Towing with a Motorhome

The 'Train Weight' minus the gross vehicle weight will give you an indication on the 'Weight Plate' as a starter.

No doubt more info will appear

You will need the Gross Vehicle Weight and the Gross Train Weight of your motorhome which you will find on the vehicle VIN plate. Make sure you look at the final stage VIN plate which will be the one fitted by Swift. You then need the Gross Vehicle Weight off the Mini VIN plate.
Subtract the GVW of the motorhome from the GTW and this will tell you what weight you can tow. If the GVW of the Mini is less than this figure then you are ok to tow provided that you have the correct driving licence.
I wouldn't recommend A-frame towing outside of the UK, they don't like it over the water.

Geoff, have you got the power? I'm thinking of a Motorhome that's 5 tonnes on the road, with a tonne of Mini on the back  - with only a 2.3 litre engine? 

In addition to all the above, you need to consult the MH converter's facts and figures as, often, having an Alko extension chassis greatly affects the towing ability.

Looks like you have a gross train weight of 6000kg and your mass in running order is just under 4200 kg.Towing a modern mini will severely restrict your payload,I suggest you look at lighter cars such as Peugeot 107,Toyota Aygo etc.

I think the new Mini will be too heavy, even my Fiat 500 has a GVW of 1305kg and has an actual weight around 1000kg. This is well within my 2000kg towing weight but the Kontiki has half that.

 A "Smart" is 750kg,and no road fund tax !! Towed mine on an "A" frame for many years ,until E.U got snotty ,particular Spain.YET  only last week i saw a French M/home towing a Seat 600 on just the same "A" frame as we had from  'Car.a.Tow ' from Poole !! .

Hi,

This is my 4th year towing a C1 behind my Swift Bolero through France and Spain on an A-Frame without any issues.

Our A-Frame is an electronic system that meets all requirements for towing a trailer including Lights, Brakes and Reversing without intervention (Granted reversing around a corner is next to impossible).

My wife having mobility issues make the car a necessity when touring abroad or a home for that matter.

I can fit or remove the A-Frame assembly in under 2 minutes and de-couple for maneuvering on site or at home in under 30 seconds. With practice I can drive the car up to the motorhome and stop within mm’s of the coupling position without any assistance. Driving the motorhome with A-Frame attached is a doddle being close coupled and much narrower than the motorhome mean you hardly notice it, also the effect on fuel economy is minimal, I still achieve 30+mpg. In my opinion an A-Frame is more stable , easier to drive and safer on the road than using a car transport trailer.

I could not manage any of the above, with a trailer and storage both on site and at home is also an issue, for all the above reasons a trailer is not an option for us.

 .Paul 1951 ,Hi .Many times the problem of reversing with an "A" frame has come up .Once again i will cover this having towed a Smart on an "A" frame through Europe MANY times behind my previous M/home.Place a pair of expanders/bungee's around the spokes of the steering wheel of the tow car,and hook under the seat frame.The vehicle can then be reversed in a straight line ,or round corners ,left or right ,just as any trailer can.BEEN THERE --DONE THAT many times .Try it and see .!! Let me know how you get on ..

Paul, towing with an A-frame is illegal in Spain, full stop.

if you are stopped and requested to decouple, and if you have only one driver, this would be very difficult for you to continue your journey....

while youve not been 'caught' yet, the police are pretty hot on this one....