Safe weight ratios
For stable and safe towing we would always recommend that you choose the
smallest and lightest possible caravan suitable for your intended use. The less
the laden weight of the caravan is in relation to the weight of the towing
vehicle, the safer and more stable the outfit will be. The Caravan Club, for
example, advises that you should aim for a towed load that is no more than 85%
of the car's kerb weight for stability and safety. The CC advice is NEVER to tow
above 100% of the car's kerbside weight.
N.B. The car manufacturer's specified maximum permissible towload is always the
absolute towing limit regardless of any 85% or 100% weight ratio guideline. This
is especially important in those cases where the manufacturer's figure is
particularly low - in a few cases even below 85%.
A 20 foot rule between units applies at ALL RALLIES. 20 foot means canvas to canvas, and, in the interest of fire hazard, no concessions will be allowed to this rule.
YOUR TYRES
8 April 2008
Last year, around two million people took to the road with a caravan in tow,
accounting for nearly 20% of holidays taken in the UK. With the arrival of
greater daylight hours and with temperatures set to increase, thousands of
motorists will hit the country’s roads once again towing a caravan or trailer.
In conjunction with this traditional migration of holidaymakers, the Highways
Agency has recently released a DVD entitled “Fit to Tow,” with TV presenter
Carol Smillie providing crucial advice to those motorists who use a caravan or
trailer for their vacation.
TyreSafe, the UK’s leading tyre safety organisation, says it extends its full
support to the latest Highways Agency initiative, as many drivers are not aware
of the dangers related to the inadequate maintenance and preparation of their
vehicles, with incorrect or damaged tyres in particular, presenting a major risk
to their safety.
To emphasise the importance of ensuring that all tyres are fit for purpose when
towing a caravan or trailer, TyreSafe has the following tips for motorists:
¤ Check the manufacturing dates of your caravan tyres. The Leisure Vehicle
Organisation recommends that if they are over five years old, you should
consider replacing them. Tyres more than seven years old should not be used;
¤ Inspect your caravan tyres for cuts, sidewall cracking or imbedded objects.
This includes the inner sidewalls;
¤ Check the pressures of all your caravan tyres from cold, including the spare.
Inflation should be in proportion to the load;
¤ Check the pressure of the tyres of the towing vehicle. Some vehicle
manufacturers specify slightly high rear tyre pressures when towing;
¤ Check that the tyre construction on all wheels is the same;
¤ Check the tread depths. UK law requires a minimum of 1.6mm throughout the
central 75% of the tread width, and around the tyre’s circumference. A minimum
tread depth of 1.6mm across the full tread width is strongly recommended to
ensure compliance with regulations throughout Europe; and
¤ Check that the jack is in working order. Most jacks benefit from a drop of oil
on the screw mechanism, as caravans are frequently parked off road, have a
suitable piece of board available to prevent the jack from sinking into soft
ground.
For further information on looking after caravan tyres, visitors may download
the latest version of “Caravan Tyres and Your Safety” leaflet for free at
http://www.tyresafe.org/tyre-safety/.
To request a copy of the Highways Agency “Fit to Tow” DVD or a hard copy of the
accompanying leaflet, call the Highways Agency Information Line on 08457 50 40
30.
For press information, please contact Chris Wakley or Simon Wittenberg at
Automotive PR on 020 7494 8050 or mobile 07970 674612.
VEHICLE EXCISE DUTY EXPLAINED
If you're a fan of fast cars then you'll probably have listened with a mixture
of horror and confusion as the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, announced a shakeup
of the current Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) tax bands. For 2008-09 the structure of
the VED bands remains the same, but with increased prices (they were hardly
going to go down) while from 2009 onwards there is a much more significant
change.
So, for cars registered on or after 1st March 2001 ('Y' plate onwards) the road
tax looks like the following:
Band CO2 (g/km) VED Rate 2008-09
A Up to 100 £0
B 101-120 £35
C 121-150 £120
D 151-165 £145
E 166-185 £170
F Over 186 £210
G* Over 225 £400
Band CO2 (g/km) VED Rate 2009-10 2010-11 Standard Rate 2010-11 New Cars
A Up to 100 £0 £0 £0
B 101-110 £20 £20 £0
C 111-120 £30 £35 £0
D 121-130 £90 £95 £0
E 131-140 £110 £115 £115
F 141-150 £120 £125 £125
G 151-160 £150 £155 £155
H 161-170 £175 £180 £250
I 171-180 £205 £210 £300
J 181-200 £260 £270 £425
K 201-225 £300 £310 £550
L 226-255 £415 £430 £750
M Over 255 £440 £455 £950
Where there were seven bands based on the C02 output of your car there are now
thirteen, each with a narrower range of CO2 values. The lowest polluters in new
bands A-C now pay no or very little road tax. From there the cost of the road
tax takes a jump into band D, growing steadily to band I. Then you get the big
polluters from band J onwards, and that's where your wallet really starts to get
punished.
There's both a carrot and a stick for buyers of new cars from 2010. Cars that
fall into band D or less pay nothing for their first year's road tax, after
which it reverts to the standard rate. New cars in bands E to G are charged the
equivalent of the standard rate in year one, but cars in bands H and above have
to pay an extra 'environmental' charge on top of the standard rate (but only for
the first year). Fortunately this only applies to new cars, so second-hand
buyers don't need to worry.
This change has led to a great deal of misinformation and confusion, as various
media headlines were announcing how modest family cars would suddenly be paying
over double in road tax. Consider the Honda CR-V 2.0-litre, a popular family
car, which if you believed the headlines would be going up from £210 per year
now to £425 per year in 2010. What the headlines weren't doing was explaining
the full story.
Looking carefully at the figures for the CR-V, the 2.0-litre engine kicks out
197g/km placing it in band I. So, the current rate for a vehicle registered in
2008 would be £210, rising to £260 in 2009 and £270 in 2010. Now, if you were to
buy that car new in 2010 you would be hit by the first year penalty and would
pay £425 for the first year. This is where the headlines were misleading, as
what they didn't shout so loudly about is that the rate drops the next year to
£270. It's still a lot more money, but not quite the end of the world for
families as portrayed in the media.
Example 2, an Audi TT V6 rated at 247g/km bought new in 2008 would pay £400 for
road tax in it's first year, £415 in 2009 and then £430 in 2010. However, if
that same car was bought new in 2010 the first year of road tax would cost £750,
dropping to £430 in the following year.
Finally, take an example from the other end of the spectrum. The Toyota Yaris
1.0 is rated at 127g/km and bought new in 2008 would cost £120 in year one,
dropping to £90 in 2009 and then £95 in 2010. Bought new in 2010, the same car
would cost nothing to tax in it's first year and then £95 the year after.
* For 2008-09 band G only applies to cars registered on or after March 23rd
2006. If a car is over 225 g/km but was registered between 1st March 2001 and
March 22nd 2006 it falls into band F, saving the lucky owner £190.
For cars registered before 1st March 2001, the banding is much simpler, but not
much cheaper for most cars:
Engine CC VED Tax Rate 2008-09 2009-10
Up to 1549 £120 £120
Over 1549 £185 £200
So, a humble Ford Focus 1.6 on an X-plate will cost exactly the same to tax as a
Lamborghini Diablo of the same age. Fair? Probably not, but good news for owners
of older high-performance cars.
If you want to know where your car fits into the C02 bands or you're trying to
identify alternative cars in a lower band you should check out Carpages , who
have a very useful list of cars broken down by C02 emissions and vehicle size.
What's obvious is that there are winners and losers. The winners are those
people with small cars, particulalrly small diesels, while the losers are
basically anyone with large family cars or anything you might describe as fast
and entertaining. But there are always methods of reducing the blow to your
finances - so let's stick it to the Taxman!
Posted on Friday, April 4, 2008 at 10:34AM by Chris in General | Post a Comment