The Vauxhall Vivaro has a towing capacity of up to 2.5-tonnes or 2,500kg. That is the total towing capacity for a braked trailer on the latest van.
It is also possible to tow an unbraked trailer of up to 750kg using a Vauxhall Vivaro.
The Vivaro towing capacity is above average for a mid-sized van. Previous versions were only capable of towing up to 2000kg, but the newest model can pull an improved 2,500kg. That makes the towing capacity of the Vauxhall Vivaro better than some of the competition, however, it is still well below the maximum that you will find on large vans like the towing capacity of a Sprinter van, or even a pick-up truck.
Whether or not it is any good for towing will also depend on which model you decide to buy. All Vivaro vans have the same towing capacity of 2.5-tonnes, irrespective of which engine they have. With 125hp and 145hp variants to choose from if you plan to tow a full trailer using the Vivaro it would be best to go for the more powerful model.
It’s not as straight-forward as saying that the Vivaro can simply tow 2.5-tonnes and that’s the end of the matter. There’s also the vehicles entire weight to consider, or the gross combination weight (GCW) or gross train weight (GTW). This is the weight of the vehicle, plus any load in the cargo area, plus the weight of whatever you are towing. This is what makes up the entire Vauxhall Vivaro towing limit, in other words its Van + Payload + Trailer.
Fortunately, this is more simple than in most vans, as the all but the double cab variants have a gross combination weight (GCW) of 5.6-tonnes or 5600kg.
Given that the gross vehicle weight (GVW) which is the weight of the van plus the maximum payload is limited to 3.1-tonnes for the very largest models, adding on the 2.5-tonnes possible for the weight of the trailer plus its payload means that you won’t fall foul of exceeding the combined weights of the van and trailer, even if you ware fully laden.
There is a slight snag. If you have the 1.5-litre engine, it gets a slightly lower gross vehicle weight of 2830kg. That means that you’ll have to be slightly more cautious with the amount of payload you put in the back of the van.
As always, our advice is to check the towing capacity and the Vauxhall Vivaro payload capacity on the plates for the vehicle. These can often be found either inside the door frames – usually the passenger side – or under the bonnet.
Vauxhall Vivaros do not come with a towbar as standard, but they can be added as a factory spec item. The ball and hook tow bar option on the Vivaro is an option for all vans and adds a 13-pin connector plug for the wiring up of a towing bar. At the time of writing it costs around £700 for the Vivaro towbar.
If you want to know how to tow a Vivaro you’ll need to find the towing eye. The towing eye location is found under the front bumper, off the side of the main chassis arm. You’ll have to get under the front of the van in order to find the towing eye, and you will also need to be considerate of the bumper itself when towing.
