Hubby and I have decided to go back to caravanning. Our car is a 2008 Renault Dymanique estate 1.6 (we cant afford to change car either if anybody suggests this)
We had been looking at paying around £2300 for a lightweight 2 berth with a MIRO of around 700-800kg. Today we were told by a caravan salesman that we could tow 1300kg fully laden. I have looked at cars weights on driver pillar:
Max Towing Braked 1300kg
Min kerb weight 1295kg
Surely the 85% rule has been ignored by the salesman.
We have seen a Herald Emblem 2 berth with a MIRO of 880kg and a MTLM of 1230 ( I am sure all our equipment would not weigh 350kg) Would this be an ok match?
Have we been given good advice?
Mmm, the 85% recommendation isn't "set in stone", but it's wise to aim for in my opinion.
The one main thing you don't mention though is what model Renault you have; assume possibly a Megane but further info please?
Hi Paul,
Its a Dymanique estate 1.6, there isn't a model number or anything else I can see on car. We had a Kia Sorento couple of years ago, but it had to go along with our much loved caravan due to hubbys unemployment, so with the Kia we were spoiled as it was the best tow car, my hubby is aware that he will know he is towing a caravan with the Renault.
If the figures are correct you have stated regarding the vehicle kerb weight and the caravan's MTPLM then the match would be 95% which although the car would tow it you may struggle on standing starts and motorway inclines. However, it's not just about pulling power, you have to consider the stopping power as well because when you are going down hill the caravan is basically pushing the car so if you have to apply the brakes suddenly for any reason then the situation could be that the caravan could snake thus pushing the back end of the car due to the pendulum swing effect. You could tow with this percentage match provided you proceed with caution.
Thanks Tango55. The caravan in question has an end bathroom, these are heavier, we were looking at vans with end kitchens as they appear to be lighter, I think we need to look for something with a MIRO of around 700kg, and end up with a MTPLM of around 1000kg do you agree? Have found out car model is Dymanique Expression VWT 111.
Hi, Hope your search proves fruitful! We started with a small 2 berth Avondale caravan which was 850kg MIRO, 1000kg GVW (the old version of MTPLM) with end kitchen & side, back bathroom.
Towed this quite capably with a 1.8 non-turbo petrol VW Passat with 120bhp, which was an 85% match.
If you keep within the guideline, 85% of 1295kg is 1100kg as an MTPLM; your 1.6 Renault with 115bhp should be able to cope OK with something of that size (I presume its a Megane 1.6 VVT Dynamique III estate, 2003 to 2006), its just if its petrol, your husband will have to rev the engine a bit more to get to the power band; as we had to do with our Passat.
£2300 should be more than enough to get yourself a decent 2 berth.
PS The salesman is there to sell you the caravan, not to give you guidelines. Some are quite knowledgeable and will hold prospective purchasers back if their car is a bad match; others just quote the max towed weight, and not the 85% balance, in order to get the caravan off the forecourt and his sale commision in his back pocket. For my car, the max tow weight would be a 2800kg trailer, which would be a match of over 130%. Not good.
Post last edited on 13/09/2013 13:33:38
------------- Regards
Chris
Caravanning for 22 years
1997 Toyota Land Cruiser 3.0TD & 2004 Avondale Mayfair 510-5L
Previous towcars:
2002 Nissan Primera - sold
2002 Ford Galaxy - Died & scrapped. Good riddance.
1998 BMW 525TDS SE - PEx
1998 VW Passat SE - Crashed into & scrapped
1997 Peugeot 406 GLX - PEx
Have checked on plate in car and it reads as follows:
1795kg
2800kg
1-1015
2-1010
No other info as to what these figs are, the 1300kg braked figure I got off internet. The unladen weight of van is 880kg and we think we will get away with putting 200kg in it to bring it to 1080kg, anything such as an awning could go in car? Hubby passed test in 1978. The car we have is petrol and is a 2008.
It's difficult to give accurate advice without knowing what the car is but assuming this is a Megane Tourer the weights given on Parkers website show the car has a kerbweight of 1215kg so you should be aiming at 85% of 1215kg as the MTPLM of the caravan. Renaults are difficult to check the weights on as the literature is usually confusing so you must double check everything and ensure the gross train weight is not exceeded.
If I have understood the weight plate correctly then 1795kg is the max weight of the car, 2800kg is the max train weight leaving you with a max trailer weight of 1005kg.
This is the link for Parkers:
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/renault/megane/tourer-2006/
Thanks all. Had log book out.
KW is 1295
BHP is 113
Caravans MIRO is 880, we will probably load it with around 200kgs, and weigh everything. If we are careful with the loading I'm sure we are going to be around 85%
The MIRO of 880 kgs. is the unladen weight of the caravan which stands for 'Mass In Running Order'. You need to know what the MTPLM is (fully laden weight) which stands for 'Maximum Technical Permissable Laden Mass' and work on that figure then subtract the MIRO from the MTPLM which will then give you the caravan payload (the total weight allowance to carry inside the caravan).
Alkaz, we still need to know what the car is to give you proper advice, we are all guessing the car model. The car model should be on the V5 or it will be written on the car. Renault models usually have a Renault badge on the tailgate with the model name below it, is it a Megane or a Scenic? Is it petrol or diesel?
It still looks like you will exceed the gross train weight with your intended caravan and with a low powered petrol engine it will be hard work driving this outfit.
Information off V5:
Model:Megane Dymanique Expression VWT Estate.
Revenue Weight:1795
Cylinder Capacity:1598cc
Max net power(KW) 82
Max permissible mass: 1795
Mass in service: 1290
Technical permissible maximum towable mass of the trailer: (braked) 1300
The MTPLM of this van is 1230. MIRO 880. I doubt we would be putting over 300kgs of things in there.
I suspect we would put awning in car and only that.
Thanks
Its quite an eye opener when you start adding the weights up.
You will end up taking more than you think. Water containers, Hookup lead, Gas, Battery, Chemicals for the toilet, Plates and cutlery, Awning. Chairs/table for the awning, Spare wheel?
Not forgetting people, fuel and luggage, Food etc.
Thanks for all replies. We are going to be very sensible about this. We have been looking at cars over the weekend and have our eye on a Vauxhall Vectra 1.8 diesel. This has an unladen weight of around 1500kg and a bhp of 130, until we get the money saved we do not intend to travel far. We bought the van in the end as the price was too good to refuse, but do not intend to use unless we are sure we are not going to be over weight.
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Topic: Towing weights
