Daisy2 replied on 11/04/2018 23:53
Posted on 11/04/2018 23:53
Evening all
This is probably a really silly question, but now that I've finally gotten my head around this towing lark I've started thinking about more technical aspects beyond the "what can I legally tow" etc. So, according to all the car matching services my little car and caravan are a good match. I wasn't in a position to change my car when we decided we had to swap from motorhome to caravan, so had to purchase a caravan that worked with our existing vehicle (Vauxhall Meriva 1.4 turbo (120bhp) with Elddis Xplore 304). So far my experience of actually towing the combination has been good and I've been really pleased with the car's performance. There are some discrepancies between matching services but it seems to suggest that I should be ok on hill starts for a 10-12% gradient. I've not paid all that much attention to gradient signs when driving the car normally, and in our motorhome I just used the info to consider driving adjustments that might be needed. Never came across a hill we couldn't get up in the motorhome, although I can think of one in Scotland that I struggled to do in 1st gear in an old Talbot Express campervan...and doubt it would have managed a hill start on it! But still being new to towing I'm feeling a bit paranoid about ending up having to do a hill start somewhere and not being able to get up! Is this a realistic concern and what would one do in that situation? Are there many roads that are steeper than 10-12% in the UK (I don't drive abroad)? I'm not even sure what a 10% gradient would look like. Whilst my driving skills are fine, my map reading skills are abysmal and so rely heavily on the Satnav which does make it harder to be aware in advance of things. Of course, this would only apply to hillstarts and car can cope fine if moving already. I think having got over the initial nerves of towing and discovering its fine, I'm just looking for something else to worry about ;-)
Thanks, Daisy
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Daisy2
Motorhomer