Tow cars

Hi tonyburton thanks for your reply was hoping to get around 25mpg towing and possibly 40mpg solo a lot better than I’m getting now

did you consider the ford edge. slightly bigger and heavier than the kuga

I tow a Quattro replated to 1800kg with a Passat All-track without any problems. The mass in service of the Passat is around 1720kg. With passenger, dog, awning and various goods and chattels it probably weighs in around 1850kg, probably more. Sur le continent they don’t get their underwear in a knot worrying about weight ratios and they dont have any more accidents than in the UK. it’s either legal or it isn’t. 

And if its legal it must have been deemed safe 

You've only got to look at the amount of Pickups with excavators on trailers behind them you see on the roads and other similar towing combinations to realise exceeding 85% or even 100% is quite common practice as long as ,MM already said, you don't exceed your max train weight. 

where is the data for caravan accidents over there? Have you done a country by country analysis regarding caravans alone?

What is the accident rate for caravans for the UK btw?

from what I've been able to find the UK and Sweden has the lowest number of serious accidents per million population, France is almost double.

That doesn't necessarily mean that France has double the accident rate with caravans as well. Besides, the only accidents involving caravans that I have seen in France were Dutch or German oufits that were probably driven too fast for the prevailing conditions anyway.

never suggested that at all and I did say that I couldn't find any data on caravan related accidents for over there  (unlike the UK which varies around 0.007 to 0.008%), I was just replying to flatcoat's thoughts that there were just as many caravans accidents over there as over here.

What I was trying to say is if the UK (and Sweden) has the lowest accident rate per head of population and France has double that figure then it wouldn't be too far out to suggest that their accidents with caravans would be higher? 

The UK.GOV site records a lot of detail for road accidents, does the EU do the same? 

Yes, but it doesn't follow that the percentage of caravan accidents relative to all other traffic incidients is any higher in France, just that in absolute numbers there may be a higher accident rate there. Therefore, the data doesn't really tell us anything or that the absence of any weight ratio recommendation has any bearing on the result.

I drive more miles each year on the continent towing than I do in the UK. On occasions I also drive abroad solo. In 8 years since I first ventured abroad by car (with or without Caravan) I cannot recall seeing any incidents involving a Caravan other than a puncture. 

However to get back to OP, the Kuga sounds as if it will be fine in respect of power, the weight issue is upto you. My Passat has 177 horses with DSG, probably more in practice. I get mid 20’s mpg towing and low 40”s solo. Whatever you get I strongly recommend you fit all weather tyres. 

Having had my Caravan on the weighbridge it is around 1760kg when fully set up for our main hols, probably a bit less when weekending.