Towing capacity and capability - very impressed

[JimTraining]

To share a positive experience and to round off the abuse of my motor so far, following a full service and belts, tensioners, idler pulley, water pump and thermostat plus addition of a Westfalia detachable tow kit I fetched my latest e-bay daft purchase....

22 foot boat on a car trailer with a boot full of tools and spare kit just in case, all in at 1750kg with 70kg towhitch load and a max capacity to tow (according to the book) of 1900kg so well in. Travelled from Conway to Rutland (170 miles) at a nice steady 55mph, kept it in 4th via tiptronic and sat at 2200 rpm or thereabouts with occasional 3rd gear on the hills. Well chuffed and 18.6 mpg to boot! Pretty good for a car that manages 32 on a good day.

Car sat down well but to be fair the tyres are close to wheel arch outer profile when unladen. As per picture below I still had an inch to spare between wheels and inner arches so it was fine. Added to a quick drive on The Beacons sand at Conway and the 4wd proved its worth.

My old set up was a company Navara and smaller boat / trailer and at its best we used to get 16 mpg when towing. Certainly won't be shy of using her to pull lumps in the future, great tow car and would be interested to know what other forum members drag around behind Allroads and other C5's.

2012-08-17 18.13.18.jpg

[mrnice]

Haven't towed anything exactly but today I collected a large bunch of 50's G-Plan furniture including three tables, a bedside cabinet, a very large sideboard and a cupboard, what didn't go in the boot went on the roof, well chuffed with my car's usefulness today (should've taken a pic!)

[Yorky Col]

Up until May this year I was towing a T/A Elddis Crusader caravan 1100kg unladen and 1280kg loaded. 2 up plus Big Dog. South Yorks to Helston-near Truro-in Cornwall and averaged 28.9mpg. (2001 A6 2.5TDi Avant Quattro) Figures calculated tank to tank fill up. Very impressed with fuel economy and performance.
What's not to like?

Regards.

[ellaguru2u]

Toured Scotland with a S/A caravan 1050kgs loaded. Trip up there from Sheffield with cruise set at 60 returned 32mpg. Very impressed.

[Golf tdi Hal]

well impressed with the allroad as a towcar, I spent weeks deciding what to buy for the best trade off between good puller and sensible solo commuting hack. This weekend I travelled 90 miles at 60mph nice and steady pulling a 1250kg caravan and all the kit for a week away including 2 bikes and 2 awnings ! One dozy old fool decided to join the dual carriageway next to me without giving me any space and I was able to accelerate to 75mph swiftly to get clear of him. Not so many cars could do that !
The variable height suspension is handy too for hitching up...

[adamss24]

I tow with my allroad on a regular basis- done over 60k in it last year, have rebuilt the engine following a dropped valve and added larger bosio nozzles, bigger turbo and b7 rs4 front brakes. I often tow a Iffor Williams heavy duty car trailer loaded with cars over 2 tonnes- the car does not skip a beat- by far the most versatile yow rig i ever driven and since the larger turbo and injectors the fuel economy improved !