Hi, how do I know what my car can tow in terms of weight ? I want to get a caravan but someone said I need to know the weight of the caravan and ensure the weight does not exceed my car’s capability. The car is a year 2000 Toyota Celica VVti, 1794cc, 140 bhp, 6-speed manual, petrol. Any advice much appreciated.
this car is not made for towing. and if you insist on towing with it get the lightest caravan possible because even a thousand lb caravan is going to cause excessive wear and tear on your clutch transmission and engine In fact it will put a tremendous amount of heat into the clutch trying to pull a car full of stuff and a thousand lbs of caravan. you will need to put a special square tube reciever hitch on the rear put a heavy duty turn signal relay for the extra load on your electrical system and if your smart put on a heavy duty shock with a coil spring on the rear and a heavy duty shock for the front as well. towing on flat level ground is ok and so is up a hill. down hill is where all the problems come from because the dead weight pushes you down the hill faster and faster. you must ride the brakes constantly and keep the speed low or else you will end up in a ditch.
They make light weight caravans but that kind of construction is also a flimsy caravan over all. The roads are rougher than peple think and it gets beat up pretty good after 5 years or so The distance you travel is important too. A heavy duty clutch is not a bad idea but it comes with more springs making the cllutch more stiff. So its all relative there are other better vehicles and if this is a front wheel drive car I dont recommend towing anything. best of luck
You can do the calculation yourself at this URL, we can’t help as we don’t know what type of caravan you are proposing to have.
http://www.whattowcar.com/
1200 kgs but the caravan must have its own brakes (585kgs without brakes)