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Ohhhh I'm not best placed to help out with technical data stuff mate but......I now have a 2008 2.2 auto Zaffy and we upgraded from the 1.8 auto that I did have so that it could be our new tow car and we could 'retire' the old workhorse Vectra which has given outstanding service for 8 years

But one thing I do know when you're working out towing ratio thingies is that you don't go on what the makers recommended TOW weight is BUT the vehicle's KERBWEIGHT. If you haven't got the handbook you'll find it on the car itself, (with both my Zafira's it's been on a plate in the surround of the drivers door).

Another thing is that I think you'll find that when working out these ratio thingies, it's the tin tents MTPLM weight that you use for the calculation coz that's the maximum weight it should be when fully laden.

Probably been about as much use as a chocolate teapot but I tried

At least I'll have got rid of your sad blue face....if nobody else has sneaked in infront of me

We sold our Zafira 2ltr Dti when we wanted to upgrade our caravan. This was due to its tow limit of 1050kgs.

Not all cars can tow upto 85% of their Kerbweight. This is mainly due to the strain being too great on one or more components within the drive system. In your case it is probably due to the engine simply not being powerful enough. The gross train weight for that engine to cope will have a limit. Due to the Zafira having a higher kerbweight than a lighter car with the same engine, it can't tow as much as the lighter car before reaching the recommended gross train weight.

When you decide to change your car, have a look at www.whattowcar.com to see if it's upto the job.

I've also got a Zafira 1.6(2006) and tow an Avondale Mayfly.

Towing on flat roads and normal hills is ok, but standing starts on hills is another matter.

The vauxhall website states that the 1000kg towing weight allows for two people in it(2 x 70kg), that includes the driver.  The weight of any additional passengers and luggage should be deducted from the tow weight.

My car really struggled with hill starts when there was 5 adults in it.  The same hill starts with 2 adults wasn't as bad, but it still wasn't good.

Is there anyone towing with a 1.8CDi automatic Zafira that would like to comment on it?

Cheers 

The MTPLM of the caravan should not exceed the LOWER of two figures - the Max Tow Limit imposed by the Manufacturer (legal requirement) and 85% of the kerbweight (recommended).

As Nightoff says - if you have two cars with the same engines then the train weight will be the same, hence a heavier car will have a lower tow limit because of the extra weight of the car.

With the Zafira versus the Astra, there is also the consideration of the weight of the extra passengers that could be carried.