hi I'm thinking of changing my caravan for the elddis ospray 554 MTPLM is 1413 Raymond James with free mover, I would never get to that weight as there is only the 2 of us, I have a Skoda octavia 2.0 tdi dsg 140 and don't want to change it as its only done 50k form new. Has anyone got any experience with this tow car ? my current van is a Bailey ranger 460/4 MTPLM 1184 and tows this with ease,
gr8 thanks there are that many conflicting weights to my car its mad so I'm gone stick it on my friends weight bridge on Monday just to put my mind at rest looks like the other half is having her new van then
We have the same car and have towed an Elddis Broadway 470 and now a coachman 450 with it no problems. Been to Austria, Germany, France ect all good. We towed with our old car a 1.9 110 bhp octavia and twin wheeled lunar down to the south of France, then another SW france no problem.
Also around the UK.
Quote: Originally posted by Skoda Bob on 18/9/2017
Thats the minumum without passengers, the 2 ltr 150 can tow up to 1600 kg with ease
Once again misleading info from Skoda Bob ... it is all to do with the kerbweight... and the max weight of the caravan being towed compared to this kerbweight.
Well can't find a kerb weight but can find a max tow of 1400 my car is a Octavia 2.0tdi dsg hatch elegance 140 pd, the van I'm looking at has a max of 1430 I'm gona stick it on a weigh bridge today or tomorrow so that will be interesting sorry it's a 2008
I have little doubt that the engine could cope with the caravan you describe - we have the same engine in a VW Passat and it tows very well - but have my reservations about whether the car can. That's because performance is arguably less of an issue than weight.
If it is correct that your car's "max tow" is 1400kg, that's the manufacturer's legal towing limit and it's illegal to tow more than that. Towing a caravan with a MTPLM of 1430kg would be legal provided that you didn't load it to heavier than 1400kg but you'd be sailing close to the wind. A couple of extra bags of shopping could take you over.
The '85% ratio' is at best a crude factor of safety and at worst irrelevant. You're obviously used to driving and towing with that car so you can probably ignore it in terms of safety, but personally I would not be willing to tow a caravan that weighed more than the kerb weight of my car (and I know I'm not alone in this). Caravans are high-sided, awkwardly shaped and vulnerable in windy conditions or sudden changes of direction (such as swerving to avoid an accident), and you can do nothing about the laws of physics dictating that if the caravan is heavier than the car, it will end up taking control and not you.
Towing match web sites are not reliable and many reference data for non-UK cars. You need to look on your own VIN plate or log book to find the kerb weight. However, the reference above to 1420kg sounds about right, because from memory I think that the bigger and heavier Passat estate is 1540kg. On this basis I think the weights are going to be a little bit borderline.
I know you say you'll never get close to the MTPLM but the payloads of some modern caravans are very low and don't forget you'll need to allow for the weight of the motor mover as well as battery, gas bottles, clothes, food and drink etc. You may be going closer to it than you realise.
Sorry if the above sounds worrying but hopefully you can see where I'm coming from (even if some other readers are bound to disagree)!
I do agree with you I don't want to take any chances may have a look at the xplore 554 same layout that comes in at 1335 MTPLM which is slightly better
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Topic: skoda octavia advice please
