Looking for an informative and readable guide?

The collected data recorded in this guide refers to towing results of vehicles we have tested over the past few years. Also included in this guide is a list of the caravans, motorhomes, trailers and campers we have tested.

Click here to download the pdf.

Looking for an informative and readable guide to selecting a towcar? All the collective data recorded in this guide refers to towing results of cars we have tested over the past eight years.

Are you towing legally?
What you can legally tow on South African roads is determined by your car; exceeding its towing capacity will put you on the wrong side of the law.

Every trailer or caravan on the market has a different gross vehicle mass (GVM) and a different tare (unladen kerb/licence mass). The carrying capacity of the caravan or trailer - in other words, how much you can load - is the difference between its GVM and tare. The higher the GVM of the trailer or caravan, the more it can legally carry. Be warned, though: it isn't as simple as that - because the GVM is not allowed to exceed the tare of the vehicle towing it. So even if you are towing an empty caravan or trailer, the law will look at the GVM figure on the drawbar, not the actual load it is carrying (if any).

The National Road Traffic Act restricts a vehicle in terms of the mass of the trailer or caravan that it can legally tow. The rules state that any trailer that has a GVM in excess of 750 kg must have a braking system of sorts (for example, an overrun braking system). Where the trailer has a GVM of less than 750 kg, it may be unbraked, but then there are rules regarding the relationship between the car and the trailer.

In the case of a car towing an unbraked trailer, the tare of the tow vehicle must be at least double the GVM of the trailer. Note that the Act does not mention the actual weight of the trailer, but refers to the trailer's GVM, as specified on its licence disc or manufacturer's data plate. You'll find the tare weight of the vehicle on its licence disc.

The BMW 320 has a tare of 1405 kg. This means that it may tow any trailer or caravan with a GVM not exceeding 1405 kg (braked). For the combination to be legal, the GVM of the trailer must be less than, or at most equal to, the tare of the towcar. And please remember that the trailer must never be overloaded - that is, loaded beyond the GVM specified on the manufacturer's data plate.

National Road Traffic Regulations
No.151(1) of these regulations, issued in terms of the National Road Traffic Act, says that:

... no person shall operate on a public road a trailer, if ...

In the past many caravan and trailer manufacturers made their products' GVM 750 kg, being the maximum allowed without brakes. This makes many car-trailer combinations illegal today, because the legislation has changed slightly to look at the GVM, as opposed to the actual weight, of the trailer.

This change means that the empty trailer hitched to your car is now illegal if its GVM is more than half of your towcar's tare. So before you set off on the open road, do the calculations and make sure you are towing legally.

Also note that any add-on accessories (like a spare wheel, jerrycans, rooftop tent or battery) reduce the difference between the tare and the GVM. Your caravan or trailer could be too heavy before you even start packing anything into it.

Towcar and tow test info

Cylinders and capacity
This item refers to the size of the engine and the number of cylinders.

kW @ rpm
'Kilowatts' (kW) refers to the maximum amount of power an engine develops at a certain number of revolutions per minute (rpm). The higher the kW, the more powerful the engine.

Nm @ rpm
This is most important figure for towing. The newton metre (Nm) is the measurement used to assess the pulling power an engine develops. Ideally, the higher the Nm and the lower the rpm here, the better for both open-road towing and fuel consumption.

Tare
The tare weight refers to the towing vehicle's weight only, and is the most important figure for any towcar when it comes to the towing laws.

In South Africa a vehicle may not tow a normally braked caravan or trailer whose GVM exceeds the tare of the towcar.

The tare weight of the towcar can be exceeded only if the trailer or caravan is fitted with an additional braking system over and above the normal overrun system (found on caravans and trailers that have a GVM greater than 750 kg).

Recommended tow weight
Although legislation states that a vehicle may not tow a caravan or trailer that has a GVM greater than the tare of the towcar, a vehicle manufacturer may specify a recommended towing capacity that is less or greater than the tare weight of the vehicle. It is highly recommended that you do not exceed the manufacturer's recommended towing capacity; if you do so, you will probably invalidate your vehicle's warranty.

When talking about the maximum towing capacity of towcars, two issues need to be considered: one is the braking requirement and the other is overloading the entire combination. As far as braking is concerned, the GVM of the caravan or trailer, as we've mentioned, may not exceed the tare of the towcar. Here the loading of the vehicle is limited by its GVM, whereas the loading of the combination is limited by the GCM (gross combination mass) figure.

If the vehicle has a tare of 2000 kg, a GVM of 3000 kg and a GCM of 4000 kg, it means that the combined actual mass of the towcar and caravan or trailer may not exceed 4000 kg, regardless of the fact that from a braking perspective the towcar can draw a trailer with a GVM of up to 2000 kg (if the caravan or trailer has overrun brakes). If, therefore, the drawing vehicle is loaded and weighs 2800 kg, the trailer may not weigh more than 1200 kg. If it does, it is illegal.

The vehicle manufacturer will consider all these issues before determining the maximum towing capacity figure.

GVM
Gross vehicle mass (GVM) refers to the weight of the caravan used in the tow test. To be street legal, the GVM of the caravan or trailer may not exceed the tare of the towcar.

Towball drop
This measurement indicates the softness of the towcar's rear suspension by measuring the distance the towball drops when the caravan is placed on the towball.

Acceleration (0-100 km/h)
This is the time taken to accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h while towing a caravan packed to its full GVM.

Litres/100 km
This indicates the fuel consumption over a fixed test route followed at an average of 100 km/h.

Braking (100-0 km/h)
Just how quickly can you come to a dead stop in an emergency? Some cars stop faster when towing a caravan than they do by themselves, as the caravan's weight on the vehicle's rear wheels creates better traction. Our test manoeuvre involves a simulated emergency stop while driving on a level, tarred surface at 100 km/h.

Overtaking (80-100 km/h)
Need to overtake a slower moving vehicle? This is the length of time it takes to accelerate with the caravan on a flat road from 80 to 100 km/h using the appropriate gears.

Hill climb
Our regulation hill climb starts off at 60 m above sea level and climbs to an altitude of 200 m over a distance of 2 km.

Top towing speed
Here we record the towcar's top towing speed (classified in a category, e.g. 120+ km/h) along a level, straight section of tarred road.