Vauxhall VECTRA Owner's Manual page 231

Driving characteristics, towing tips
In the case of cara vans/trailers with b ra kes,
attach breakaway stop ping cable to ey e.
Before attaching the ca ra van/trailer,
lubricate the ball of the caravan/tra iler
towing device. However, do not do so if a
stabiliser, which acts on the coupling ball, is
being used to dam p hunting.
Handling is greatly influenced by the
loading of the caravan/trailer. Loads
should therefore be secured so that they
cannot slip and be placed in the c entre of
the c aravan/trailer if possible, i.e. above
the a xle.
When pulling tra ilers whose stability on the
road is low, and carav ans whose permitted
total weight exceeds 1400 kg, sp eeds
should be kept below 50 mp h (80 km/h);
the use of an anti-hunting d amper is
emphatically recomm ended.
Check caravan/trailer lighting before
starting to drive. The fog tail lamps on the
vehicle are deactiv ated w hen towing a
caravan or trailer.
Do not d riv e faster than 50 mph (80 k m/h)
if possible, ev en in countries where hig her
speeds are permitted.
Make sure that you have enough room
when cornering and a void sud den
manoeuvres.
If the cara van/trailer starts to sway, drive
more slowly, d o not a ttempt to correct the
steering and b ra ke sharply if necessary.
The cooling fan is electrically operated. Its
cooling p ow er is therefore independent of
the engine speed.
Since a considerable amount of heat is
genera ted at high engine speeds and less
at slower speeds, do not shift d ow n when
climbing hills whilst the v ehicle is still coping
with the gradient in the higher g ear.
Diesel engine: On rising gradients of 10 %
or more, do not drive faster than
20 mph (30 km/h) in 1st gear or
30 mph (50 km/h) in 2nd gear; with
automatic transmission 3, do not ex ceed
25 mph (40 km/h) in position 1.
When driving downhill the brakes a re
under considerab ly more strain when
towing a c aravan or trailer. For this rea son,
select same gear as if driving uphill and
drive at a sim ila r speed . The a utoma tic
transmission 3 or CVTronic 3 will
automatically select the driving program
with the optim um engine braking effect.
If necessary, the gears can a lso be selec ted
ma nually.
If it is necessary to apply the brak es fully ,
depress the brak e pedal a s hard as
possible.
Remem ber that the braking d istance for
vehicles towing carava ns/trailers with and
without brake is always greater than that
for vehic les not tow ing a carav an/trailer.
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