DISCOVER TOWCARS
WHAT CAN
MY CAR TOW?
WILL YOUR EXISTING CAR TOW THE CARAVAN YOU
NEED? IF NOT, WHAT CAR CAN DO THE JOB?
ABOVE: The Ford
Mondeo Estate
makes a great
towcar. A 2.5-litre
S
O, PERHAPS you’re considering Have a look at the example car/caravan done. You could go to the The Caravan
taking up touring with a caravan. outfits on the page opposite for an Club’s website and find a dealer that can
One thing which will considerably overview of what types of vehicle can do all the calculations for you.
Titanium model, affect the cost of starting out, is whether happily tow various sizes of caravan. Or you can talk to The Caravan Club.
shown here, was
you have to buy a new car to tow it. They’ll do the ‘outfit matching’, as it’s
voted Caravan
So, how do you discover if that’s the THE 85% PRINCIPLE called, for you.
Club Towcar of
the Year 2008
case or not? There’s a simple calculation that can be
BELOW: The
made to judge if your car is a suitable TOWING IS EASY!
Caravan Club puts YOUR AVERAGE SALOON towing vehicle. If you’re sceptical about the ease of towing
cars through their
The good news is that a typical family Discover the kerbweight of your car, a caravan, or have any doubts about coping
paces on a private
test track
caravan, costing new around £10,000, which is in the manual, then find out the with driving a motorhome, let us reassure
could be towed by something like a weight of the caravan you’re considering, you straight away.
Volkswagen Passat 1.9 diesel with no with an average load on board. Car The thousands upon thousands of
trouble at all. manufacturers specify a towing limit owners happily using their caravans every
P
2
4
which must not be exceeded. day should give you some idea of how easy
M
a
n
o
u
e
v
r
i
n
g
Now just divide the caravan weight by it is to tow. You just need to take a little
the car’s and if the figure is 85% or less, more care, cornering, braking and
then that outfit should be completely safe accelerating smoothly, to allow the trailer
to use in most circumstances. to follow the car safely.
This figure is a recommendation and Reversing might be a little scary at first,
not a legal requirement. However, an but there’s a simple trick to it, which once
unsafe combination is not legal, so you learned, will have you expert at
should be aware of this guidance. Basically, manoeuvring very quickly.
the heavier the towcar in relation to the
caravan, the safer the outfit is going to be. COURSES & DVDS
Fortunately there are even easier ways Why not take one of the manoeuvring
than doing it yourself to get the calculation courses available from the caravan clubs?
22 DISCOVER TOURING
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