[Fot] tow vehicles

[John Macartney]

In the UK and Europe, we're constrained by law as to the mix of vehicle and trailer. Massive 
engines - whether petrol or diesel are not the governing factors and you won't find engines of the 
size you guys happily operate in the US and Canada. Simply, a 5+ litre V8 or V10 is a joke when it 
comes to running it at our fuel prices. Personally, I prefer diesels for their really low down rpm 
high torque sluggability. The law here governing the choice of tow vehicle is that the all up weight 
of the trailer should be absolutely no more than 90% of the tow vehicle kerbside weight - i.e. fully 
laden with fuel and oil but no occupants.
The trailer has to be fitted with towball operated over-run brakes on all its wheels, the hitch has 
to have an anti-snake device built into it and an emergency breakaway brake coupling.
My 2.9 litre turbo-diesel people carrier handles a 4000lbs trailer home with ease and still returns 
33mpg when hooked up. We're also restricted to a maximum speed of 60mph on motorways and 50mph on 
all other roads.
So my thoughts would be to work out the likely weight of the fully loaded trailer and then find a 
tow vehicle that's at least 10% but preferably 20% heavier - and with a nice long-life thumper of a 
diesel engine driving it! And of course, no autobox.

Jonmac