Mel
Moderator
- Mar 17, 2007
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Many cars will tow that sort of weight so you may be confused by so much choice. We have a similar weight van and tow it with a Mercedes GLA 220d. Max towing weight is 1500kg but noseweight capacity ( S rating) is only 75kg. Although that is not a problem to us.
It has good fuel economy when towing ( around 35-38 mpg).
We also have an electric Corsa so use the merc for towing and longer journeys and the Corsa for the majority of our day to day driving.
If the tow car is going to be your only car, then do consider day to day solo driving needs; you will be looking for a car that is good for both.
Mel
It has good fuel economy when towing ( around 35-38 mpg).
We also have an electric Corsa so use the merc for towing and longer journeys and the Corsa for the majority of our day to day driving.
If the tow car is going to be your only car, then do consider day to day solo driving needs; you will be looking for a car that is good for both.
Mel
Scross is Vitara slightly bigger brother. If you look at Suzuki go for mild hybrid with 1.4turbo. The full hybrid uses gutless 1.5 non turbo engine. All hybrid range is rated to tow 1500kg.
If looking at older non hybrid range they are only rated tow 1200kg.
NB Top of range AWD Scross has 360 degree camera.
Toyota RAV4 hybrid is quite bit bigger and rated for 1500kg with similar fuel economy when not towing.
With any petrol( including hybrid )car when towing caravan you can double the fuel consumption.
Best advice is do some test drives.
- Nov 11, 2009
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My RAV 4 hybrid is only rated at 800kg braked load. The AWD hybrid is 1500kg braked load.
I've never found that in 40+ years of caravanning - my towing consumption has always been 50% higher than the same car solo - that's been true for small and large engined petrol cars as well as turbo-diesel ones.
That's not a bad worst-case assumption, whatever fuel type your car is.
Your outfit is likely to be about double the weight of your car alone, and double the wind resistance. In which case, the amount of energy or fuel it takes to move the whole thing (at the same speeds and accelerations) will also be double. Doesn't matter whether it's petrol, diesel or electricity.
Then some things will make the impact of towing on fuel consumption not quite so severe.
You probably drive slower, with slower acceleration.
You might have an unaerodynamic SUV, so adding the caravan on the back doesn't make the wind resistance so much worse.
Your towing vehicle might be much heavier than the caravan, so actually the weight of the outfit isn't doubled.
Whatever the specifics of your outfit, it's still quite a shock the first time you figure out how much more fuel you're using!
- Mar 14, 2005
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Throughout my life I have probably towed with more different combinations of trailer, caravans and tow vehicles with th eexception of perhaps caravan journalists. and whilst I haven't always kept tabs on fuel efficiency on the occasions I have, I cannot recall a single outfit that lost 50%, typically more like 30 to 35%. But realistically there are so many variables that might account for 5% or more on their own.
The one thing that doesn't translate is speed, when towing you are typically going tp be doing 6/7ths of your solo speed in th eUK at least. If you were normally driving solos at 6/7ths speed you would be surprised at how much better your fuel mileage would be, so that can make a big difference.
However for budgeting purposes if you assume towing will only get you half as far, then you'll get a nice bonus at the end of the journey.
The one thing that doesn't translate is speed, when towing you are typically going tp be doing 6/7ths of your solo speed in th eUK at least. If you were normally driving solos at 6/7ths speed you would be surprised at how much better your fuel mileage would be, so that can make a big difference.
However for budgeting purposes if you assume towing will only get you half as far, then you'll get a nice bonus at the end of the journey.
I'm reading your advice on Suzuki Vitara with great interest as by incident there's a decent Scross GLX for sale near me. Couple of questions
- What tow bar did you equip the Vitara with? There's no towbar option in the dealership price catalog.
- The manual gear/mild hybrid option is rated for 1500kg of braked towing capacity, but it also quotes 1265kg of vehicle weight, with a 'full weight' figure of 1710kg, most probably meaning 4 adult passengers. My caravan's 1300kg w/o our gear.
- Jan 20, 2023
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The Fiat 500 (IC engine models) have a towing capacity of 800 (or 850?) kgs so with such a light caravan there are many options, but as others have said, some cars that you'd expect to have decent towing limits might not have any at all. Also limits can vary wildly for the same model depending on engine, transmission etc, etc......
A Fiat 500 Abarth would have plenty of grunt m=but I don't think they're type approved for towing!
A Fiat 500 Abarth would have plenty of grunt m=but I don't think they're type approved for towing!
If it was me I wouldn't buy Scross or Vitara to tow a caravan over 1200kg(MPLM) even if rated for 1500kg. These vehicles are too light and short(wheel base) to comfortably tow caravans over 1200kg regularly.
For 1300kg van you really want to look at medium SUVs eg RAV4, Sportage, CRV, CX5 etc. Other plus of larger vehicles is bigger boot for all extras (awning, barbecue, camping chairs) that is to heavy for caravan to carry.
- Nov 11, 2009
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I wouldn’t rule out an estate car, we’ve had some excellent estates as tow cars.
I've modified my post a bit. SUVs dominate NZ market hence example. I'm big estate fan but they are dying breed in NZ.
- Nov 11, 2009
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With 2019 onwards RAV4 you need the 4WD variant as the 2WD hybrid only tows 800 kg braked trailer whereas the 4WD hybrid does 1500 kg.
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