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 Topic: kerb weight
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06/7/2020 at 7:57pm
Location: Midlands
Outfit: 2019 VW Arteon + 2002 Avondale Dart
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Hi Drummer59
It's less daunting than it probably sounds to you. On the understanding that your licence is pre-1997 and that weight restrictions therefore aren't an issue, there are two things you need to consider:
- Legally, the actual towed weight of any trailer (not necessarily the MTPLM, although caravans have fairly small payloads so they'll probably be close in reality) cannot exceed the car's maximum towing limit. This will normally be stated on the V5 document, but if you don't have access to that you can work it out from the car's VIN plate, which will give two figures. The lower figure is the car's maximum gross weight (i.e. the maximum permissible weight of the car when fully loaded). The higher figure is the 'gross train weight' which is the maximum permissible weight of the car and a trailer combined. Subtract the first figure from the second to get the towing limit.
- Sensibly, the actual weight of a caravan should not exceed the car's kerb weight, even if the towing limit permits it. A recommendation for 'novice' towers is that the weight of the caravan should be limited to about 85% of the kerb weight, but in reality you're unlikely to notice a few 10s of kgs either way. Say 1100-1150kg based on the kerb weight of 1305kg that you have given.
As Colin says, most modern caravans are heavier than that although there will still be a few that you can pick from. However, many older caravans are lighter and will still be perfectly serviceable and be fitted with everything you need.
From my own previous experience of a VW Passat and Touran with the same 1.6 TDI engine as the Skoda, it will cope with the caravan on the back but is no ball of fire performance-wise. If you can stretch to the 2.0 TDI version of the same car it will tow much more comfortably and barely use any more fuel when driven solo.
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via mobile 06/7/2020 at 8:01pm
