Nose weight is supposed to be ideally 7% of max trailer weight, but if the tow car nose weight is less than this (as is mine, 75kg as you rightly say), then this lower figure should be used. We keep nose weight light by using smaller gas bottles (could use the light bottles but i already had the smaller calor bottles), and only light bulky stuff in the front box (watering can, aqua roll handle etc), only bedding under the front bench seats, and all heavy items (tins of food, wine/beer etc) over the axle. All holiday clothes, towels, tv dvds etc go in the boot of the car. Loading car up to its max and putting as little heavy stuff as possible in the front of the van keeps its noseweight to 75kg, and it still tows straight and steady, no weaving or wobbling at all. Remember the 2007 sportage can tow a max. of 1600kg, and the 2008 has a max of 1800kg, so the actual weight being towed is fine - just be careful with loading the van!
I received this from the C & CC about the low nose weight of my 407SW.
Jim,
Thank you for your email.
With car to caravan matching we look at two key pieces of car data; we compare the kerbweight of the car to the caravan's maximum weight and express this as a percentage, ideally the caravan should not be higher than 85% of the car's kerbweight for stability reasons. Also we take into account the towing limit of the vehicle which of course should not be exceeded.
This towing limit is determined on hill start tests and bears no resemblance to how the outfit tows on the highways a speed, hence the 85% guideline.We use Towsafe for our matching data.
The Peugoet 407sw has a kerbweight of 1545kgs, a towing limit of 1500kgs and a towbar nose weight limit of 60kgs.
The fully laden Sprite Major 5 weighs 1335kgs and this presents a weight match of 86%, a small amount over the 85% recommended maximum, this can be mitigated by under loading a small amount.
The nose weight limit of the 407 is lower than most cars that size; the recommendation for the noseweight is that it should be between 5-7% of the caravan's maximum weight. Working with the caravan fully laden the noseweight should ideally be between 66.75 - 93.5kgs.
------------- If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
Kahlil Gibran
We had to put the Caravan spare wheel in the van over the axle to make the nose weight, as the dogs are in the boot, other than that ours tows great. First time to Lakes at Easter, on way to Glencoe beginning of May. We will see how it takes the hill, it cant be as bad as my Freelander 2.0 ltr, which was what we part ex for the Sportage.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Kia Sportage for towing
