I am going to apologise in advance for complete thickness but I have been reading conflicting information about towing weights.

 

I wonder if anyone could take the trouble to explain it to me in very simple beginner terms.

 

I have a Skoda Octavia 1.6 TDI Elegance 2013 and I am looking to the future to get a touring caravan but am really confused about all the terms e.g kerb weight etc and max 85% weight.

 

Could someone please explain it in simple terms for me to understand?

 

I would be very grateful.

Ok I think I have worked it out, the kerb weight being the car weight on the tech spec and the towing weight being 85% of this

 

so 85% of 1320 is 1122 so this is the maximum tow weight.

 

Are there any other things to consider?

I dont know if the rules are any different where you are. But in Norway the 77kW tdi is allowed to tow 1500kg (inclines up to 12%).

Thanks for this. I am in the UK. I don't know much about it and only just starting out.

 

I think I read right that for novice caravan drivers you should be driving 85% of the maximum load weight of the caravan. So the caravan I am considering buying has a Maximum Technical Permissable Laden Mass of 1310 and the kerb weight of the Skoda 1.6 TDI 2013 is 1310 so its a 100% match but why is that a bad thing?

The 85% rule is a guide only, which has been around for a long time, and while it is good advice, it is quite difficult to achieve when considering an average family car and an average family (4 or 5 berth) caravan. The difficulty is the heavier the caravan compared to the weight of the car, the more unstable the outfit will tend to be, i.e. more chance of snaking etc.

However, modern cars have good stability systems, combined with good stabilizers and some other fancy stability control features on modern caravans all help to avoid this.

I would say if the caravan has a 100% mtplm ratio of car weight, it would be ok, just be careful with loading, i.e. the caravan doesn't need to be fully loaded, and the car will likely not be weighing in at its kerb weight if loaded with passengers and other equipment in the boot etc. In which case this will take your weight ratio away from 100%.

Just drive carefully and this weight ratio would be ok. Other things to consider are the loading of the caravan to help ensure you do not exceed the max weight at towbar, and also the drivers licence rules for towing trailers, which affects anyone who passed their test after Jan 1997 were a standard B licence limits you to a gross train weight of 3500kg. Higher than this requires another test.

The 85% rule is a safe guideline, not law. However it's quite sensible as you don't want to end up with the "tail wagging the dog".

 

Here's one of many articles covering this subject:

 

http://www.caravan-advice.co.uk/what-can-i-tow.html#.V0hCRPkrKUk

 

Also check you're driving licence to see what you can tow, depending on age/when you passed your test this can vary.

Good luck!

Useful stuff & calculator at towcar.info .  Though couldn't see any feedback on  Oct 1.6TDI.

Thanks very much to all who contributed. Really appreciate it. I passed my test 1991 so should be ok for the total weight but it's good to get some other opinions on it. Cheers.