, simply by having greater total mass will reduce the engines ability to accelerate the outfit.

Stability is another matter, and I venture to suggest it is less to do with weight ratio, and more to do with mass distribution and speed. It is this very point that the study undertaken by Bath University for Bailey caravans very ably demonstrated.

If you find you are happy at 1500kg and you have no incidents then carry on. And I wish many happy caravan holidays.