Car towing limit
why does my car details say it can tow a braked 2000kg trailer, when the car only weighs 1500kg ??
i have a skoda yeti outdoor 4x4 2015 150bhp year 2015
i want to be able to tow a twin axle van that is 1705kg fully loaded
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2000kg is the max your car is capable of towing in a given set of circumstances. It does not mean it is safe or sensible to attempt to tow such a weight on the road. Even less so when that weight is a large white box with the aerodynamics of a house brick.
In my opinion the Yeti is far from a safe or suitable towcar for the van you describe. It is likely the tail would wag the dog as it is way outside the recommended 85% of the kerb weight of the car. Imagine braking in an emergency especially if travelling downhill.......
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Change the car for a Kia Sorrento
As stated by tinny the majority of car manufacturers give much higher than safe towing limits but the sales persons have no idea and will quote those towing limits to help get a sale, look at either the club's website for matching or try Towsure web site for the safe towing limits
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While I agree in general with Tinwheeler's statement, it's not braking that's the issue. The caravan should be perfectly capable of braking itself without any assistance from the car except to deploy the overrun. It's more an issue of handling in case of necessary emergency evasive action or crosswind where one has to be that extra bit careful if towing a caravan that is heavier than the car and that can be tiring.
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as already stated he can legally tow 2000kg so doesnt need to look
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There is a great difference towing a flat bed trailer with timber sleepers on than a slab sided caravan. My 2.2 diesel X-Trail is rated to tow 2,000kg The car with 90% fuel, 75kg for driver etc and towbar fitted weighs 1725kg. I tow a 1,500kg MPTLM van. Probably laden to 1450kg. I certainly would not tow a caravan heavier than the car.
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And that will tell you what you posted earlier ,its not in their website that is on line, seem like you ealier post was as the majority of you "info?" You tend to post and then try to wriggle when questioned or never post any positive reply?
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You might like to tow a twin axle at 1705Kg but most sensible caravanners will advise you against it, the general concensus is not to exceed 85% of the kerbweight if you do not have a lot of experience and never exceed 100%. If you read reviews from Club Magazines, Practical Caravan etc a caravan of that weight generally requires a substantial towcar. The towing limit given by a manufacturer is based around the cars ability to start from standstill on a gradient of 4.5% (4.5% is off the top of my head and may be incorrect) its the mechanical ability and not an indication of how safe it is to tow a given weight.
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Just out of interest, how do you know that the towbar is included in the 1725kg that you say your car weighs? The fact that you mention 90% fuel and 75kg for the driver suggests that you are quoting the mass in service figure, but that wouldn't include the towbar.
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I weighed the car and others that weighed theirs with towbar attached have got the same figures. It is the figure that makes sense to use for towing comparisons a without fuel and a driver the car isn't towing. Also the matching site that I use that uses the same figure for fuel and driver got a result of 1700kg and presumably no towbar
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……it's just not normally sensible.
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They do state that but I disagree with that as illogical in the same way as not to include any added permanent fixture such as a tow bar is illogical. I have no idea what was included when the original source 85% figure was determined way back when
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i want to be able to tow a twin axle van that is 1705kg fully loaded...
Then I think you would be well advised to choose another car but, as that's possibly not an option, maybe a lighter caravan!
I have towed at near 100% but one thing that I was never entirely sure of was the fully laden weight and your figure of 1705kg might quite easily be exceeded when, even if its spot on, you are still looking at something weighing a considerable amount more than the car.
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You're right, it is a trifle illogical, but then the sources that make the recommendation shouldn't refer to kerbweight (which isn't documented anywhere), but to the actual weight of the vehicle. Otherwise, they should state the conditions under which the weight is determined.
Actual weight, by definition, includes all ex-works fittings, a 90% full tank and 75kg for the driver. It still wouldn't include the towbar if it was dealer fitted because the vehicle manufacturer wouldn't know about it when he documents that weight in the Certificate of Conformity. The only problem is that in the UK very few owners seem to be issued with that certificate, so the only option is for the owner to have the car weighed himself or to request a copy of the CoC.
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the weight of the towbar fitted to any vehicle would come off the cars payload weight so kerbweight and max axle weight just like a caravan give your payload and would state the max axle weight on one of the door pillars or under the bonnet. anything added to car comes of your payload for that car,
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Basing towing load limits solely on the requirement to be able to perform a set number of restarts on an incline would shed a very poor light on any manufacturer. We certainly also carried out braking and handling tests to arrive at representative figures. That said, whether an outfit is safe or not, depends on adjusting one's driving to suit the conditions more than any absolute limit set by the manufacturer, because that limit only applies to ideal conditions.
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