NEW
TOW
TUG?
WORDS: MAX TAYLOR
IT’S EASY TO ‘FALL IN LOVE’ WHEN SHOPPING FOR A
NEW VEHICLE. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO TOW VEHICLES,
IT SHOULD BE A HARD-NOSED PROCESS. HERE’S WHY...
New-car shopping. It’s one of modern life’s
great joys. Admittedly, it’s easy to ‘fall in love’
with a particular model, whereupon we begin
rationalising the price or the faults pointed out
by friends and family.
But if your new car has a heavy-duty purpose,
such as towing, it’s important to keep emotion
out of it, to tell your heart to shut its trap while
you instead evaluate pros and cons. Buying a tow
vehicle should be a hard-nosed process.
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TOWING CAPACITY
First, the obvious: towing capacity. You already
know that it’s essential the vehicle’s towing
capacity be equal to or greater than the loaded
weight of the caravan, and that goes for the
maximum towbar mass, too. We’ve also covered
Gross Combined Mass (GCM) in previous issues.
But I’m going to suggest something controversial:
that you aim for the towing capacity to be well
and truly greater than the loaded weight of the
van, rather than bang on or within cooee. That