Towing vehicles

S

Sotroph

New User
Joined
11 April 2013
Messages
5
Visit site
Hey,

Would be very grateful for some feedback. I am currently looking at buying my first towing vehicle. I have never towed before, hence very unsure about which car would be suitable. Trailer is a single horse trailer with a weight of 675kg according to plate (however suppose you have to add all the bars etc to this weight...). My horse weighs about 450kg, so aiming to tow around 1200kg. Will only be going out about 6x per year so car needs to be practical and economical the rest of the time too. Looking at an Audi a3 sport back 2.0 tdi which weighs 1380kg and tows 1700kg. On paper the combination would be legal but the towing would be quite tight and it's close to the 85% rule. Anyone has any experience with towing with an a3? Other option is Vw Tiguan, but obviously not as economical the rest of the year...
 
Sotroph said:
Hey,

Would be very grateful for some feedback. I am currently looking at buying my first towing vehicle. I have never towed before, hence very unsure about which car would be suitable. Trailer is a single horse trailer with a weight of 675kg according to plate (however suppose you have to add all the bars etc to this weight...). My horse weighs about 450kg, so aiming to tow around 1200kg. Will only be going out about 6x per year so car needs to be practical and economical the rest of the time too. Looking at an Audi a3 sport back 2.0 tdi which weighs 1380kg and tows 1700kg. On paper the combination would be legal but the towing would be quite tight and it's close to the 85% rule. Anyone has any experience with towing with an a3? Other option is Vw Tiguan, but obviously not as economical the rest of the year...
Click to expand...

Hi Sotroph

Contrary to popular belief if you have a lightweight trailer and a fairly lightweight horse so long as you are within the towing weight specified by law and in the manufacturers handbook then a saloon car is just as effective as a 4 x 4 and about half the price!

I got by for many years towing a 650KG trailer and a variety of different horses probably weighing between 630-720KG) with a Peugeot 406 TD. Before that it was a 2L Sierra Sapphire GTi and I now have a 2L Vectra Elite which has an impressive horse power and makes all the difference. I used to find that towing up a long incline was the hardest thing to do with the Peugeot which I had for nearly nine years. Robinsons have lightweight trailers, so does Cheval Liberte and Bateson as well as the Rice Richardson trailer that I have in the piccy. This was bought as a year old in 1996 and its been painted, and Dad replaced my floor. Its a lovely trailer and I love it to bits, would rather have that than a new one any day.

The Vauxhall Vectra makes light weight of towing my horse who currently weighs 692KG. Its lovely to tow with and my horse never moves. It has a lot of horsepower so is easy to tow on the long inclines that the Peugeot used to find hard. In the Peugeot going up long inclines I used to have to have the fan on in the car full blast on hot as the radiator would have overheated otherwise. It was so hot on a hot summers day I was nearly passing out at the wheel - not ideal, but a smashing work horse, you should be okay with something like that for your horses weight. They hold their value somewhat, mine was 12 years old and I sold if for £550 but couldn't have got much more than that with the amount of interest I had in it.

Here is my outfit with said horse!

attachment.php
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sotroph said:
Hey,

Would be very grateful for some feedback. I am currently looking at buying my first towing vehicle. I have never towed before, hence very unsure about which car would be suitable. Trailer is a single horse trailer with a weight of 675kg according to plate (however suppose you have to add all the bars etc to this weight...). My horse weighs about 450kg, so aiming to tow around 1200kg. Will only be going out about 6x per year so car needs to be practical and economical the rest of the time too. Looking at an Audi a3 sport back 2.0 tdi which weighs 1380kg and tows 1700kg. On paper the combination would be legal but the towing would be quite tight and it's close to the 85% rule. Anyone has any experience with towing with an a3? Other option is Vw Tiguan, but obviously not as economical the rest of the year...
Click to expand...

No 85% advice rule and that advice is only for caravans

What licence do you have B or B+E ?

Is it a Bateson Derby trailer or a Cheval Liberte trailer ?
 
Thanks for your replies. The trailer is a Bateson Derby. I only have a B licence, done after the regulation changed. Assumed that not towing more than 85% of cars kerb weight was an advice which could be translated to towing horses. Is this not the case? Just want to make sure that horse and me are safe and that it is "comfortable journey":-)
 
Sotroph said:
Thanks for your replies. The trailer is a Bateson Derby. I only have a B licence, done after the regulation changed. Assumed that not towing more than 85% of cars kerb weight was an advice which could be translated to towing horses. Is this not the case? Just want to make sure that horse and me are safe and that it is "comfortable journey":-)
Click to expand...
Forget 85% as that is only for caravan towing

The simple extra rule for B towing is this ...
The vehicle GVW added to the trailer plated MAM must not total more than 3500 kgs

That is the total of the two plated weights not the actual weights

I think the Audi you are looking at has a GVW just under 2000 and if that is correct then you need to down plate the Bateson Derby trailer from its current 1700 to 1500 by contacting Bateson on 0161 426 0500 - you remove 1700 plate - send Bateson that plate with a tenner - they send you new 1500 plate - you fit new plate
Drill and pop rivet gun needed

At 1500 MAM and 675 empty you can load 825 into the trailer
 
Not much help on the towing front as what I know about it could fit on the back of a stamp. Just from a vehicle point of view though I'm not sure the a3 is your best choice even if it just meets the legal requirements. I only say that as I used to have a 2L sport and although I had the petrol not a diesel it was nippy but I wouldn't say had the pull required for a horse and trailer, it's a small car anyway and I can't say I've ever seen an a3 tow a caravan on the roads let alone anything else. Mine was also a complete pain in the backside, always had mechanical issues and when it did go wrong being an Audi the parts are damn expensive! Again I'm talking from very limited experience here and as I assume you'll be looking at a diesel model of what I had it prob negates most of what I'm saying especially with the power aspect. What about something like a mondeo or similar? I've got a fiesta, my partner a focus and his parents a mondeo and I can't remember the last time any of us had any bother, it will be a lot heavier than the a3 though so obviously you'd have to check the limits
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top