Unit weights and speed limits in France
When considering the weight of your unit for speed limit purposes, do folks use the MRO of their caravan or the MTPLM?
Comments
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A while since I towed but I would have thought that it would be the maximum allowed weight of both car and caravan as its the only constant?
David
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I agree with David. Not that it makes much difference, over / under 3.5 tonnes, except on The Autoroute. Most other roads are restricted to 50 mph (80 Kmh) or less in built up areas whatever your weight. Even on Autoroutes, at 56mph (90km) for over 3.5 tonnes, it’s not a bad towing speed given the price of fuel.
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It is based on the maximum allowable towing weight as plated by the vehicle manufacturer, the caravan or trailer etc does not come into it directly. Our car can be up to 5200 Kg (car plus trailer) and we are limited to 90 Kph whatever we tow, (depending on local limits of course), even the weeny trailer. The threshold is, as stated by SteveL, 3500 Kg. The idiocy is that if we had a smaller car, plated below 3500 Kg, we could tow our same caravan faster on the autoroute.
There are other regs, depending on car trailer weight proportions and type of license, but that is too boring for this post.
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As said, it’s a “hypothetical” figure not actual weights so if the cars gross train weight is 3500kg or more then it’s the lower limit no matter what the trailer weighs.
When this came in I was disappointed however, it don’t half improve the MPG and makes for a more relaxing drive.
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When I towed it was generally around 65 - 70 mph on the Autoroute so actually it makes a big difference, particularly not being able to overtake lorries.
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