towing question

[hidepenny]

how much unbraked towing capacity a car needs ideally to tow a bike + the weight of a trailer??


is 500kg enough

Thanks!

[Shifty]

You should be right with 500kg mate!

That said, too mcuh is never enough so something that is rated to tow higher will do it easier & safer.

[jl4049]

Most cars on the road these days have an unbraked capacity of 750kg, which will be heaps, 200kg for trailer, 200 odd kg for the bike, 500kg will be fine.

[hidepenny]

thx guys,

does that mean a car like golf or 308 with a 2 ltr turbo diesel engile will tow the thing no prob?

[Smitty]

thx guys,

does that mean a car like golf or 308 with a 2 ltr turbo diesel engile will tow the thing no prob?

308 with 2ltr turbo diesel?
hmm...
ain't no Holden...didn't know Ferrari stuck a 2ltr diesel in their 308

[Frank]

A mate used to tow a ZX9R, ZX6R and chock chaser on the one trailer behind a Mazda 2, we took it all the way down to Winton and didn't have a problem so I think your Gulf will handle it just fine, of course you could always check your owners manual it should give you load rating or talk to a company that installs tow bars etc

[mike-s]

remember its related to two things

1) weight that will go on the towball, so if you've got a trailer with two axles then the weight is going to be minimal as the trailer takers the full weight of the load (unless the loads centre of mass is too far forward or back, then you've got some other severe problems to worry about before worrying about towing capacity).

2) The other is related to the mass of the load compared to the mass of the vehicle. Half the weight on the trailer is an ideal maximum as the larger the mass of the trailer compared to the towing vehicle the more the trailer will dictate the way the whole thing goes.

#1 is the more important thing to worry about as it affects suspension and basically everything else related to handling directly, the latter affects steering and braking more than anything else.*

I guess it's why you see full cars on dual axle cartrailers that loaded up would equal or possibly just exceed the weight of the towing vehicle.
* At least that is my understanding of the matter.

[Gosling1]

thx guys,

does that mean a car like golf or 308 with a 2 ltr turbo diesel engile will tow the thing no prob?

308 with 2ltr turbo diesel?
hmm...
ain't no Holden...didn't know Ferrari stuck a 2ltr diesel in their 308

thats the Peugot 308 he is referring to yes ??

A Golf, or 308 PewGot will be *fine* for towing. Your standard 6 x 4 box trailer generally pegs in around the 250kg mark, and most bikes these days are well under 250kg - unless of course you plan to tow a LeadWing or some other cruiser shitbox in there....

I think the maximum unbraked towing capacity is 750kg in most states ??