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
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