This is down to the stupid way in which Renault calculate their towing figures. The 'all other cases' figure is based on the car being absolutely fully laden with passengers and luggage - they deduct this weight from the maximum gross train weight and the result (give or take a few kilos) is what they say you can tow. In the case of the Grand Scenic, they'll be assuming 7 passengers plus luggage.

From a safety point of view, the gross train weight and the car to caravan weight ratios should be the only things of relevance. If you're prepared to sacrifice payload in the car, then you should be able to tow a heavier trailer. The problem is that the figures in the handbook are (as I understand it) legally binding, so you could be in trouble if you just hook up a heaver trailer.

I've heard that if you phone or write to RCS, they can supply you with a revised set of towing limits, based purely on gross train weight. This supercedes the figures in the handbook, so should allow you to tow a heavier trailer provided that the car isn't absolutely fully laden.

I'm not sure about the Grand Scenic, but some 7 seater estates have ludicrously low noseweight limits too (I've seen them as low as 35Kg.) That's another thing that you'll need to watch.

 

Thanks for the prompt reply. I've justed called RCS and they are sending me "the standard letter" to confirm this. They hadn't a clue what the 850Kg figure was though! They also put me on to a local dealer who was able to explain that this was the figure for a fully loaded car - the difference between the Scenic and Grand can be explained by the extra seats I guess.

Hurrah - I don't need to change the car, and I can tow the van I want.

 

I can't understand towing weights. I used to drive a Discovery V8 that could, according to the handbook, pull a braked trailer weighing up to 3.5 tons. The car itself weighed 2.5 tons, but I didn't think you could pull a trailer that was heavier than the towing vehicle. Mind you, I spoke to a fellow V8 owner who pulled a trailer with a Range Rover on it, and apparently, there was no problem provided you could handle 6 mpg.

 

It's a commonly accepted safety precaution to keep the trailer below 85% of the weight of the car, and never exceed 100%. But that's purely advisory.

From a legal point of view, you can tow whatever the manufacturer says you can. This figure in turn tends to be dictated by the maximum weight that the car can successfully perform a hill start up a certain gradient (I forget what the gradient is.) When it comes to proper (as opposted to 'toy') 4x4 vehicles, this probably also includes the use of the low ratio transfer box.

Realistically, you could probably tow 3.5 tonnes with a V8 Land Rover, but I reckon it'd be dangerous to try and shift that load at the legal limit of 60mph. At lower speeds, the heavier load will be every bit as safe as a lighter load at higher speeds.

To Andy: I'm glad you got to the bottom of this, and thanks for confirming that RCS do actually send you a letter. So far, I'd only heard it second-hand, so I wasn't entirely sure that it was true.

 

Thanks Horatio - by the way, do you have any idea why the gross train weights are so low? It seems that other similar vehicles from other manufacturers e.g. VW Touran are around 500 Kg higher?

Re Noseweight btw, I've checked and it's 75Kg so I should be OK.

 

i have just bought a towbar and fitted ti to my grand scenic dynamique 1.9 dci, having read your input i am getting worried as to wether i can tow my caravan. i have e mailed the customer service and all they say is look in the manual. what did you say to them ??? also has anyone got a wiring diagram for the dual electrics for an 05 reg.

 

Hi,

Basically, I pointed out that it was ridiculous that I could tow 1300Kg with only the driver, but as soon as I put 1 passenger in the car, it wqent down to 850Kg. They have a "standard letter" which states that as long as you don;t exceed the gross train weight for car + caravan + all contents (in my case 3050 Kg) then it is OK.

The Caravan Club's technical advice section know all about this too..

I'll try to dig out the letter and quote it for you in due course...

Andy.

 

Hi thats great you got this sorted out i was just going to say that sounds very wrong to me the grand scenic and my 2002 2.0 16v espace is not that different and i can legaly tow my caravan when loaded being 1400kg and me and my six passengers and 80kg on the roof well hay you got there in the end good for you.

 

got my e mail from renault today stating that as long as the overall weight isnt over 3000kgs i should be alright. it took 2 emails as at first they stated i should just look in the handbook..all i need now is an idea where to feed the wire for the towbar wiring into the car any ideas? or best place to drill the hole cheers kinzicol

 

Hi Andy R

Try this link for some useful info'.

Renault

Cheers