Do you really need ATC?
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we are looking. At a 2009 Swift Coastline 400SE 2 berth. It doesn't have ATC! Is this important? Also any comments on this van.
"Important" yes, very much IMO as it is an active safety system. Essential no, countless caravans towed before it and continue to do so. Much like seat belts in cars you can use a car without one, but when things go wrong, even not of your making, you might wish you and your loved ones had one.
We had one retro fitted by Al_Ko when they came to the UK market.
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Seatbelts save lives...An ATC system may or may not save damage to a caravan and possibly a car.
Possibly your van flicking your car over and slamming it into the Armco, or on coming HGV, might do your wife more harm than spoiling a nail?
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We've got ATC as standard (for the first time ever on our 2009 Bailey) but I suspect there will be thousands of perfectly safe caravans doing tens of thousands of miles a year on our and European roads. Good to have but certainly not essential.
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If it was the ONLY difference between two caravans & I had to make a choice, then I'd have the ATC. But other than that, lack of ATC wouldn't prrevent me from buying a caravan.Like ABS, it's something you hope never to need to use ... but handy if you have
it.(been out 3 times in my ATC equiped caravan & have no idea if it's triggered or not
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We had towed caravans for 30+ years, pre stabalizer days infact. Our last caravan didn't have an ATC fitted, going down the motorway, overtaking a lorry, while going under a bridge. The back end of the carvan started to wobble, then it went into the full
blown snake going side to side, luckily we started going back uphill slightly and the OH got it back under control. It was the pretty scary I can tell you, it takes seconds to happen, feels like a lifetime when its happening and something I would avoid at
all costs. When we got back from that trip the caravan went in to have an ATC fitted. YES get one fitted it just might save you and your family from a horrible accident, they are not always your fault.0 -
is there a way of 'talking' to an ATC?
ie how many times it's triggered or not?OH said he could feel it on the steering wheel, if the system needed to make a correction, it was a very slight sensation. Ours was retro fitted and that was 5 years ago so things may have changed since then, does it have a way of recording things
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Had it on four 'vans now. Will have it on the new 'van we have on order. Had many 'vans pre ATC. Is it a must? For me yes.
Us too. Think it was £325 extra but feel it is reassuringly worthwhile....
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ATC is no substitute for stupid driving like speeding or overloading! If you do not speed and load correctly, probably no need for ATC as thousands of caravanners managed okay for countless years before ATC came on the market.
Some might say the same about seatbelts and ABS brakes and ....
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The history of the ATC can be viewed via a laptop, but its an Alko engineer with access to the software.
When the CC do tow tests the ATC is disconnected, but the data is checked afterwards, it gives information used to determine stability.
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ATC is no substitute for stupid driving like speeding or overloading! If you do not speed and load correctly, probably no need for ATC as thousands of caravanners managed okay for countless years before ATC came on the market.
The above from Surfer is a fair comment. Most of us on here have towed pre ATC and we survived! Loading and speed has much to do with it but, progress is good thing most of the time and ATC is definitely progress so yes, if I have the choice I'll have ATC
everytime.0 -
Any technology that aids safety has got to be a good thing.
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ATC is no substitute for stupid driving like speeding or overloading! If you do not speed and load correctly, probably no need for ATC as thousands of caravanners managed okay for countless years before ATC came on the market.
...But as we all know the standards of driving are getting worse all the time, and any equipment that makes it safer can only help, in case of the other "drivers"poor driving making for a "problem situation"
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ATC is no substitute for stupid driving like speeding or overloading! If you do not speed and load correctly, probably no need for ATC as thousands of caravanners managed okay for countless years before ATC came on the market.
...But as we all know the standards of driving are getting worse all the time, and any equipment that makes it safer can only help, in case of the other "drivers"poor driving making for a "problem situation"
Perhaps the driving is getting worse because people rely on technology to get themselves out of a sticky situation. They let the vehicle take control instead of the other way around.
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Returnig from Ferry Meadows yesterday on the A1 southbound and on two occasions cars crossed from the outer lanes to their exits once between a HGV and us causing us to brake,and second time from 3rd lane between us and two HGVs we were overtaking, causing second HGV to brake on aproaching the roundabout north of Biggleswade a car came from outer lane to nearside right in front of a Landrover towing a trailer loaded with a landrover,making it brake really hard and the loaded trailer really wobble
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ATC is no substitute for stupid driving like speeding or overloading! If you do not speed and load correctly, probably no need for ATC as thousands of caravanners managed okay for countless years before ATC came on the market.
...But as we all know the standards of driving are getting worse all the time, and any equipment that makes it safer can only help, in case of the other "drivers"poor driving making for a "problem situation"
Perhaps the driving is getting worse because people rely on technology to get themselves out of a sticky situation. They let the vehicle take control instead of the other way around.
Drivers after 1997 now have to pass a specific test to tow caravans of a certain weight though, so towing driving standards
should be getting better.0 -
ATC is no substitute for stupid driving like speeding or overloading! If you do not speed and load correctly, probably no need for ATC as thousands of caravanners managed okay for countless years before ATC came on the market.
Write your comments here...
The same could be said for hitch stabiliser mechanisms; are you suggesting that as no one here on CT has admitted to stupid driving, that both devices are a waste of money. Have you considered that for countless years caravans were lighter than they are today and that heavier caravans are more prone to snaking? (see research at Bristol and Bath Universities). Are you fortunate enough to have never encountered a situation where someone else's bad driving has compromised your own careful approach?
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Perhaps the driving is getting worse because people rely on technology to get themselves out of a sticky situation. They let the vehicle take control instead of the other way around.
That may or may not be true in respect to general driving but where things are going wrong for me, whatever the cause, all I want is the best chance of getting safely out of it.
When towing, with a snake we simply have no active tool to use to “take control”, so having technology in the form of an ATC system, to do so, is IMO invaluable. Unless you subscribe to slamming on the throttle in the hope of having adequate acceleration
to pull things in line, something most will not have the power reserves to do and we would all end up punching more energy into the final outcome.I don't subscribe to using technology to drive recklessly, but do very much to help safety where it can do so.
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel put up some superb structures during the 1800's. He did it without modern machinery, it would be crazy to ignore modern machinery just because it's 'new technology'. I believe those that did were called Luddites. Tech moves on, we
move with it-it's common sense & cost effective
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Personally I don't like ATC, for me it's a pain. It usually comes on when I least expect it, the vans under control and I'm trying to accelerate up hill. I'm not a Ludite but the technology has to benefit me, sorry ATC doesn't do that. The latest time
it activated was climbing to 3000 feet in Switzerland on Saturday and it decided to activate and knocked over 10mph off my already sedate 40mph. It would be interesting to know how many vans fitted with ATC are on their sides on the motorways?0 -
It would be interesting to know how many vans fitted with ATC are on their sides on the motorways?
That would still raises a couple of unanswered questions.
Were the caravans on their sides because of or despite ATC?
Would ATC have made any difference in the first place under the circumstances prevailing at the time?
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Your absolutely right Lutz but some info would perhaps be interesting. I'm sure that the UK police must have some statistics after carrying out accident investigation. All I can say is that when its been activated on my van it's been quite violent.
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