Tow cars for caravan

Deeman83

I am looking a good strong solid tow car for pulling a Caravan 1600kg.
Thinking of a Santa Fe 2.2 Diesel. Has anyone got one of these yokes and used it for towing?
I hear the mpg is poor, 31mpg in real terms (without towing).
Any other similar powered, weighted cars which have better fuel economy?

colm_mcm

I'd have the 140bhp Tucson over the Santa Fe. More economical and still can tow 1600kg. It's also way more entertaining to drive in a torque steer, spinning front wheels kind of way.
Fuel economy on them is surprisingly good on the 2wd (early 40s) and the they're not as flakey as the 116bhp version.

mullingar

A lot of full sized cars are plated to tow that weight (eg Mondeo).

Check parkers.co.uk for towing capacity, they will vary by engine/gearbox too.

Make sure you have a BE license too!

Deeman83

Thanks for information and advice. I see lots of estate cars in England towing big caravans, skoda octavias, Audi estates etc. I might have a look at those type of car. Strong heavy and maybe more economical than the 4wd Honda and hyundais

650Ginge

mullingar wrote: »

A lot of full sized cars are plated to tow that weight (eg Mondeo).

Check parkers.co.uk for towing capacity, they will vary by engine/gearbox too.

Make sure you have a BE license too!

Why would he need a BE license?

Get you facts right before you go giving out advise.

So long as the total vehicle and caravan weight is under 3500kgs you don't need E.

colm_mcm

A category B driving licence authorises you to drive a car, van or 4 x 4 which has a maximum mass (as specified by the manufacturer) of not more than 3,500kg and is designed and constructed to carry no more than eight passengers in addition to the driver. You may tow a trailer with a maximum mass (again as specified by the manufacturer) not greater than 750kg, or where the maximum mass is more than 750kg, the combined maximum mass of the towing vehicle and the trailer is not greater than 3,500kg.

Just to use the Tucson as an example, it only weighs 1500 odd kg, but the maximum mass of the vehicle is 2100kg. Wouldn't you be adding 2100kg to 1600kg for the caravan in this case rather than the kerbweight of the Tucson plus caravan?

CiniO

650Ginge wrote: »

Why would he need a BE license?

Get you facts right before you go giving out advise.

So long as the total vehicle and caravan weight is under 3500kgs you don't need E.

Because the caravan is rated as 1600kg gross weight.

Total that can be towed on B licence is 3500kg, so after subtracting 1600kg of trailer weight, you are left with 1900kg.

Good luck finding a vehicle with gross weight 1900kg or lower, that is rated to tow 1600kg trailers.

IMO no such vehicles exist.

TigerTim

Have towed with an '08 Citroen Crosser for the past 6 years. Great towcar but €260 odd per quarter in tax is mad. Also when towing I only get about 23mpg but loads of power & great for towing our large 6 berth Adria.

T.

mullingar

650Ginge wrote: »

Why would he need a BE license?

Get you facts right before you go giving out advise.

So long as the total vehicle and caravan weight is under 3500kgs you don't need E.

I know the facts as I did a BE test.

Under Irish law, you must have a BE license if the combined maximum plated weight of the car+trailer combined is over 3500kg. This is not to be confused with the actual weight.

Most cars plated to tow over 1500kg have a DGVW aka MAM (design gross vehicle weight / maximum authorised mass) of 2500-3000kg before you add the trailer . With your B license you only have 500kg to 1000kg to play with before you hit your license limit.

You can check the weight plate of any car to see what the towing limit is by subtracting the 1st weight (the maximum train weight) from the 2nd figure (maximum car dgvw)

fits

the caravan club's towcar of the year awards are usually a good source of information

https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/media-centre/awards/towcar-of-the-year/

Deeman83

I did the b and e test in the north. A mate got pulled in by the Yorkshire police
They quizzed him on the license. He did his best "b and e" what face.

The cops gave him 6 months to get his b and e license and asked him to email a copy of his test cert otherwise hr would get a 1k fine and a ban.

There will eventually be a crack down on the b and e so its best to do it when you have the time .

Del2005

Deeman83 wrote: »

I did the b and e test in the north. A mate got pulled in by the Yorkshire police
They quizzed him on the license. He did his best "b and e" what face.

The cops gave him 6 months to get his b and e license and asked him to email a copy of his test cert otherwise hr would get a 1k fine and a ban.

There will eventually be a crack down on the b and e so its best to do it when you have the time .

There's already a crack down. Plenty of farmers have been pulled with animal trailers and the RSA will not be ignoring caravans.