New heavy or lightwieght caravans - are they? Fuel costs

[clivenick58]

I have been looking at different websites/Mgazines regarding the new weights of caravans as manufactureres state they are building lighter weight caravans. Upon looking at these figures the single axle vans are heavier than my twin axle Lunar Freelander EW. So ihis echonomic climate why are they heavier??????????? i am baffled. Not all are heavier obviously. :-| (?)

[Dave225]

I have no idea what the industry is actually doing but interpretation may give some answers. Manufacturers may state their new vans are 'lighter' compared to 'the older models'. They may also be cheating slightly by reducing the MPTLM but not the MIRO, so all that has happened is the payload has got smaller. They may also be pushing 'basic' models with fewer gizmos, so will be lighter.

 

To my mind only 2 figures actually matter. The MPTLM as this defines whether you are able to tow it safely, and the payload as this defines what you can actually put in the thing. Length, berths even and layout are all irrelevant and are only really a matter of cosmetic choice.

[Ocsid]

Part of the awnswer lies in that both the main chassis makers have now introduced axles rated at 2000 kg,

So there is no longer the need to incumber these vans with twin axles with the parasitic extra chassis weight and the higher rolling resistance that comes with it.

Heavy vans remain on manufactures product lines because they are wanted by sufficient numbers of buyers, most likely because of the space and opulence they bring; if they did not sell, ecconomicsI am sure would ensure the makers would drop them..

In the overal picture I dont think pulling a heavier vanhas that great an impact provided the tow vehicle is available, as the miles towed for most will only be a small % of the annual miles and as drag is a dominate feature pulling a van of even 200Kgs saving is minimal. Clearly if you need a larger vehicle to tow and its not needed for anything else then it is expensive. Even this in part is not that real but a British issue based on our obsession with a 85% mass ratio limit; our Continental friends with tax breaks even more biased against larger vehicles tow at much higher weight ratios than we do without it all going pear shaped.

[PeteH]

Hi

 

The major decider is the weight that the (Tow Vehicle) Manufacturer states. As towing above that will invalidate warranty. I would be Quite happy to tow at 100% and indeed have so done in the past, with NO problems vis stability etc;. However the manufacturer of our current car would I guarantee "pull the plug" on any warranty claim, if I did!!.

 

On the plus side, I came Northbound on the M5 recently, after the Malvern Show, Towing the Caravan, @ 60MPH (on the Sat Nav) and was showing a steady 45MPG on the instrument cluster indicator. Not bad for a 2litre td I thought. and a certain improvement on the 12.5MPG of our recently sold and sadly missed American R-V.!!

 

As far as "lightweight" caravans are concerned I would suggest that most of the benefit gained from Chassis and Structural weight reduction has been used to install more "goodies". for the improvement of the camping experience of the owners? I know that our Lunar has "stuff" in it that Our last caravan in 1997 did not have and it weighed about the same.

 

Another thought looking at the current use of Stabiliser and stability control "gizzmos" Is that there is a trend to move away from the 85% guideline as these devices are designed to give more control in marginal conditions. so perhaps using a MODERN `van at 100% matching is not such a "no no" as was?

 

Pete