Kerb weight

Why the tow limit is calculated  on its ability to start off on a 12% or 8% gradient around  times, other factors are also used.

So provided you tow below the max tow limit the rig will be capable towing up hills.

I would still tow below a 100% ratio with a caravan however, as the limit is a trailer limit, not a caravan limit.

But the ability to start on a 12% gradient (1 in 8) is not a lot of use on a 1 in 7 or, as I have often encountered, a 20% (1 in 5). My car is rated to tow 200kg, we tow 1,500kg but would not choose to tow more than 1,600kg I suspect.  

Hill starts are a lot easier with an auto with an electric handbrake.

I've had occasion to start off on a steep hill I live on with a Auto cx-5 rated at 2000kg, and a Tiguan DSG rated to tow 2300kg, both times pulling a 1700kg caravan.

Hill starts are a lot easier with an auto with an electric handbrake.

Just use two feet .... 😉

Lutz I think you had a different view some years back when you mentioned the the V5c was the only document that could be used in a dispute.

Unless you have a copy of the Certificate of Conformity (apparently not all manufacturers pass it on to the customer unless requested) the V5c is the only document that you will have available in case of a dispute and it only quotes the mass in service, but there is no piece of legislation for which details of mass in service are in any way relevant, so there is no reason for a dispute. The Certificate of Conformity may also quote the actual mass and that figure comes closest to the definition of kerbweight except that, unlike kerbweight, it includes 75kg for the driver and sundry items.

I find the definition of kerb weight throughout the industry differs in its calculations as well as the websites which try to match cars against caravans. I have had various differences in mine. My XC60 can vary as much as 100kg.... so my V5c is, is in my mind the most accurate and the figure I use.

There can only be one true definition of any term, whether we are talking about kerbweight or anything else. Otherwise, if there is no common understanding, it makes a mockery of the whole thing and you might as well forget that there is even a piece of legislation which attempts to lay down a standard.

The figure in the V5c is always mass in service and by virtue of its definition it will nearly always be less than the actual kerbweight. A 100kg variance between mass in service and kerbweight is quite normal. Differences of up to 150kg are not uncommon.

Therefore, if you use the V5c figure, you will always be on the conservative side.

I agree that some sources refer to mass in service as kerbweight, but then the figures cannot be treated as being accurate and this accounts for the 100kg variance that you have come across.

Mass in service can be the same between two vehicles of the same model but their kerbweights can be different. Kerbweight is specific to each and every vehicle and should therefore always be linked to a chassis number. Mass in service is more generic and can cover a whole range of vehicles of the same model.

Its easier just to use one foot.