Newbie with car question...
Discussion
Morning all, firstly hello, I'm Max.
So, down to the question... I know we all hate people towing, so don't shoot me yet, but essentially I'm about to start towing a trailer loaded with cars ranging from mk3 Golf's (around 1100kg) to B5.5 Passats (around 1600kg) or similar (one at a time obviously). I don't have the trailer yet so am assuming a weight of circa 500kg, maybe slightly heavier as it won't be brand new! I'm 22, and know all about the fact I need to do the trailer test and will be booking the test before purchasing any trailer. I do have little experience of reversing and towing large and small trailers but am no expert!
So, for the fun part... I've owned Volvo T5's, Audi V6's and BM's (amongst others) and suitably my driving style is what I'd call relaxed yet enthusiastic
I'm looking for a tow car and these are the criteria (might be a little optimistic on some but we shall see)...
Must be stupidly comfortable, happy wafting along at 70 before having fun down the odd B road every once in a while (although not essential), look nice (a matter of opinion I know), be an auto (not essential, I'm just lazy), have all the essentials like cruise, climate etc, do around 40+mpg (when not towing) and ultimately be able to tow as if nothing were there.
Pending a loan from Mr Bank Manager budget is set at £3000-3500.
Short list is e39 530d touring, e46 330d touring, p38 Range Rover on LPG.
Essentially after waffling on for too long what I'm after is advice, experience and thoughts on the aforementioned cars or something similar.
So, down to the question... I know we all hate people towing, so don't shoot me yet, but essentially I'm about to start towing a trailer loaded with cars ranging from mk3 Golf's (around 1100kg) to B5.5 Passats (around 1600kg) or similar (one at a time obviously). I don't have the trailer yet so am assuming a weight of circa 500kg, maybe slightly heavier as it won't be brand new! I'm 22, and know all about the fact I need to do the trailer test and will be booking the test before purchasing any trailer. I do have little experience of reversing and towing large and small trailers but am no expert!
So, for the fun part... I've owned Volvo T5's, Audi V6's and BM's (amongst others) and suitably my driving style is what I'd call relaxed yet enthusiastic
I'm looking for a tow car and these are the criteria (might be a little optimistic on some but we shall see)...Must be stupidly comfortable, happy wafting along at 70 before having fun down the odd B road every once in a while (although not essential), look nice (a matter of opinion I know), be an auto (not essential, I'm just lazy), have all the essentials like cruise, climate etc, do around 40+mpg (when not towing) and ultimately be able to tow as if nothing were there.
Pending a loan from Mr Bank Manager budget is set at £3000-3500.
Short list is e39 530d touring, e46 330d touring, p38 Range Rover on LPG.
Essentially after waffling on for too long what I'm after is advice, experience and thoughts on the aforementioned cars or something similar.
I suspect the BMs are too light for what you want to tow. IIRC the trailer shouldn't weigh more than 85% of the weight of the tow car, and you have to bear in mind that the tow car needs the ability to tow the maximum permissible for the trailer.
Anything that fulfils your tow vehicle requirements will fail on every count on your hooning requirements.
Buy a low loader and an MX5...
Anything that fulfils your tow vehicle requirements will fail on every count on your hooning requirements.
Buy a low loader and an MX5...
Cheers lads,
Having driven MX5's they're great for b roads but too small and underpowered for me!
Hooning doesn't happen too often, so isn't such an issue, comfort and torque is more what I'm looking for (I swear I was born at 40!)
Am I right in thinking the Rangie would be ok for towing and everything else bar b road blasting? (I quite like the idea of heated seats whilst dicking about in the snow if I'm honest)
I think the 5 series is 2 ton, 3 series 1.8 ton and Rangie 3.5 ton...
Having driven MX5's they're great for b roads but too small and underpowered for me!
Hooning doesn't happen too often, so isn't such an issue, comfort and torque is more what I'm looking for (I swear I was born at 40!)
Am I right in thinking the Rangie would be ok for towing and everything else bar b road blasting? (I quite like the idea of heated seats whilst dicking about in the snow if I'm honest)
I think the 5 series is 2 ton, 3 series 1.8 ton and Rangie 3.5 ton...
As far as I can work out, the towing vehicle can be no more than 3.5 ton loaded, plus a maximum of 750kg with standard licence, or anything not exceeding towing vehicle weight with trailer test (B1+E licence). So in theory you could have a 3.5 ton vehicle and a 3 ton trailer on a B1+E licence. Rangie is probably around 2ish ton? So Rangie plus trailer and Passat should be fine legally.
As for mpg, 530d is quoted around 35-40mpg, Rangie around 15-20 so the same with LPG. As long as its better than my A4 2.8 Quattro at 20-25 then that's fine frankly!!
As for mpg, 530d is quoted around 35-40mpg, Rangie around 15-20 so the same with LPG. As long as its better than my A4 2.8 Quattro at 20-25 then that's fine frankly!!
) that's not much fun.
Wot he said. It has a load capacity of 3.5T (I assume) so you can load the RR and not exceed the car's weight with a large trailer. The recommendation is not to tow a trailer that's more than 85% of the car's weight, for fear of the trailer taking over.
Have a look at this: http://www.gocaravanning.com/caravans/using/towing...
Have a look at this: http://www.gocaravanning.com/caravans/using/towing...
doogz said:
It weighs 2.2T, and has a maximum towing capacity of 3.5T. Obviously the trailer will have brakes on it.
What's the confusing part?
The confusing part is which bit to pay attention to.. It was mentioned earlier that you shouldn't exceed 85% of the weight of the towing vehicle, presumably to stop 'the tail wagging the dog' as it were. But 3.5 ton is 160%..?What's the confusing part?
But am I right in saying that a trailer that is heavier than the towing vehicle is illegal? So the RR could tow 3.5 ton but it would be illegal? What about all the massive caravans you see being towed along by Mondeo's? Mondeo must only be 1.4-1.6 ton and caravan similar or even more?
Have a look at the Vauxhall what ever, which is the Oz Holden. There is a factory tow pack, which adds cross bracing to the back end, allowing the thing to handle all the 3 ton boats we tow around the place over here.
Stability has nothing to do with weight. Using weight is just a simple way of doing things for bureaucrats.
The most important thing for stability is short rear overhang. You want the tow ball as close to the rear wheels as possible. This keeps the leverage that the trailer can apply to the tow vehicle to a minimum. Fast steering, to allow you to flick the thing straight, if it gets a sway up is important, as is finding how much weight your rig requires on the tow ball, to track well. Only experimentation will tell you this, but it might be much higher than you expect.
Next you have to wheel align your trailer. I have found a good start is 1/8" to in on the front axle, & 1/4" on the rear. This must be to a point directly in front of the draw bar, or you will have a b
h of a thing.
Here for serious work we use goose neck trailers. The tow hitch/ball is set up forward of the rear axle of a ute, on the tray. The goose neck is the high front & tow hitch on the trailer, to get to the high hitch on the ute.
It's amazing how fast you can tow, once things are set up right. It's then down to good trailer brakes to finish the outfit.
Stability has nothing to do with weight. Using weight is just a simple way of doing things for bureaucrats.
The most important thing for stability is short rear overhang. You want the tow ball as close to the rear wheels as possible. This keeps the leverage that the trailer can apply to the tow vehicle to a minimum. Fast steering, to allow you to flick the thing straight, if it gets a sway up is important, as is finding how much weight your rig requires on the tow ball, to track well. Only experimentation will tell you this, but it might be much higher than you expect.
Next you have to wheel align your trailer. I have found a good start is 1/8" to in on the front axle, & 1/4" on the rear. This must be to a point directly in front of the draw bar, or you will have a b
h of a thing.Here for serious work we use goose neck trailers. The tow hitch/ball is set up forward of the rear axle of a ute, on the tray. The goose neck is the high front & tow hitch on the trailer, to get to the high hitch on the ute.
It's amazing how fast you can tow, once things are set up right. It's then down to good trailer brakes to finish the outfit.
Not many 'normal' cars have the legal towing capacity for a car on a trailer, you'll need something 4x4 or a larger van. If your Gross Train Mass is going to be over 3500kg, and with the Range Rover it will, and you're towing for business over 30odd miles from base you're also going to need a tachograph fitted.
Even a big 4WD estate such as an A6 Allroad 'only' has a max braked towing limit if 2.1 tonnes.
That maybe enough but it doesn't give you any leeway and its a big fine if you are found to be over weight.
You will need to go large 4x4 and compromise on the hoonage bit. Also none of the big 4x4s will do 40 mpg solo.
M class is within budget if you have big balls.
Jeep Grand Cherokee is another possible.
disco?
landcruiser?
Shogun?
That maybe enough but it doesn't give you any leeway and its a big fine if you are found to be over weight.
You will need to go large 4x4 and compromise on the hoonage bit. Also none of the big 4x4s will do 40 mpg solo.
M class is within budget if you have big balls.
Jeep Grand Cherokee is another possible.
disco?
landcruiser?
Shogun?
Ok so, from what I can gather along as I do the B+E test I can tow pretty much anything, along as the loaded weight of the trailer doesn't exceed more than 85%ish of the cars weight meaning its gonna be RR or Disco (Don't like Jap cars, had too many problems... I know that RR's are plagued with faults but oh well!) or something commercial (really don't want to go down that route either!).
And if the total weight is over 3.5ton you have to have a tacho? Thought that was 7.5ton? And how would that affect the car when it's being used for personal use? Surely it's a massive pain in the arse to have to keep a file of all tacho's etc? Maybe I'll just stick to the Golf's!
Cheers for the help lads.
And if the total weight is over 3.5ton you have to have a tacho? Thought that was 7.5ton? And how would that affect the car when it's being used for personal use? Surely it's a massive pain in the arse to have to keep a file of all tacho's etc? Maybe I'll just stick to the Golf's!
Cheers for the help lads.
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