by Dennis » Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:35 pm
Hello David
I tow a caravan about 3000 miles per year, much more than I tow my Cape Cutter. I am also a member of the "Caravan Club" and also the "Camping and Caravan Club". Both institutions spend much time advising on suitable car/caravan pairings. The point being that these clubs (each with about 100,000 members) are very experienced in this matter. The caravan I have towed for the last two years had a MTPLM of 1790 Kg and I reckon I was towing an actual 1750 Kg laden.
The caravan clubs advise that for safety, the ideal weight to tow is 85% of the kerb weight of the towing vehicle. Although they also state that under certain circumstances it is possible to tow up to 100% of the kerb weight of the towing vehicle. The circumstances take into consideration the towing experience of the driver, the type of vehicle, the trailer nose weight etc.
However they categorically state that under no circumstances should the mass being towed be greater than the kerb weight of the towing vehicle.
All this is no help whatsoever if you do not know the laden weight of your capecutter on its trailer. In my experience boat builders are (very) optomistic when stating the weights of their products. But I estimate that my capecutter loaded on trailer is producing an all up weight close to the 1800 kg limit of the trailer. This is based upon the performance of my car on hills (virtually identical with caravan or boat).
I have checked the kerb weights of the cars you are considering and came up with the following:
Rav4 1485 Kg
Tiguan 1510 to 1684 Kg (dependent on model)
CRV 1543 to 1660 Kg (dependent on model)
X-Trail 1637 to 1733 Kg (dependent on model)
Based on this the Rav4 is obviously too light and the others are maybe possible, but still near (or over) the recommended limit.
The car manufacturers stated towing limits are simply the mass that the car can restart on a 12% incline and do not represent a mass that can be towed with safety.
One of the big advantages of towing with a 4x4 is the ability to use the low ratio tranfers box for recovery up steep ramps etc. Unfortunately, none of your chosen vehicles has that facility.
For what it is worth, I tow with a Land Rover Discovery 3. Kerb weight 2,500 Kg, towing limit 3,500 kg. Needless to say, it is well up to the job. Flawless stability and recovery up steep slippery launching ramps is never a problem. In low ratio first gear I do not even have to use any throttle to pull the boat out of the water. The 800 mm wading depth of the car means I can also get the trailer well into the water to float the boat on/off.
My apologies for such a long rambling reply.
Cheers
Dennis
CC19 #100 Mary Ann