If stopped by the police or investigated by your insurers after a claim they will go by the manual.
As a rule of thumb, if there are two weights, pick the lower, then you are highly unlikely to go over.
Edit........
It could be both :) it is possible that the manufacturer has quoted a weight based on their own OEM bar, where an aftermarket bar may have different construction or mounting points allowing for a different load. I would still always go with the lowest.
Read the Caravan Club's recent test on this car first! they rated it very poorly for towing, due it's semi-automatic gearbox with no clutch pedal. I would steer clear after reading this.
I have the Citroen C4 Grand Picasso, 2.0diesel, and have just towed my new (to me) caravan over 800 kilometers approx 500 miles from Cheltenham through the hilly Belgian Ardennes back to Luxembourg in horrrible rain (last sunday), through pools of water all over the motorway and no stabiliser fitted yet.
and it towed blommin marvellously!! with one virtual towing virgin terrified of losing the thing as the hitch fell over 90 deg. constantly looking in the mirror expecting it to be doing a tango without a stabiliser, especially on some of the really nasty hills. I drive on the paddles which are really smooth, I must admit I don't like the automatic but then I find most of them (apart from a previous volvo 760 turbo) sluggish. My husband loves the auto function so it suits both of us. consumption is really good, comfort excellent, (I tend to drive virtually non stop and was in the car a total of 11 hours that day (not straight driving so don't tell me off for that - meal and ferry broke it up).
I don't know of others experience but mine is really positive.
As yet i have not towed with my 2001 hdi turbo 2.litre diesel manual picasso our last tugger was a Bongo so its will be a bit of a difference I assume.The caravan is an A.B.I.rallyman 2 berth.We have not had it long so we are on a learning curve at the moment,any advice would be gratefully recieved.
Hi Micky, I will try to find it. Have looked online but can't find it on the website. My memory of it was that it scored pretty well on everything except towing ability, where it got 2 out of 5 - and this was purely because the reviewer found the clutchless gear change mechanism made it very difficult for low speed manoeuvres with a caravan. I guess if you have a motor mover, then this wouldn't be an issue.
Don't even bother looking at a Renault Grand Scenic by the way! Great family car but very poor maximum Gross Train Weight figure. It's fine for our van at 967Kg unladen, but anything bigger and it's an illegal match.
Gave up on Renault seats to narrow .. hubby was not sure he liked the new Piccaso Auto gears on the steering wheel So we are looking at a Ford Focus C-Max Gia tow ball weight 75kg which is better than are 60 at present
Hi- we too are getting one and after speaking to a lovely lady at Citroen it is said that the 5 seater noseweight is 60 and the 7 seater one is 70. After a lovely conversation she said that she would do her best to find out why the noseweight has dropped from 80 and get back to me. Will keep you all posted but the above figures of 60 and 70 are correct by Citroen. Gary
Hi Andy R, Many thanks for your post, I have read a lot on the C4 Grand and the only faults really being spoken is the jerky gearbox so I borrowed one this afternoon and hooked up my caravan (Bailey Pageant Vendee) and went for a drive of around 100mls taking in some very steep hills.
Yes the gearbox is very slightly jerky in auto mode but "liveable" if you know want I mean, using the manual(paddles) I found no problems at all once you get the hang of the paddles/revs etc, did try cornering a tad on the fast side but no probs, brakes handle it superbly.
This is my own personal views and of course as with anything that's new there is always the chance of a problem but modern vehicles are coming along in leaps and bounds.
The only prob I have is deciding the colour and trim level and I will go for the "Grand" 2.0HDI exclusive, now I have to twist the dealers arm to give me a fair price on my Cityroen Xantia.
Micky
------------- Yesterday is history,tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift,that's why they call it"the present"
I agree with carproamer, I was also worried before towing about the automatic handbrake on hills, but it's easier than hauling up the manual, you just tap it (it's positioned in the middle of the dash about where some folk have radio's, and it let's itself off automatically when you pull away. A sign flashes up in the dash when it's on/off This function is great for big hills, my only problem is once I'm back in my mini I forget I've got to pull up the handbrake myself! We ended up with the Grand exclusive, kids love the glass roof, and night lighting, the seats (I've often got piles of teenagers to transport), are a joy after the mitusbishi and test driving a Renault, once flick and like a cinema seat they are up and rolling forward.
The review is in the July edition of Practical Caravan - not in the CC magazine - just found it. It's a double page review so worth looking at.
Our Scenic has an automatic "handbrake" too - I find it great, although when I drive our other car, I do keep trying to drive off without releasing the handbrake!
Quote: Originally posted by Carproamer on 24/6/2007
Hi Andy R, Where can I read about the C.C. report on the Citroen C4
Micky
Go to Google and enter what towcar.com. I've used it and it seems to be pretty accurate.Used to tow with a Citroen.myself but found them very unreliable and VERY costly to have even the tiniest fault fixed.Their Diesel engines are great though but Peugeot make those,
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: C4 picasso
