FAQ Special - What car for my caravan?

I've recently bought caravan and need a new car to tow it. What do you recommend?

A:You need to consider the weight of whatever it is you want to tow. The heavier it is, the heavier your car will need to be to tow it safely.

By far the safest rule of thumb to use is to never tow something that weighs more than 85% of your car's kerbweight, even if the listed towing weight suggest you can haul more.

You can find the kerbweight for any car on sale in the data section of any car review online at whatcar.com today for a precise figure, but a family car like a Ford Mondeo will be able to tow something up to 1000kg.

A diesel engine is usually a better option as it will have more pulling power, measured in lb ft, which is more useful for dragging things around than the bhp power output that petrols major in.

Rear-wheel drive cars are better than front-wheel drive because they're easier to steer when you're towing. Four-wheel drive is even more useful for keeping traction across caravan sites.

If you haven't towed before, or are unsure about what you're doing despite some experience, we strongly recommend you take a course in how to do it safely.

The Caravan Club run excellent programmes that will teach you how to go about the job safely. If you join the club you can also use a car matching programme on their website at www.caravanclub.co.uk.