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this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023
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Wouldn't this be more an issue of manual vs automatic transmissions? I would think towing in a manual with a healthy clutch should work just fine. Whereas, I would towing could have negative implications for the lifespan of a car's automatic transmission.
The real issue is the drivetrain itself, transmission will likely be fine regardless as long as it is rated to carry a certain capacity.
Forget the wear and tear of towing and look at the towing capacity and safety. Cars here in the US aren't rated too safely tow much, hell even trucks have a pretty low limit.
So either the car in the picture was rated to tow a higher weight (could be the unibody or frame, or other structural components), or the laws there are more liberal towards towing safety and weights, or this is an ultra light camper that is safe to tow.
Not all campers or cars are made alike, same with laws around them.
You forgot the other option: The owner doesn’t know / doesn’t care about the safety limit and is rolling the dice.
This is the most likely situation, that car has a towing capacity of 2000kg or about 4500lbs
Travel trailer of that size is probably about 5000-6000lbs.
So this is what you'd call dangerous, and good luck if there's a hill.
That trailer is only street legal weighing max. 1300-1600kg.
I gotta doubt that that's feasible:
2017 R-Pod RP-176 is a very small travel trailer weighing dry in at 3800lbs/1720kgs, it's not the trailer in the photo but... It looks about the same size, single axle, short as shit, tear drop shape. And that's the dry weight, once you add in gear That's a lot more weight. Typically most people expect to add in about another 1500 lbs/680kg from the dry weight. So that's a total of about 2400kgs, which is past what that car should tow.
In fact I'm not really seeing any trailers that aren't pop-ups that would qualify at the weight you're saying, even without gear.
That's not to say it doesn't exist, hell maybe my Google searches aren't showing me shit from across the pond that would work, but metal is heavy.
I would recommend checking the manufacturer specs. The company is called Wilk, it should be one from the Sentos range. The numbers are literally from the spec sheet.