Tow car question

When I saw & bought a Mercedes R Class, it then gave EmilysMum the go ahead to choose a huge twin axle Coachman ..... 🙄

 ... Re handbrake-back in 2012 I specified Hill Hold assist on my Audi Q5. It is a driver aid that actually does help, and way beyond its then £57 price tag, and I think is now standard.

A genuine question ... How does Hill Hold help  you?

I have cars with 2 variations of hill hold. On my Merc I give the foot brake another shove when stopped & the main brakes will hold the car forever & a day until I shove the pedal again or press the throttle to drive away. My Smarts will just hold the brakes on for 0.7secs (🤷‍♂️) to get your foot from brake to throttle without rolling. Neither system is something I thought I was missing. Hill starts can be achieved using whatever hand/parking brake you have. All cars assumed to automatic though on the rare occasion I drive Emily's manual car that has neither kind of hill hold assist, I never find myself rolling back or forward.

Now I know the advised towing ratio for inexperienced towers is 85%.

This would suggest you do have experience towing? If that's the case then you should, with care, be ok. 

The electric handbrake is not a problem and if automatic (or DCT in your case) comes with Auto-Hold allowing the outfit to effectively remain braked whilst stationary, without the need to have your foot on the brake pedal. 

Hi ED, The clue is in the name! It saves having to locate the handbrake switch which, unlike a traditional handbrake, between the seats, not the Merc type, is mounted on the centre console and does not fall to hand as readily.

While I am sure that with practice it would become second nature I have    , in playing with the various systems, noticed that the tendency is to look down to locate the switch.

Mine works on the pressure applied so ‘normal braking’ at a junction etc does not apply the brake.

My car has many features that I do not ‘need’ but are useful and soon become the norm. 

Do cars have handbrakes?, my Sorento has a position "P" on the stick in the middle, normal driving i use the footbrake, for long stationary periods i use "P" 

Joking, it has a pedal somewhere to the left that applies the handbrake kick it down to apply, i think when you move off it releases but you get a nice warning bell to advise that you have not released the pedal, or at least i think that is how it works, cant remember the last time i used it as caravan has not moved from hardstanding since 2021 and would use it if on a hill with caravan in tow

My car has a P too .... though it's on the column, not in the middle. 😉

Had a Ford Corsair many years ago, manual column change and no probs getting 3 on the front bench seat, well before seat belts became fashionable. Never towed with it but it was a goer.

I  take it you are talking about the car? not the unobstructed "access" that front bench seats afforded

I've towed quite a few close-to-the-match outfits in my time and offer the following...

load everything heavy in the car, caravan spare wheel, jacks, levelling blocks and awning. Even box up the heavier groceries, bottles, tins etc. and put them in the car. If there are only two of you, put the back seats down and put the heaviest stuff right behind you so the weight is right between the axles. We lay clothes flat on the beds (they always fall off the wardrobe rails anyway), together with the battery and gas bottles that will do you for your nose weight. Keep speed to 60 max (it's the law for good reason) and select a low gear downhills. I find my car happiest at about 58mph in 5th gear (not 6th) but you will find your car's happy place. Keep a safe distance and avoid heavy braking. As for the handbrake, you have about 2 seconds between switch-off and release - generally enough. It might be worth learning the art of heel and tow (various on You Tube) which has got me out of trouble on a couple of occasions.

Happy (and safe) towing!