Fun tow car options?

[brakedust]

So I'm fortunate enough to have picked up my 540c last weekend, lots of fun!

The issues is I live in Aberdeen, so any Europe trips have over 1000 miles added and this is going to kill my 6k per year insurance allowance, so I'm looking at trailer options. I need to be under 3.5t total weight of tow car, trailer and 540c and the numbers are;

540c = 1350kg
trailer = est 400kg

so I have 1750kg to play with for the tow car, a few options I have looked at that you unfortunately can't fit a tow bar to are - RS4 Avant, CLA45 and 6 series 4 gran coupe.

A few other box's that need ticked are 4 door and under 5 years old as its also going to be my company car.

Any good recommendations?

[donny1]

Why do you need to be under 3.5 ton?

[HustleRussell]

donny1 said:

Why do you need to be under 3.5 ton?

Because he passed his driving test after 1997 and doesn't have a B+e license.

[HughG]

Remember that it max. plated weight of the trailer (although you can downplate it) and gross vehicle weight of the car. So in your example you'd need to find a car with 1750kg gross vehicle weight and at least 1750kg permissible towing weight.

On another thread R0G said:

FOR B LICENCES
The Gov sites are not that good at explaining this so I have managed to find a simple way of determining whether a driver can tow something on a B only licence -

To tow over 750 kgs with a B licence you need to say NO to the following:-
Does the GVW of the towing vehicle plus the plated MAM of the trailer add up to more than 3500 kgs?
Is the ACTUAL weight of the empty trailer and its load more than the listed towing capacity?

Example of legally towing over 750 kgs with a B licence - made up figures but not that far from what can be found....

Towing vehicle -
Unladen/empty/kerb = 1500
GVW = 2000
Towing capacity = 1800

Trailer -
Unladen/empty = 800
MAM = 1500 (Perhaps originally a 2000 MAM but downplated by manufacturer so it conforms to B licence towing)

Load trailer with 700 max

[gazzarose]

I'm guessing by needing to be under 3.5t gross train weight that you havnt got b+e. If your on the search for a car that can tow 1750 but also only weighs 1750 remember that will be kerb weight and by the time people and luggage are in the car it will push it higher. There are also some extra rules to bear in mind if running on just a B license, namely the actual weight of the trailer isn't taken into account just the plated weight. So for example the trailer and car only weighs 1750kg but if the trailer is plated at say 2000kg then that only leaves you 1500kg for the car and I'm pretty sure (but not 100%) that the same applies to the tow vehicle, bso if you used an empty 2.6t transit which probably weight 1.5t, then the 2.6 is taken as the weight, so you'll have to check up on things. The trailer may be able to be down plated to suit but then youd need to be very careful about anything in the car when it's on the trailer.

Eta beaten to it.

[donny1]

Thought that, although its possible, id expect the trailer to be slightly heavier and with some people plus luggage it will be too heavy.

Even if its not it wont be the most stable towing setup and its not like you are just nipping round the corner.

Also beaten to it

[Alex@POD]

Can't you just increase the mileage allowance?

[gazzarose]

I guess he's trying to avoid a big insurance hike, but as far as insurance goes would the car I'm transit be insured if the worst happened?

[donny1]

Or just pass the trailer test, its quite simple 1 hour with an instructor should get any competent person through.

[HughG]

donny1 said:

Thought that, although its possible, id expect the trailer to be slightly heavier and with some people plus luggage it will be too heavy.

Even if its not it wont be the most stable towing setup and its not like you are just nipping round the corner.

Also beaten to it

A brian james clubman 185 is 400kg with a MAM of 2T.

[donny1]

HughG said:

A brian james clubman 185 is 400kg with a MAM of 2T.

Didn't realise they were that light thought it would be closer to 500kg

[MattS5]

S4 or S5 3.0 V6 Supercharged?
Both are type approved for towing.

[caelite]

VW Passat R36 (or the DSG 4motion 'normal' Passat V6, same car with softer suspension, lower tune and no R badges) has a 2.2ton towing capacity. Probably one of the highest towing capacity I've seen in a non-4x4. The Estate version would be fantastic.

EDIT: Sorry missed the age restriction, Also I strongly recommend you go for your B+E, it means you don't really need to worry about your overall GTW, its a couple of hundred quid and is a piece of piss if you are a vaguely competent driver.

Edited by caelite on Saturday 11th March 00:50

[brakedust]

S4 Avant would be a good option! R36 Passat sounds good as well but I think it's too old?

I'll be getting rid of my XJ Supersport as Jag don't do a towbar

Edited by brakedust on Friday 10th March 20:05

[HughG]

S4 avant plated gross vehicle weight is about 2.2T though so well over

[MattS5]

HughG said:

S4 avant plated gross vehicle weight is about 2.2T though so well over

The weight of the car is 1850, or 1925kg with driver.

Towing limit is 1900kg, but the 85% ratio is nearer 1700kg (of course you can put more weight in the car should you wish to increase that further)
Towball limit is around 85kg.

[R0G]

B licence only

Plated GVW of vehicle + plated MAM/MTPLM of trailer = no more than 3500kg

Actual weight of trailer and its load must not be more than Towing capacity of vehicle

[njw1]

I had a towbar on my e39 M5 for a while, problem was I only pulled a small trailer and had to keep looking in the mirror to check it was still there as I couldn't feel it.