Bailey caravans successfully completes 18th year Towcar competition
• Bailey supports The Caravan Club Towcar of the Year competition for 18th year
• Ten Bailey Alu-Tech caravans were towed by 43 cars, driven by seven judges, and undertook high-speed stability and emergency stop tests, plus hill starts and laps of the challenging Alpine hill circuit at The Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire
• All Bailey caravans feature the patented Bailey Alu-Tech construction system, which underwent development testing at the Millbrook Proving Ground, to make them more robust and durable, yet lighter to suit a wider range of the latest towcars
• Following research with University of Bath, all Bailey caravans have been designed for optimum stability with heaviest items positioned as near the centre of the caravan as possible
Bailey of Bristol was delighted to be invited to supply the caravans used in this prestigious event for the 18th consecutive year. Whilst the purpose of the testing is to assess the performance of the individual tow vehicles, this competition also provides a thorough examination of the participating caravans in terms of product durability and stability.
Testing for the 33rd Caravan Club Towcar of the Year Competition took place during August at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, where a wide cross section of vehicles from leading car manufacturers were put rigorously through their paces by an independent panel of driving judges over a four-day period.
A selection of ten Bailey Pursuit, Pegasus GT65 and Unicorn caravans were chosen for the testing process to provide each of the 43 competition entrants with a suitable tow match. Each caravan was ballasted to 85 per cent of the towcar’s kerb weight, or its maximum towing limit, if lower, and had any stability aids disabled to ensure each car’s reactions to the demanding series of tests could be fully assessed.
With towcars getting lighter, Bailey has designed its caravans to be a suitable weight match for as many of today’s cars as possible. The Alu-Tech construction system not only makes them lighter than those built using conventional methods but also more stable as a greater percentage of the overall weight is concentrated in the centre of the caravan. Research by the University of Bath (www.towingstabilitystudies.co.uk ) identifies this as one of the key factors affecting trailer stability and as a result Bailey has also re-positioned heavy items such as gas bottle lockers, battery storage boxes and spare wheel carriers nearer to the caravan axle to further enhance the performance of its vehicles in this area.
During the evaluation period over 200 circuits of the Millbrook track featuring a lap of the high speed circular track and a demanding hill route (equating to over 1,100 test miles), were successfully completed by the test units without incident.
Simon Howard, Marketing Director of Bailey of Bristol attended the judging and said: “It is really incredible to see how arduous and thorough the testing is for this important competition, and we are really proud to have been invited to supply caravans for 18 years running.”
