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Hi trying to work out towing weight allowance for our car. On the door it states w-1860, FW-2860, DB & KA 965 on one label it's a cmax petrol year 2012 1600 engine any ideas anyone please?
You haven't given the exact model details but according to Parker's there is a 2012 1.6 petrol version with a kerbweight of 1374kg and a max tow of 800kg. The weights you have given appear to show a max tow of 1000kg so I would check the handbook and V5 for further information.
What were you thinking of towing? Generally diesels are a lot better for towing than petrol and I expect a fully loaded car with a 800kg trailer would be quite hard work for that car.
Rob
PS It looks like there is a 123bhp engine with a max tow of 1000kg. It would be helpful to have the model details to try and check this out.
Legally the numbers given on the VIN plate on your car take precedence over anything that is written in the handbook or on the V5 document.
My understanding is that the first figure of 1860kg is the maximum permissible weight of the car when fully loaded. The second figure of 2860kg is the maximum permissible weight of a fully loaded car and trailer combined, therefore you can legally tow a caravan (or any other type of trailer) weighing up to 1000kg.
You can also legally 'weight shift' (i.e. tow a trailer weighing 1100kg if the car is only loaded to 1760kg), but this is rarely sensible. Apart from the fact that having a higher trailer:car weight ratio potentially leads to an increased risk of instability, are you really going to weigh the car each time you tow with it?
Bear in mind though that the towing limits are largely determined by the weight that the car can physically move from a standstill on repeated hill starts, and not what it will necessarily be comfortable with in real world driving. I agree with Rob that it's asking quite a lot of a small petrol engine to move an extra tonne of weight along in addition to the car itself, and it will probably make hard work of it.
Grampian91 - The maximum 3500kg weight of car and caravan combined is only relevant if the driver has a post-1997 'Category B' licence, without a 'Category B+E' extension. It's academic here because the gross train weight is less than this. Your statement that the caravan's gross laden weight must not exceed the car's unladen weight is a recommendation given by the two main caravanning clubs (and I agree that it's sensible in principle) but it is not a legal requirement.
Post last edited on 02/06/2020 14:05:25
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Hi Sam thank you for taking time to reply very helpful. The pop up caravan we may look at is only 600 unladen with max of 1000 fully laden car looks ok. We have pulled caravans before 25 years ago and have passed tests 1983. Only looking at possibly changing from motorhome to van for health reasons. Will then decide what car to get when we change it in 2 years time.