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Renault

Renault Megane III Estate 1.5 dCi
Swift Challenger 480

Swift
Performance
Weight

The towing limit is exceeded by 91 kg!
It is not allowed to drive with this Swift.
Make sure the towing limit is correct.

We now give advice based on the assumption that the legal maximum towing weight is higher for your car and that the car should be allowed to tow this caravan!

The Renault Megane III Estate 1.5 dCi with a Swift Challenger 480 with an actual weight of 1391 kg is in general a good match and suitable for all journeys on all kinds of roads.

The motor preformance of the Renault is in general more than sufficient. But the weight of the Swift with a normally distributed User Payload (200 kg in the caravan and 200 kg in the car including passengers), is heavy. Try to move luggage from the caravan to the car and drive not too fast. Remember to load your caravan correctly, insuring that the noseweight of the caravan is sufficient and the weight is distributed properly. But even so, a starting caravan driver is better off choosing a smaller and less heavy caravan!

Flat roads
Towing Performance
180
136

Mountains
Risk of snaking
172
101

Weight ratio: 87% (101% of kerbweight) 1391 kg 1606 kg

Payloads

Specify the User Payload in the car (including all passengers) and caravan:

Car
Caravan




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Renault

Renault Megane III Estate 1.5 dCi
Swift Challenger 480

Swift

Actual Weights

Performance

 

Weight

  • The towing limit is exceeded by 91 kg (check this in your vehicle documents).
  • If you passed your driving test after 1 January 1997, a B driving license is enough.
  • Weight ratio between the laden caravan and the loaded car is 87%. Common in the UK: the weight ratio between the laden caravan and the kerbweight of the car is 101%.
  • The risk of snaking at higher speeds, strong side winds and thoughtless driving is great. Even if the combination normally feels stable, the forces by deflection side to side are so great that it could be dangerous. Only if the driver has a lot of knowledge and experience in driving a caravan it should be safe to drive slowly. Proper and careful loading is essential! An electronic stability system in the car and / or on the caravan is definitely recommended.
  • Recommended noseweight is 75 kg.
  • Safe speed up to 50 mph (80 km/h).
  • Stability and safety score to compare is 101 points.

If the caravan starts to snake you should reduce your speed and slow down directly! Lift your feet off the accelerator and brake gradually. Hold the steering wheel into a fixed position.

Conclusion

  • Performance is more than sufficient.
  • Proper and careful loading is essential!
  • It's a perfect match!

 

Influence of User Payload on stability

Weight distribution and noseweight are vital in obtaining a stable caravan.

Distribute the User Payload by yourself in the caravan and the car and then find out the stability rating of your loading configuration.

More information

More detailed information and specifically calculated top speeds and performance of this outfit.


Specifications

Renault Megane III Estate 1.5 dCi
2009-2016

Power
106 PS (78 kW)
Torque
240 Nm @ 2000 rpm
Kerbweight
kg
Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)
kg
Towing limit
kg
Towball limit
kg
Gross Train Weight (GTW)
kg

Swift Challenger 480

Mass in Running Order (MIRO)
kg
Maximum Technically Permissible Laden Mass (MTPLM)
kg


User Reviews

Stephen Ballard reviewed a Renault Megane III Estate 1.5 dCi:

"We have been using this car to tow for about a year now so feel confident we can write a decent review. Towed in good and bad weather conditions and found this combination can best be described as adequate for quality and exceptional for economy.
Right first a few things, check the nose weight of your caravan, do not put a 110A battery in the battery compartment and full 15kg butane bottle in the front compartment, the megane has a maximum tow bar nose weight of 75kg. Load the caravan carefully and buy a nose weight scale, they are less than a tenner on ebay / amazon. Towing with 95kg as we did on the first occasion is not to be recommended. On a side note, why caravan manufacturers put all the heavy stuff up front (in the swifts case, Gas bottle, spare wheel, Battery, Hot water tank) is a little disturbing. Most people put awnings etc under the front seats to compound the problem.
In decent weather, no heavy cross winds, 55mph is ok...nasty weather and drop it to 50mph. Otherwise you will get battered across the motorways by the lorries. My good lady now like us to drive just at 50mph and to be honest, that’s how we drive now.
The good news, we have done 1000s of mile with this combination, have had amazing weekends away and everytime we go away now the temptation to get a vehicle that can safely do 60mph diminishes. Why, its solid, feels safe and we are getting about 42mpg, on a good day 45mpg.
I use this car for business trips and often get over 60mpg doing the normal 75mph on the motorway without caravan so am extremely pleased with this car.
A trick for better economy, the 1.5dci engine runs best between 1,500 and 2,000 rpm. It has a six speed box to allow this range to work....if you run the car in fifth gear, the car runs at about 1,300rpm doing 50mph. This is below its most economical range, when we first got the caravan we found we were getting 34mpg....so the hint is, drive it in forth and allow it to slightly over rev at 2000rpm. This is kinder to the car, basically I believe at 1,300rpm the turbo is constantly on trying to keep the engine torquey enough to power on, at 2,000rpm the turbo does not engage. I could be wrong about this, however there is a 10mpg difference.
A few other observations. Most of the time we drive around with just 1 bar on the temperature gauge...when towing we have 2 bars..never feels like it is getting hot, so just accept it.
For those that think this car is not powerful enough it most certainly is, it just does not feel heavy enough to tow like a 4x4 or Volvo so by accepting we have to drive below everyone elses speed we get to keep a 3 year old car that continues to work in all other aspects. We will get a bigger car when this one requires replacement, however for the moment, long live the Renault.
So far we have seen no other meganes towing in all our miles and events, would be interesting to hear from others experience with this vehicle.

For weights, we go weekend eventing so do not load the caravan, the 480se challenger 2003 is 1080kg and the max tow weight braked of the megane is 1500kg with a kerbside weight of 1381kg.
"

See more Renault Megane reviews.

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