Has Anyone Seen This Towbar Kit?

[kevin65]

I happened across this when browsing eBay.de, it seems to be an aftermarket towbar kit for the Aygo which can be used to carry bike or tow a trailer, but I thought the Aygo was not designed for towing? Could this be a mistake?

http://www.kupplung.de/Anhaengerkupplungen...-ks-008486.html

I know this has been discussed here in the past, and as far as I know, the Aygo is not designed for towing a trailer, but this company seems to be offering a kit for this purpose?

[toyboata]

I'm sure the aygo could pull a very small trailer - but as said, the car is not built for towing, and i would assume it would be illegal to fit this towbar to aygos in the UK.

maybe it could be used for bike racks etc - but how well that would wash down with the police i dont know

[gordonh]

I thought the Aygo was in a similar position as the old Ka was, when the car was first being approved for use on the public highways it wasn't put in for testing as a towing vehicle and it is therefore illegal to tow a trailer in the UK.

But I'm not sure where the law would stand if the vehicle has been approved for towing in another EU state though.

[ihpj]

I would hazard a guess that if the Aygo is UK registered then it must conform to UK rules and regs. (Construction and Use Regs.) - a European Aygo would not be subject to the same rules and regs. as it is not UK registered - just my interpretation on it.

Other than WTF would you buy an Aygo if you wanted to 'tow' :P

[Jan van de Wouw]

In The Netherlands towing is prohibited with an Aygo. To still be able to mount a bike carrier,

Towball manufacturer Brink adapted the sytem they made for the Prius to the Aygo.

This is a specific mount and will only fit Twinny Load carriers.

In Germany the Aygo seems to be allowed to tow a small trailer up to 500 kilo,

but you have to have the car approved after installing the towball.

At least that's what I gathered from reading some German litterature...

[toyboata]

...all sounds about right!

[gordonh]

I'm suprised Toyota didn't get the car at least tested whilst all the rest of the type approval was being done, I doubt the cost would be that high.

The big use you could find for a small trailer with an Aygo is things like picking up a new fridge/freezer/washing machine etc or even a small trailer to hold a few bikes.

[kevin65]

Agreed, you wouldn't pull much with the Aygo, but the yaris uses the 3 cyl 1L engine and as far as I know is approved for fitment of a towbar, so I thought it was more to do with the back of the Aygo not being structurally designed to fit a towbar.

There are times you think it would be handy for an item you couldn't get into the back of the car with the rear seats down, but how are the aftermarket companies working out appropriate mounting points to the chassis?

[robint]

Hi Guys

Some 2 years ago when I joined this forum i asked about a towbar for an Aygo and was surpriseed to find it was not approved to fit a tow bar. didnt know about these EU regs

However I cam across this

http://www.towbarsho...gle=toyota Aygo

but it says its only approved as a bicycle carrier? and also the ball hitch covers the number plate

biut otherwise it has the standard 50 detachable ball hitch, so maybe one might take a chance with a small 250kg trailer? thats all i would want

BTW FWIW I found the Pugeot 107 Roof Rack worked perfectly for my Aygo, bargain at £65

Any experiences most welcome

otherwise i still love my Aygo. I call it the Tardis cos its so much bigger inside than you expect and the seat position for a fat bloke is great (3 door of course)

cheers

Robin

[Parts-King]

but it says its only approved as a bicycle carrier? and also the ball hitch covers the number plate

biut otherwise it has the standard 50 detachable ball hitch, so maybe one might take a chance with a small 250kg trailer? thats all i would want

That's because it IS only a bike carrier

The vehicle is not designed to tow and it would be illegal to tow with it, regardless of you "taking a chance" You might get away with it but what happens if you have an accident? Your insurance would be null and void, is it worth it? Probably not

Kingo

[Spazmoid]

[From the Parkers website]

As far as the UK goes there are very simply rules regarding towing; and they are:

If the towing vehicle weighs 3500kg or less (Gross Vehicle Weight or GVW)

• Length (excluding the coupling and drawbar) 7.0m
  
• Width Maximum 2.55m
  

If the towing vehicle weighs more than 3500kg GVW

• Length (excluding the coupling and drawbar) 12m (min 4 wheels)
  
• Width Maximum 2.55m
  
• Length of towing vehicle and trailer combined 18m
  
• Maximum overhang of load from rear of trailer 3.05m
  

Trailer has no brakes (Unbraked Trailer)

• Maximum 750kg gross trailer weight or half the towing vehicle's kerb weight - whichever is less.
  

Trailer has brakes (Braked Trailer)

• Maximum 3500kg gross trailer weight.
  

[MikeSh]

Those are general legal limits. Manufacturers' (car and/or towbar) specifications will apply if less tolerant. Towbars are also an MOT item these days.

Toyota specifies the Towing capacity (braked) (kg / lb) and Towing capacity (unbraked) (kg / lb) for the Aygo as N/A and sites like Parkers list it with a dash.

So you cannot legally tow with it and any fitting at the back that had a towball on it should fail the MOT.