Vauxhall Vectra as a towing vehicle

Good old H&H forum living up to its reputation! I cannot comment on this topic as no experience in towing....just reading posts with....hmm interest!
 
onlytheponely said:
From the Vauxhall website, this is for info only, please don't criticise me for reproducing the 'official' information from the manufacturer.

Vectra CDTi (150) 2005

Kerb weight 1430kg
Maximum Ball weight 78kg
MaximumTow weight 1600kg
85% weight 1215kg

Feel free to interpret it any way you choose but don't aim your criticisms at me, I have done my own research and I have a towing vehicle that is more than capable of the job I need mine for.
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The 85% of the unladen weight is a recommendation for towing caravans but the original idea of the 85% was for the loaded trailer not to be more than 85% of the actual weight of the towing vehilce
This was a safety thing as it is easier to control a lighter trailer with a heavier vehicle which makes logical sense

Recently some 4x4s have been produced which weigh much less than what they can tow but they have been designed to do that - a bit like a car transporter which has a little truck pulling a much heavier trailer without being articulated (using a fifth wheel)

There is a difference between the way a caravan and other types of trailers such as horsebox trailers react when being towed so the recommended safety rules differ

Using a FWD or RWD vehicle also makes a difference

For this vehicle -
Licence held = ??
Kerb weight = 1430kg
MaximumTow weight = 1600kg
GVW = ??

I would need the GVW and what licence is being used to determine what the trailer could be legally used
 
Mithras said:
Just had a look at my S class's specs. It says its kerb weight is 1995kg, gross weight is 2550 kg, towing limit 2100kg. That is for an S320CDI (the same engine as in the 4 x 4 S class and the Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.2CDI), an older S500 would be heavier with a slightly higher towing limit.

For the E class, kerb weight is 1735kg, braked towing capacity 1.900kg. Again, older models are heavier and with a slightly greater towing capacity.

Both below what you can legally tow a IW505 with, unless you have it downrated. Which incidentally costs about £35 and involves sticking a plate on it with the weight you can legally tow.
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Kerb = 1995
GVW = 2550
Towing limit = 2100
With a B licence you must not have a trailer over 950 plated MAM because of the 3500 GVW+MAM limit (2550+950=3500)
With a B+E licence you can have a trailer plated at 3500 MAM provided that the empty trailer plus the load does not exceed the towing capacity of 2100
 
perfect11s said:
Yes I dont suffer fools that mislead others cause worry and stress to people who are towing legaly!!!!, I dont care what the beardy yogurt kniting types at the caravan club say as advice!!! however having seen the antics of some caravaners its possibly spot on, if you want to tow two horses yes you need a big 4x4 .....and what will do a lot will do a little so the bigger car you have the better ..... but there is no reason a normal car shouldent tow as long as the manufuctures recomendtions are followed...
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This has made me laugh, you might just put Jeremy Clarkson out of a job perfect11s. I agree completely.
 
The one and only reason to reduce the trailer MAM plate is to fit in with the rules on B licence towing

When towing with a B+E licence there is NEVER a reason to do so unless the trailer is over 3500 MAM

Trailers over 3500 MAM enter the commercial rules
 
flying solo said:
Heated seats and multi disk changers have nothing to do with towing weights?!
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I was responding to the scathing comment about the Vauxhall Vectra being bland and cheap. Read the post properly or don't bother commenting.:p

And if you'd bothered to read my post you would see that I had the lightest weight trailer on the market at the time (lighter than the ifor williams) AND i only tow ONE horse.
 
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it is very simple.

Assuming the info on your car is correct, you can tow upto 1600kg.

Your horse weighs 700kg.

That leaves 900kg.

So, if your trailer, empty weighs less than 900kg, then yes, you can legally tow with the vectra. If the trailer weighs more than 900kg, then no, you cannot.

Don't forget if you carry hay / water etc in the trailer you need to add those weights into your calcs.

(The above is given assuming you have either a pre-1997 license OR have taken your B+E test).

That is the legal point of view. Of course whether or not it is sensible is entirely your decision. Personally i would NOT want to tow a trailer with an unstable load / load that can move with a vehicle that weighs less than that load - but it is not illegal. So thats where your choice comes in.
 
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perfect11s said:
oh stop it !!!!!! there is a towing sticky on CR forum to avoid these stupid posts and give people the facts not urban myths!!!! please stop posting misinfomation...
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Sorry for ignorance what is CR forum and can someone kindly send me a link.
Thanks so much xx
 
sane_and_sensible said:
it is very simple.

Assuming the info on your car is correct, you can tow upto 1600kg.

Your horse weighs 700kg.

That leaves 900kg.

So, if your trailer, empty weighs less than 900kg, then yes, you can legally tow with the vectra. If the trailer weighs more than 900kg, then no, you cannot.

Don't forget if you carry hay / water etc in the trailer you need to add those weights into your calcs.

(The above is given assuming you have either a pre-1997 license OR have taken your B+E test).

That is the legal point of view. Of course whether or not it is sensible is entirely your decision. Personally i would NOT want to tow a trailer with an unstable load / load that can move with a vehicle that weighs less than that load - but it is not illegal. So thats where your choice comes in.
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Thank you. And yes the trailer does weigh less than 900kg unladen.
And yes its perfectly sensible to tow with the car if the driver is sensible and experienced with towing, can read the road ahead (i.e adjust the speed and braking distance in accordance with hazards) and has a horse which is sensible and experienced to tow. And I'm all of those. And Bailey has approx 300 trailer trips under his belt, so I guess you could say he is too.


Thank you for your time.
 
applecart14 said:
Sorry for ignorance what is CR forum and can someone kindly send me a link.
Thanks so much xx
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sorry It's in competition riders , pesonaly as a mecanical minded person this towing with a car isnt safe posts is rubbish asuming a simalar kerb weight to a small 4x4 and you are towing within what the manufacture recomends as a load then its posibly safer than the 4x4!! ie it has lower center of gravity, road tyres etc ,the problems with a car are more to do with traction on a muddy field and not having a low range gear box so if you are manuvering on a slope the clutch is going to get a beating ...
 
Someone at the yard I'm at used to tow with a Vectra Estate, Ifor 505 with a 15.1hh cob and 16hh ISH and seemed to manage fine. Like others are saying though, check the towing capacity
 
I did lots of research into towing cars after my licence was downgraded (medical reasons)... I needed a combination that would tow my 920kg Fautras with my 365kg boy (weighed on scales) and sometimes my 285kg boy (weigh tape). I looked into Vauxhalls, Audis, Mercs, Fords, Pugs, Citroens etc... The Peugeots and Citroens only towed up to 1500kg, the Vetra used to tow up to 1600kg but the ones I looked at only went to 1500kg too, and the others I looked at up to 1800kg - I chose the Mondeo as the extra 200kg gave me that extra security and it also meant we could get a better, newer model with all the extras you mentioned without breaking the bank!

My suggestion would be to triple check all your figures for the sake of your horse and go for the biggest towing weight you can get, as Tesco says, every little helps especially when it comes to those we love.
 
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lialls said:
Lets get something straight, excuatually how much does your trailer weigh unladen?
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My guess would be a Cheval Liberte weighing either 765kg or 830kg?

Applecart14 - another thing to keep in mind is the weight of the towing vehicle (1525kg?) and make sure the trailer and cargo do not exceed this :)
 
ROG said:
Kerb = 1995
GVW = 2550
Towing limit = 2100
With a B licence you must not have a trailer over 950 plated MAM because of the 3500 GVW+MAM limit (2550+950=3500)
With a B+E licence you can have a trailer plated at 3500 MAM provided that the empty trailer plus the load does not exceed the towing capacity of 2100
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I agree. Hate to point out the obvious, but this also means that anyone with a B license and a large 4 x 4 is going to exceed the MAM rule as well. However if they towed a light trailer with a supermini, they would most likely not.

Impossibility is a defence...I'm not aware of any case law to give a clear interpretation of how the authorities intend to enforce this.

It all arose because the Government failed to secure an opt out for the UK regarding the relevant European regulation - on the Continent, trailers tend to be lighter and smaller, and more often single horse only, but the UK market is dominated by more substantial double horse trailers.
 
On the continent, the most common way of moving a horse is via a trailer and a car. I have a lightweight trailer, a 16H TB and a BMW 320d estate. We're very careful with what we carry but have towed successfully for 3 years. I had the car remapped at a cost of £200 and now average 38mpg whilst towing, thanks to the extra torque, and have 185bhp available (up from 150). Without the hoss, I get 65mpg on a run at motorway speeds. This has made a huge difference to our competition costs and made events further away viable. We have limited funds and this has kept us regularly competing compared to the costs of a lorry. The car is also so usable outside of equestrianism.
 
lialls said:
Lets get something straight, excuatually how much does your trailer weigh unladen?
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I've just found out it weighs 650KG unladen. That 250KG under.

So basically my tack, hay, saddle and bridle and water need to weigh under 250KG to be inside.

And a website I found yesterday actually says that although it the towing weights are there on display (if you can find them lol) they are manufacturers guidelines only and they are not legalitys as such.
 
applecart14 said:
And a website I found yesterday actually says that although it the towing weights are there on display (if you can find them lol) they are manufacturers guidelines only and they are not legalitys as such.
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And yet those are the weights which the authorities will go by if a prosecution is to take place so I would not rely on them being just a 'guide'

If there was a legal challenge to refute that then it would have happened by now and be in caselaw
 
applecart14 said:
I've just found out it weighs 650KG unladen. That 250KG under.

So basically my tack, hay, saddle and bridle and water need to weigh under 250KG to be inside.

And a website I found yesterday actually says that although it the towing weights are there on display (if you can find them lol) they are manufacturers guidelines only and they are not legalitys as such.
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You may be right as nothing under 3500kg is legaly plated for weight , I had a long chat with a fella at the Dpt for tranport about about american trailers and this was one of the things that came up , however if the police think you are useing a car and trailer and it's not in a safe condition ie exceeding the design weights and it ends up in court I think you will have a problem !!!same if you need to make an insurance claim so best to stay with what the manufacture recomends unless you have a Very good lawyer and deep pockets....
 
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Oh I agree with the fact that if you are overweight you may be able to stop. You may be able to tow. But if you had an accident and wrote off your car and your horse you wouldn't be covered if they found you were overweight and therefore wouldn't get a penny.

That's why I was really anal about trying to find out about the trailer weights all those years ago and how we didn't really listen to the policeman that said that if we put a concrete slab in our boot it would 'even everything up'!!!!
 
ROG said:
If there was a legal challenge to refute that then it would have happened by now and be in caselaw
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Not necessarily. There have been relatively few prosecutions, and of those you would need to find that combination of circumstances which produced someone who challenged in court, with a very good lawyer and willing to appeal and bear the costs of doing so. You would be surprised what illegalities and impossibilities there are in law which are never challenged in court (breaches of European competition law and abuse of dominant positions by QUANGOs is one good example).
 
applecart14 said:
I've just found out it weighs 650KG unladen. That 250KG under.

So basically my tack, hay, saddle and bridle and water need to weigh under 250KG to be inside.

And a website I found yesterday actually says that although it the towing weights are there on display (if you can find them lol) they are manufacturers guidelines only and they are not legalitys as such.
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That weight includes you and anything you have in the car, too.
 
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