Suzuki Club UK

hey all got a 1.6 lwb vitara would you think it could tow a trailer with a small car i.e corsa.


thanks ant

It would as in it could physically tow it, not legally unfortunately. VItara LWB Kerb Weight is 1150KG i believe, for this thread purpose a 2001 corsa kerb weight is 980kg, so unless you can find a car trailer that weighs 170kg you couldn't trailer it im afraid.

It would pull the trailer with the car on it,but its not legal and you would end up with the 'tail wagging the dog' scenario,rather than the Vitara controlling it.

Thanks i did not think it would will look for some think bigger so will have to sell it soon lol

I reckon if you used lightweight material, you could build a trailer capable of carrying a corsa that weighs 170kg or less.

Unfortunately it'd have to be titanium, carbon fibre, or magnesium probably - good luck doing that on a sensible budget!

Aluminium might be do-able...?

You might be able to do it with GRP if you know just how to reinforce it right ("double folded" GRP panels can bear as much as steel in some cases) but I'd personally be pooping myself towing it, worrying about stress fractures.

Maybe a GRP reinforced aluminium trailer could work?

Beyond my skills. Could be cool though.

Look at the towing weights of the vehicle, each vehicle can tow a certain weight.

Ju - that's only relevant if the vehicle's towing weight is less than it's kerb weight.

I believe Suzuki set the SJ and Vitara towing weight as something crazy like 1400kg. You try pulling 1400kg in a 900kg SJ, and you're asking for a tankslapper and/or 6 points on your licence.

Also bear in mind that you can be done for towing a lot less than the vehicle's weight if the trailer's MTPLM (Maximum Total Permissable Laiden Mass) is greater than the towing vehicle's kerb weight, or if the vehicle's max laiden weight figure plus the trailer's adds up to more than 3.5 tons.

In other words, you basically can't tow anything with a 3.5 ton max weight vehicle. Doesn't matter that it's safe. And if you tow a 250kg trailer that has a max laiden weight of 1 ton with a 3 ton max weight vehicle, you're breaking the law.

The vehicle might only actually have a kerb weight of 2 tons, the trailer weighs 250kg - 2.25 tons. Doesn't matter. Plated weights make it illegal.

Defender 110 kerb weight is under 2000KG and the maximum towed weight is 3500KG on a braked trailer.
On my B+E license using a Defender I can legally tow with a total weight of just under 5500KGs.

With a B+E I just have to make sure that I am within the vehicle and trailer limits.

I was just pointing out how complicated our trailer laws are. Apparently I was teaching Grandma to suck eggs!

Yeah they are definitely complicated.