Volvo S60 S60R Automobile User Manual


 
06 Starting and driving
133
Driving with a trailer
06
General
The towing bracket on the car must be ap-
proved. Your Volvo dealer can advise you as
to which towing bracket to use.
Distribute the load on the trailer so that the
weight on the towing bracket follows the
specified maximum towball load.
Increase tyre pressure so that it corre-
sponds to the pressure for full load. See
the tyre pressure table!
Clean the towing bracket regularly and
grease the towball
1
and all moving parts
to prevent unnecessary wear.
Do not drive with a heavy trailer when your
car is brand new! Wait until it has driven at
least 1000 km.
The brakes are loaded much more than
usual on long and steep downhill slopes.
Downshift to a lower gear and adjust your
speed.
If the car is driven with a heavy load in a
hot climate, the engine and gearbox may
overheat. The temperature gauge in the
combined instrument panel goes into the
red zone when the car overheats. Stop
and let the engine idle a few minutes.
If the car overheats, the air conditioning
system can be temporarily switched off.
The gearbox reacts with a built-in protec-
tion function if the car overheats. See the
message in the display!
The engine is loaded more heavily than
usual when driving with a trailer.
For reasons of safety, you should not drive
faster than 80 km/h, even if the laws of
certain countries permit higher speeds.
If you park with a trailer, always set the
gear selector to P (automatic gearbox) or
engage a gear (manual gearbox). If you
park on a steep hill, put chocks under the
wheels.
Avoid driving on inclines exceeding 12 %
if the trailer weight exceeds 1200 kg. Do
not drive with a trailer at all on inclines
exceeding 15
%.
Trailer weights
See page 243 for permitted trailer weights.
1
Does not apply to ball hitch with vibration
damper.
NOTE
The stated maximum permitted trailer
weights are those permitted by Volvo. Na-
tional vehicle regulations can further limit
trailer weights and speeds. Towbars can be
certified for higher towing weights than the
car can actually tow.
WARNING
Follow the stated recommendations for
trailer weights. Otherwise, the rig may be
difficult to control during evasive manoeu-
vres and braking.