Max Weights

What category driving licence do you hold?

peedee

The maximum towing limit for the Ecosport is 750Kg and that, I suspect is the 1.5 diesel. The lower towing limit for the range is only 400Kg which I expect is the 3 cylinder 1 Litre model. There will be very few caravans with a MTPLM that low.

The sort of combination that you are looking into is hardly going to be affected by Category B driving licence restrictions, so the actual limit what you can tow can be read off the car's weight plate. Subtract the second highest value on the plate (gross vehicle weight) from the highest value (gross train weight) and for all intents and purposes you've got the allowed limit.

Best to check your car's owners manuals for the towing limits 750Kg is the maximum legal towing limit for an unbraked trailer.  As caravans have breaks, it wouldn't surprise me if you'd be able to tow more.

As for the confusion this is where your owners manual will come into play.    Looking in my book, there's a table with all the limits etc listed.  The full set of weights that you should find from your car as as follows.

1. Unladen Weight (aka kerbweight)

2. Gross vehicle weight (aka fully loaded)

3. Gross Train Weight (weight of car and caravan)

4. Gross Trailer wieght (With brakes)

5. Gross Trailer weight (without brakes)

6. Trailer Nose weight.

All of these figures are useful for some part of getting yourself setup for towing a caravan.

Some cars are terrible for towing, so putting a caravan on these would not be clever.    With my car, I have an unbraked limit of 728Kg, and a breaked limit or 1800Kg's  However, that's 1800 if I'm not on an inclide more than 8%, if it's more this figure drops to 1500Kg.  For my peace of mind, I would take the lower value here of 1500Kg, and know that this is the maximum that my car will tow.

However, there is more to this story.   There is a thing known as the 85% rule.  It goes like this.  The weight of the full caravan, should not exceed 85% of the weight of an empty car.  My car's kerbweight is 1381Kg.  So, 85% of that is 1173.85 Kg.  So for my car, a caravan with an MPTLM lower than this value is good.  This is a guide rather than a hard rule.  My caravan's MPTLM is 1300Kg, and it's fine.  (works out to 87%, so it's pushing things a bit)  Caravan dealers will try to sell you the biggest van that your car can pull off the forecourt.  I spoke to one dealer and he was very nasty when the CC towing course was mentioned.    I guess it makes his life harder having people who have has some education.  ;)

The Gross train weight, is the weight of the fully loaded car and caravan.  Actually, it's the maximum permissable load, and you should not go above it.   For my setup, I've worked out that if I fully loaded the car, and my caravan I'm still under the Gross train weight.  Which is good news as it means that even fully loaded, I'll have some power left in the engine to be able to get everything moving along nicely.

The last part that I mentioned is the noseweight.  This is the maximum amout of weight that you can put on the towball.   Increasing the noseweight of a caravan will help to improve the stability.  And again there's rules.   First, the noseweight figure for the car is a figure.  In my case it's 73Kg.  This is the maximum load that I can put on the towball.  The stabiliser will has a maximum load as well, I was told this on on the CC course.  For an Al-ko chassis, it's 100Kg.   So take the lower figure.  in my case 73Kg.   No matter what, this is the most weight that I can have as my caravan's noseweight.

Next take the weight of the caravan and figure out 4% of it's weight.  my caravan is 1300Kg, so 4% is 52Kg.  Yep. 52Kg is all the noseweight that I need for the caravan to be stable.  The 4% rule is also one from the CC course.

Next take the weight of the caravan and figure out 4% of it's weight.  my caravan is 1300Kg, so 4% is 52Kg.  Yep. 52Kg is all the noseweight that I need for the caravan to be stable.  The 4% rule is also one from the CC course.

No such thing as a 4% rule, never heard of it in 40 years caravanning.

 

Next take the weight of the caravan and figure out 4% of it's weight.  my caravan is 1300Kg, so 4% is 52Kg.  Yep. 52Kg is all the noseweight that I need for the caravan to be stable.  The 4% rule is also one from the CC course.

No such thing as a 4% rule, never heard of it in 40 years caravanning.

I have, it has been on labels in both my caravan's front lockers stating to the effect that the noseweight must be at least 4% of the running weight or 25 kgs whichever is the greater. This could well have continental origins as both vans are German. IMO advice that is every bit as sound as the UK's 85% guidance figure for mass ratios. 

Returning to the OP's issue I feel the solution , if a change of vehicle is not on, is to explore trailer tents; the CC allows these and through the main season we found them a quite nice option to live in and with.

I put the car on a weighbridge so I knew the weight, which was 1426kg. Then looked for a caravan up to a max of 1300kg. As far as nose weight is concerned we have a nose weight of 65kg which is approx 5% of the van weight. The caravan is stable and tows very well.

I put the car on a weighbridge so I knew the weight, which was 1426kg. Then looked for a caravan up to a max of 1300kg. As far as nose weight is concerned we have a nose weight of 65kg which is approx 5% of the van weight. The caravan is stable and tows very well.

very commendable...

..and did you weigh the caravan (before ypu bought it, hopefully) to ensure its unladen weight was 'what it said on the tin'?

MH and caravan brochure and website data only has to be accurate to +/- 5%.....so on your max 1300kg van, you could be 65kg over....ie around half your payload gone

 

Next take the weight of the caravan and figure out 4% of it's weight.  my caravan is 1300Kg, so 4% is 52Kg.  Yep. 52Kg is all the noseweight that I need for the caravan to be stable.  The 4% rule is also one from the CC course.

No such thing as a 4% rule, never heard of it in 40 years caravanning.

I have, it has been on labels in both my caravan's front lockers stating to the effect that the noseweight must be at least 4% of the running weight or 25 kgs whichever is the greater. This could well have continental origins as both vans are German. IMO advice that is every bit as sound as the UK's 85% guidance figure for mass ratios.

The manufacturers have to provide at least 4%, but that doesn't mean that you legally have to make full use of this figure unless you are in Germany, in which case, you have to set the noseweight to the maximum permissible in order to be allowed to tow at 100km/h (among fulfilling other requirements, too).

At 85% of the car's weight a tiny little teardrop type would probably be the only realistic option.