Towing

[Fitzharris]

Hello all,
I'm considering putting a towbar on my 2020 JAZZ 1.3 I-VTEC EX CVT AUTO to tow a small dirtbike trailer. Total weight will be less than 350 kg. Has anyone else tried this?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
Fitzharris

[Marco1979]

Your Jazz seems to be an mk3. You can tow up to 1000 kg, no problem! The cvt for the mk3 has a torque converter so also starting off on a slope will be easy.

[embee]

My Jazz is 2018 SE CVT mk.3
I looked into putting a towbar on it (later got a Yaris for work and towing so didn't put one on the Jazz).
Have a search on the various towbar supplier sites for different makes (Witter, Brink, Westfalia etc, i went with Witter detachable) and check the fitting instructions,  usually available as pdf downloads. You need to do a little cutting  of the end of the chassis members to install the fixings and IIRC also a small cutout in the middle of the plastic "bumper ", depending on exact make/model of towbar (removable or fixed etc).
Unbraked trailer weight limit is 450kg, nose weight on the towbar recommended to be around 10% of trailer weight.

[Fitzharris]

Your Jazz seems to be an mk3. You can tow up to 1000 kg, no problem! The cvt for the mk3 has a torque converter so also starting off on a slope will be easy.

Thanks a million. I had assumed it was a 2020 MK4, but you are correct it si a MK3. I believe the MK4 only came in Hybrid and mine is Petrol Only.

[Fitzharris]

My Jazz is 2018 SE CVT mk.3
I looked into putting a towbar on it (later got a Yaris for work and towing so didn't put one on the Jazz).
Have a search on the various towbar supplier sites for different makes (Witter, Brink, Westfalia etc, i went with Witter detachable) and check the fitting instructions,  usually available as pdf downloads. You need to do a little cutting  of the end of the chassis members to install the fixings and IIRC also a small cutout in the middle of the plastic "bumper ", depending on exact make/model of towbar (removable or fixed etc).
Unbraked trailer weight limit is 450kg, nose weight on the towbar recommended to be around 10% of trailer
weight.

Thanks for the "Unbraked trailer weight limit is 450kg" That really helps.

[Fitzharris]

Hello again all,
According to Honda the max unbraked trailer weight is 450KG. Lately I've been towing 500KG (unbraked) all on flat ground and at lower speeds. The max speed in Ireland while towing is 85 Km. Tongue weight is about 10 %. I am easy and smooth on the controls, but I do not like being over limit. Trailer and tow experts here tell me I'm overthinking it. They say 500KG is still a small trailer load especially if the driver is cautious with speed and braking. Any input you have is  appreciated. What do you think?

Kindest Regards,
Patrick

[Marco1979]

In the Netherlands they sometimes check the weight of trailers (especially when the holidays start and people use their caravans). They do this by putting 2 scales in front of your trailer’s wheels and make you advance a bit. This means that the weight of the tongue as you call it is not measured as it is pushing on the car’s wheels.
That said: the difference between 450 and 500 is small and an increase in speed would make much more difference.

[Fitzharris]

Wow, The Netherlands enforcement is specific at least. In Ireland there are many gray zones and much conflicting information. I'm trying to stick to Honda recommendations. But you are right 50KG over is not worth losing any sleep over...espically at 80 Km speed limit. O.K. THANKS, I've talked myself into it!

[ColinB]

Hello again all,
According to Honda the max unbraked trailer weight is 450KG. Lately I've been towing 500KG (unbraked) all on flat ground and at lower speeds. The max speed in Ireland while towing is 85 Km. Tongue weight is about 10 %. I am easy and smooth on the controls, but I do not like being over limit. Trailer and tow experts here tell me I'm overthinking it. They say 500KG is still a small trailer load especially if the driver is cautious with speed and braking. Any input you have is  appreciated. What do you think?

Kindest Regards,
Patrick

I can't imagine that 50kg at such a low speed would create any practical issues. BUT if you should be involved in any sort of incident or accident and it transpired that you were operating outside the manufacturer's recommendations, then that might create legal or insurance problems.

[TnTkr]

I'll omit all the legal and insurance considarations, because they are country specific anyways.

Most Japanese and US manufacturers have limited the weight of an unbraked trailer (class O1) to 450 kg no matter what the size of the car is. European manufacturers have in many models had rule of thumb about half of the empty weight. And what I'm trying to say is that 450 kg limit is not technical or safety limit, it's tradition.

Secondly, when driving and turning, there is no difference if the trailer has brakes or not. It matters only when braking.

In Finland we use unbraked trailers a lot, and the speed limit with those is 100 km/h. And I can assure that the weights are frequently exceeding the limit of the car manufacturer, often even the maximum of the O1 class, which is 750 kg. Very seldom are there any accidents because of overloading.

Mostly the accidents with light trailers are because of incorrect loading i.e. negative tongue weight.

Well, actually the most common accident type with small trailers is hitting the rear corner of your own car or bending the towing beam of the trailer, because you start reversing and don't remember you have a trailer connected.

I am defenitely not suggesting or encouraging to exceed the allowed weights and I'm myself trying to obey those, but I'm saying it's not so critical.

This load is just within 450 kg.