Driving With Trailer - Volvo S80 Owner's Manual

Driving with trailer

·
The towing bracket on the car must be of an approved type. Your
Volvo dealer can advise you as to which towing bracket to use.
·
Distribute the load in the trailer so that the weight on the towing
bracket is approximately 50 kg for trailer weights under 1200 kg and
approximately 75 kg for trailer weights over 1200 kg.
·
Increase tyre pressure to correspond to the pressure for full load. See
the tyre pressure table!
·
Clean the towing bracket regularly and grease the towball* and all
moving parts to prevent unnecessary wear.
·
Do not drive with a heavy trailer when your car is brand new! Wait
until it has gone at least 1000 km (620 miles).
·
The brakes are loaded much more than usual on long and steep
downhill slopes. Downshift to a lower gear and adjust your speed.
·
If the car is driven with a heavy load in a hot climate, the engine and
gearbox may overheat. The temperature gauge in the combined
instrument panel goes into the red zone when the car overheats. Stop
and let the engine idle a few minutes.
·
If the car overheats, the air conditioning system can be temporarily
switched off.
·
The gearbox reacts with a built-in protection function if the car
overheats. See the message in the display!
·
The engine is loaded more heavily than usual when driving with a
trailer.
·
For reasons of safety, you should not drive faster than 80 km/h
(50 mph), even if the laws of certain countries permit higher speeds.
·
The highest permissible trailer weight for a trailer without brakes is
750 kg.
·
If you park with a trailer, always move the gear selector to the P
position (automatic transmission), or engage a gear (manual gearbox).
If you park on steep hills always put chocks under the wheels.
·
Avoid driving with trailer weights above 1200 kg on inclines great
than 12%. You should not drive with a trailer on inclines above 15%
* Does not apply to ball hitch with vibration damper.
Driving with trailer
Driving with trailer - automatic transmission
·
When parking on a slope you should apply the parking brake before
moving the gear selector to the P position. When starting on a slope
you should first move the gear selector to the driving position and
then release the parking brake.
·
Select an appropriate low gear position on the gearbox when driving
on steep slopes or if driving slowly. In doing so, you prevent the
gearbox from changing up if you have an automatic transmission. The
gearbox oil will be cooler.
·
If you have a Geartronic transmission, do not use a higher manual
gear than what the engine can "handle". It is not always economical to
drive in high gears.
NOTE! Some models must be fitted with an oil cooler for the automatic
transmission when driving with a trailer. You should therefore check with
your closest Volvo dealer about just your car if a towbar has been fitted at
a later date.
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