towing with a humble saloon car - does any one else do it?

B

brychensmum

Member
Joined
20 June 2009
Messages
11
Visit site
I bought a saab 93 1.9 turbo diesal for work. Cunning plan was to tow with other halfs massive car. He is now out of work and car has been sold so I am down to towing with my saab. it is plated to tow 1600(KGs?) and gross kerb weight is 1400 (kgs?). I will probably have to buy a suitable trailer such as the requiste or ifor williams mare and foal as all the hire places only have doubles plaited to 2000 kgs.

I used to tow yonks ago with a mondeo and was okay. Horse lives at the top of a short but steep hill. We are in the pennine hills but I plan to tow mainly on the flat to the wirral and cheshire for pleasure and short endurance rides.

Am I demented ?(Probably!!!!)
 
Years ago, my Dad and Grandad would tow with whatever was available, I remember them towing with an Astra and an Escort (only ponies though). Your car Does not really have a big enough engine and you would probably need a new clutch before long. There are some cheap 4x4s about, Daihatsu Fourtraks are fairly cheap to buy and run and are super for towing.
 
Sorry to say but I would say the answer is yes
frown.gif

I wouldnt tow with anything but a 4 x 4 but there is a rule and its something to do with dont exceed 85% of I think its the kerb weight. Someone on here will know the proper answer though.
I do know of people who have towed with Estates and Saloons including a Mondeo but this person now has a Sorrento as the Mondea died!
 
Its a nightmare isn't it - all these new towing laws ?
frown.gif


I have a 2L Peugeot 406 diesel estate and I have towed a pony and 15hh Welsh D with no problems at all (which includes the ridiculously hilly area I live in!).

However, I wouldn't tow my own large horse as I just know that if I have to give way on a steep hill I will struggle to get going again
frown.gif


Alternatively I tow with a Ford Ranger pick up (2.5l 4x4) - bloody thing has no guts at all (its hideous) but at least I can put it in low box and struggle on.

Oh for the money to run a decent 4 x 4 - but I do so much mileage its just not economical to do so
frown.gif
 
Hmm, dont think I would like to try it. One of my friends regularly tows two horses (one a 16hh wb, other a 14hh pony) with a Rexton 2.6 and I know for a fact its dam gutless having driven it myself when she was unable to drive it home from a show.

Have to say am very fortunate that 4 x 4 is company vehicle, and my Shogun 3.2 is totally fantastic.

Good luck to you, I know needs must etc, but I wouldnt do it.
 
We have a single Cheval Liberte which we tow with a Vauxhall Vectra. It is fine. Our trailer only weighs 500kg unladen. It is worth googling Cheval Liberte as some of the doubles in the range are not heavy. Thier trailers give a very stable ride.
 
On occasion we used to borrow an IW single horse trailer and tow it behind our Skoda Octavia 1.9Tdi. Legal for weights, horse very happy, car towed well, brakes were more than sufficient.

Having said that I'm off to pick up a Defender today because the Skoda definitely does not cope with the IW TA510 I've recently bought for sheep, general purpose and the odd horse emergency run.
 
thanks Guys,

interesting to read such diverse views. Alas a 4x4 (my hearts desire!) is out of the question at present. We cant afford a second car and as I often do 400+mile round trips for business I could not afford to buy and use a cheap 4x4 as a first car! My saab does 56 miles to 60 miles to the gallon on motorways and 48 in town traffic so its great economicly wise.

I forgot to add that my horse is actually a 14.2 hh welsh cob weighing 450 kg. He travels solo as he hates partions so with a 600 to 650 trailer that comes to 1050 maxi, compared to gross kerb weight of 1440.
 
I tow my 15.1 mare in an Ifor Williams mare & foal trailer (HB401) with a 2.0tdci 130bhp Ford Mondeo. It has plenty torque and power and has never struggled up or down hills. It's kerb weight is 1505kg and rated to tow 1800kg, so similar to your's.

I've said many times on this topic that a big 4x4 is the ideal, but as long as you aware of your set up's capabilities and drive smoothly and steadily, you shouldn't have any issues.
 
We are single horse owners and tow a single Ifor with a 2 L diesel Mondeo. The trailer laden weight comes in under the recommended max (think its 85 % kerb weight, OH is the figures man
blush.gif
) and we've never had any problems.
 
Towing no more than 85% of kerb weight is a very old caravan club guideline relating to single axle caravans! A bit dated now with the more modern towing vehicles and modern trailers with better braking systems etc.

Obviusly though, the more weight of towing vehicle compared to trailer & tow load the better. Our set up comes within 85% of the car's kerb weight too.
 
It is entirely up to you. The likelihood is your trailer and horse will end up pushing you and your car down a hill, but if you think it's worth the risk... It's a shame the search function on here is so poor now because there are hundreds of posts on this subject. You want as much weight and capability in a tow car as possible. Your figures don't even work on paper, let alone in the real world.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Towing no more than 85% of kerb weight is a very old caravan club guideline relating to single axle caravans! A bit dated now with the more modern towing vehicles and modern trailers with better braking systems etc.

Obviusly though, the more weight of towing vehicle compared to trailer & tow load the better. Our set up comes within 85% of the car's kerb weight too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Glad you said this.

It's a huge bugbear of mine when people instantly spout the 85% towing rule in relation to towing horse trailers.

Anyone can do the maths on the biggest of 4x4's and quickly realise that a bog standard Ifor Williams 510 + two 17 hunters would far exceed the 85% rule of any towing vehicle.

Infact, the 85% rule would deem 2 horse trailers pointless for nearly every horse owner...regardless of the Sherman Tank they have hitched to the front of it.
grin.gif
 
I have just been wrangling with this....and ended up buying a land rover disco and am now on the look out for a trailer.

My 'posh' car has a 1.9 TDI engine, but I was advised it wasn't enough to tow with...its the weight of the car v's whatever you are pulling and I didnt fancy the trailer+horse overtaking me going me down a hill.

I am massively pissed off to have to sell my beloved car- but I dont see the point in having 2 to tax/MOT etc- so off it goes.

You can get plenty of cheap reliable 4x4's - and now I'm looking for a trailer I dont really have any restrictions on what I can buy and tow.

I wouldn't risk it myself.
 
In reality, it should be less than 85% because a horse is not a stable load (no pun intended). Anyone who has ever had a horse startled in a trailer by a passing lorry (which can on its own cause sway) will know just how much it will rock around. OH has a Disco 3 and Troggy tows with a Disco Series II; the difference between the two is noticeable. You just don't notice the trailer on the newer, more powerful car, even with two horses.
 
If you have a horse that is not too large or heavy and get the Bateson Derby and take the partition out you would be ok.

I did this with my car which had a capacity of 1300 - the trailer without the partition is 600 and Chancer was 400. I only drove slowly and the car was fine. I still tow the small pony with it.

However, Stinky has now grown and is just over 500 so I now use the company van which has 2100 capacity and again this tows very well plus I have a huge amount of space to stow all my stuff for shows and can get changed in the back.

In short work out the weight of the trailer and horse and remember to leave weight aside for people and luggage and see if it matches up. Disadvantage is muddy fields but to date I have been ok with the venues I go to.
 
[ QUOTE ]
In reality, it should be less than 85% because a horse is not a stable load (no pun intended). Anyone who has ever had a horse startled in a trailer by a passing lorry (which can on its own cause sway) will know just how much it will rock around. OH has a Disco 3 and Troggy tows with a Disco Series II; the difference between the two is noticeable. You just don't notice the trailer on the newer, more powerful car, even with two horses.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a Richardson trailer and tow with a 55 plat Terrano. It tows like a dream and the trailer is quite light, in comparison to my old (as in archaic) Ifor.

Mine tows two horses absolutely fine and is well within the towing capacity of the vehicle, but we are over 85% of the kerbweight.....although not over 100% of it.

We have an old Land Road Defender here.....Sherman Tank is an apt description. Even this is over 85% of the kerbweight when towing two.

My point is that people will automatically see what they consider to be a more gutsy model of 4x4 (which I realise my Terrano isn't in that category) and will assume there is no way it would break the so called "85% of kerbweight towing recommendation"...when the reality is it most probably will.

Our Terrrano happily handles the cow trailer with two cows in the back. Anyone who tows cattle will know just how unstable they are.....the damn things walk around in circles in the trailer whilst you're towing them!
smirk.gif
 
If you look in last months What Car magazine there was an article on the best towing cars and all the weights they could tow. This was quite helpful as some of these caravans can be very heavy.

You can use a car to tow a horsebox, so long as the weights are OK, it is a lightweight trailer and there is only one, not two heavy horse and the single horse itself isn't too heavy.

You could also fit a stabiliser. It is funny that caravan people nearly always fit a stabiliser for towing but horse people don't, yet the horse is more likely to move around than a caravan (but then towing horses you probably won't be going anywhere near as fast).
 
someone down my yard has towed with a saloon for 40 years and has never had any problems whatsoever so whos to judge as his isn't illegal
 
Caravans do go over a lot more than horse trailers don't they. Whether they are less stable or more badly towed,

*waits to see how many overturn on the M5 this weekend* think we managed 3 last weekend!
 
[ QUOTE ]

My point is that people will automatically see what they consider to be a more gutsy model of 4x4 (which I realise my Terrano isn't in that category) and will assume there is no way it would break the so called "85% of kerbweight towing recommendation"...when the reality is it most probably will.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is one of my bug bears too! Particularly what you've mentined about where people will (for example) not be bothered seeing a Nissan X-Trail towing a IW510 with a big horse in it, yet look down their nose at me towing a single horse trailer with wee horse in it with my Ford Mondeo.

If they were to look at the actual figures for both cars, they'd see they're not all that different in terms of kerb weight/towing capacity/torque and yet the X-Trail will usually be towing a far heavier load, therefore making it a less stable outfit than mine.

Just because it's a "4x4" doesn't make it invincible and able to tow anything. In fact, because mine isn't a 4x4, I probably take more care over how much I can tow and how I drive it than many who do have 4x4s. (many, not all before I'm jumped on for saying that!)

Of course the downside to the saloon car is you don't have as much height clearance as a 4x4 over long grass etc, but I've not struggled yet and have had to park in some pretty long grass this summer! I also got in and out of an event the other weekend under my own steam when plenty lorries/4x4s were being towed in and out by a tractor.
 
i just looked at my dads saloon and what i tow with etc and i still have over 500kg left so i don't see the problem what you tow with so long as it is legal
 
Are you towing a horse?! Those of us that run expensive, uneconomical, hard to park 4x4s do so for one reason only - safety. It is of course up the the individual what they tow with, as there appear to be no actual laws.
 
Towing a light horse and trailer carefully with a slightly lighter car is better than the invincible feeling some people seem to get in their big tank.

Caravans go over a lot more often than horse trailers as people seem to drive less carefully - I have been overtaken by someone towing a caravan when I've been doing the speed limit...

The A30 seems to collect a few caravans a week in summer, people don't seem to be able to read the "steep hill" signs. Lots of horse trailers travel on the same stretch, and I've never heard of one overturning, and I'd imagine the local vets might have been called out by the police (given they are the ones called for loose ponies/cows on that road).
 
all I can say is .if everything goes ok its probably fine but if anything goes wrong horse lurching , tyre blowing sudden braking etc it will be much worse with a light car as you simply dont have the weight to counteract the weight of the trailer and horse. We take risks every day but just consider if this is worth it. without exageration it could be disasterous. I never thought about it till it happened to me , we had made the decision to go for a heavier 4x4 - it was horrendous and I will never travel a horse in a trailer again, but it would have been much worse if in a light car.
 
[ QUOTE ]
i just looked at my dads saloon and what i tow with etc and i still have over 500kg left so i don't see the problem what you tow with so long as it is legal

[/ QUOTE ]

Legal?...possibly, but its go goddam complicated it makes my head spin.

Safe?....probably not....bearing in mind the precious cargo you are carrying ( and for me that would include my kids in the car) and the safelty of other road users.

Personally I really wouldn't risk it, no matter how much I would want to.

And before anyone starts going on about how their dad used to tow a treble horsebox with a mini back in the day and all was fine......so what? We used to not have to wear seat belts but that didn't mean it was safe.....
confused.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top