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I have been contemplating upgrading from my tt to caravan.  I've never had a caravan before and although I think I understand the recommended weight ratio's etc I'm confused about my car's kerb weight.  I also recognise how a caravan is loaded plays an important part in any setup.

I have a 06 Audi A4 Avant 2.0 TDI S Line and want to know if it would be suitable to pull a new Sprite Major 6.

I have used www.whattowcar.com and just picking my car and the major 6 it quotes a weight ratio of  93% and five orange stars (indicating its plausible!).  This quotes my car kerbweight as 1490kg and assumes 200kg additional payload in the caravan.  To me (as a beginner) this seems unacceptable.  Maybe if I was experienced at towing this might be ok I'm not so would like to go with something a bit safer/stable.

When I look in my car owners manual it actual quotes the unladed kerb weight as 1565kg and when I look at the actual details in the service book (chassis number, unladen weight etc) it shows 1561kg.  From this I deduce my actual kerbweight is 1561kg.

If I put this into the whattowcar calculation and reduce my payload to 150kg it gives me a weight ratio of 85%, 4 and half green stars and indicates the setup is perfect.  Is this approach reasonable and would this setup be ok for a novice?  I know 150kg is a fair amount of stuff but could I manage with this? (I know I can put heavy stuff in the car to help and as a family we are two adults and two children under 3).

I did get a towsafe HPI calculation done at a dealers (97%)and this scared me a bit  but this did assume the 1490kg car weight and the maximum payload of 249kg.  Dealer seemed to think it was ok though.  This also estimated the caravan  noseweight to be 100kg but my car's max is 80kg. Presumably I could manage this to under 80kg with correct loading.

Any views/opinions on this greatfully recieved. 

I really like the major 6 (or more to the point my OH does!) and just want to make sure it is safe.

Thanks

Chris

I really must make a copy & paste of this ..............

An 85% ratio is one of the very last things that has an impact on comfort and safety. The driver, the load, the balance, and even the airflow can have far more impact on safety and comfort. I have two combos at practically perfect 85% matches, and they are both the worst variations of all the combos I can legally make (4 vehicles, 2 caravans and a 3300kg race trailer that can only be hauled by 2 of the 4 cars)

As a PS, if any of the other readers can point me at an online version of the original source of this 85% figure (and with some back up data, such as vehicles & trailers used, how stability was actually measured etc) please do so

Dirty disco,

I know the weight ratio doesn't guarantee a safe set up but as novice who has no experience of towing and never owned a cavavan what else can I rely on.  I'm even not sure where I got the 85% from but I seem to have absorbed it form somewhere!  

What I am assuming though is if I can get everything else right (driving, loading etc) then a lower weight ratio has got to be better for someone like me.  Or have I got it wrong?  Does it really make that much difference?  Whats the risk if I get driving, loading etc wrong with a higher weight ratio?  Is there more tolerance for error with lower weight ratio?

Cheers

A very naive would be caravanner!

I would be very surprised if the combination were not safe given that you are likely to be taking it easy. Just because others fly past you at high speed should not encourage you to do likewise. Stick to mid 50's on the motorway and between 40 and 50 on ordinary roads and you will not go far wrong. The disparity in kerbweights is easily explained. the euro definition of kerbweight includes a driver weighing 75kg, the UK definition does not. Unfortunately if your licence is dated post 1997 then it is the UK definition that matters, but providing that your caravans MTPLM is not greater than the cars UK kerbweight and the total train mass does not exceed either 3500kg or the vehicles plated max train weight whichever is less then you are fine.

Towsafes calculation of noseweight is 7%of the vans weight or whatever is plated on the chassis once you get the van home you can set the noseweight up at whatever you need it to be.

In my experience and opinion, the heavier the trailer the more stable it is, but that has to be balanced against the tow cars ability to haul it at a prudent pace. By that i mean to be doing a safe motorway speed at the end of the slip road or to clear a roundabout quickly & cleany etc.

If a heavier trailer does get out of shape it carries much more momentum and can be harder to regain control of, or get very messy very quickly. However a heavier trailer is less likely to be upset by crosswinds, passing mercedes sprinters etc.

I really do wish people would quit being so intense about 85% after all just about everything else has a bigger impact on journey saftey &comfrort.

<wanders off to check tyre pressurese ready for another weekend on the road>

(Still hoping for source of the 85%)

Quote: Originally posted by dirtydisco on 26/7/2007

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(Still hoping for source of the 85%)

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It comes from CC or the CCC.

Quote: Originally posted by dirtydisco on 26/7/2007

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No, I want the orignal source on which they base that number :)

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CC =

100%     Far too dodgy for new owner going into towing so needs to be less even though we  can gets lots more members joining because more cars fall into the ratio.

95%     Still too bit dodgy - not quite as many members likely but still plenty.

90%     Getting there but need another 5% safety margin, trouble is less members likely.

85%     That will do - providing we can get them all to use a "stabiliser" 

80%     Less members likely due to less cars falling into ratio.

75%    Seriously less cars falling into the ratio so membership numbers at risk.

70%    Do we want only these big cars to join? 

65%     4x4's start coming into their own. What! no stabilisers????

60%     Groovy, Do I need to go on.

You shouldn't of asked.       

A little close to the truth I suspect

But seriously if anyone can point me at any orginal test data that includes as much detail as possible I would be grateful.

im particularly interested in vehicles/trailers used, road conditions (traffic types & flow, surface contaminatiob), road types (surfaces, bend radius & frequency), weather (inc wind speed and direction), driver experience, dates of tests, speeds etc.

I personally think there are way too many variables on a purely technical front to come up with one magic, one size fits all number. Especially as with all the combos I can make up the two that fall closest to that magic number are actually the ones I find most uncomfortable to drive with