My car handbook specifies a towing weight far higher than the 85 per cent recommendation. Surely the 85 per cent figure is unrealistic?
The 85% recommendation is based on achieving a safe and stable match and is therefore often, but not always less than the manufacturer’s towing limit. This towing limit is not set by issues of stability, simply by the cars physical capability. In an ideal world, with perfectly surfaced roads, no crosswinds, air turbulence from speeding HGVs etc, then this limit could be used for matching purposes. What the towing limit does give is an indication of the pulling power of the car. Ideally, the weight of caravan should be below the towing limit by a reasonable margin and more so when using an automatic car.
