Economy, utility, and fun in one vehicle

I’ve had this idea for a long time of having a vehicle that does three things for me: good fuel economy for commuting (55 miles, mostly highway @ 65-70), a truck bed for business use, hauling dirt bikes, and other truck stuff like ability to tow around 5000lbs occasionally, and last but not least enough power to have a good time. As far as I know, this vehicle does not exist. Currently I drive a 2003 jetta tdi and a tired 2001 gmc pickup. No fun in the equation because for some dumb reason I sold my Honda vfr.

So this vehicle does not exist. I will have to make my own. I really really really want 4x4 or awd. And I’ve been eyeballing the Smith Ute kit so if I went that route I’d go with a 2002-2008 Audi A4. For power a tuned up 1.9 alh would be fun, but I’m not super confident about towing heavier loads like that. I’ve also been looking at the boxeer cr2.0 mated with a dsg. Sounds like a complex swap though. Backstory, I owned a 2011 jetta tdi for two years. Loved that car but couldn’t pass up the vw buyout.

My favorite idea at this point is not a swap at all. It’s a 2014 or newer Audi A6 3.0tdi Quattro. It’s already rated to tow 4000lbs. There’s no truck conversion kit but I work in a machine shop and I could figure out the necessary fab work to make it happen. Structural work sounds a lot less daunting than swapping a motor and tranny and having to figure out electrical. Wouldn’t be easy to cut into a $20,000 car though. Ideally I would find one that has been rear ended. And icing on the cake, 300whp tuned and deleted!! Wouldn’t get quite the mpg I’m getting now but for that kind of power I can compromise.

Yes I will do a build thread....someday...maybe...or not
Would that not be the coolest car/ truck thing ever??

Im scouting around for used mid 2000's monteros or a factory 5/6 speed 4wd xterra. The montero(not a sport) would better handle off road duty than the xterra but the xterra would take much less work to adapt(montero would need a 5 speed conversion and transfer case plus interior parts). Either with a blown motor would run less than 1500 for initial purchase price. Ive also considered 90s model land rover discoveries but the demand for those has gone up and their transmissions and axles suck.

vwztips said:

How about a Tiguan and remove rear doors and hatch? I will be converting my 2nd Tig to a TDI soon. I really like the room and MPG. My wife has a X5 35d but i like driving the Tig more on an everyday basis. It is more nimble.

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A Tiguan TDI is great. I bought the first Tig vwztips converted a while back. It just rolled over 200,000 miles. I've carried all kinds of stuff in in, towed a camping trailer and driven it all over the Southeast. I get around 35 MPG. It's pretty hard to beat for versatility.

And there is an almost endless supply of Tiguans needing engines, since all ours got cursed with that horrid POS EA888 engine.

Interesting thought, the Tiguan, but I still like the A6 better because:
Higher towing capacity. 1500lbs for the Tiguan, 4000lvs for the A6
6” longer wheelbase on the A6
That mind blowing 3.0 tdi torque
No engine swap with the Audi

You can find the Audi A6 3.0tdi Quattro for low $20K with less than 50,000 miles. That’s a car that has an msrp of nearly 60 grand. I figure a full build will cost me upwards of 30 grand to do it how I want. Going with the Audi just means less money towards upgrades and more towards initial purchase price

The factory accessory type tow hitch is certainly well over 1500 pounds, LOL.

The one for my Golf is 3300 pounds, I suspect the Tiggy is similar.

Neither is an especially "good" tow vehicle, although the Tiguan's shorter overhang and superior ground clearance also give it some advantages too. The Q5 will also enjoy these advantages, but has the V6 too.

The Tiguan uses a receiver hitch that bolts to the factory crossmember. The hitch is rated at 3500 pounds, not sure what the crossmember is rated. The European TDI Tig is rated at 2000 kg, which is about 4400 pounds. I can tell you it does OK towing a 3000 or so pound trailer (with trailer brakes). One problem it has is starting from a dead stop on an incline, it doesn't like that so much. The other is tongue weight. The hitch is rated at 350. Even with uprated towing springs, you can't go much over that. European trailers seem to do fine with 5-7% tongue weight, US trailers are more like 10-20%. It's not hard to overload the rear with gear, trailer, etc.

If you like the V6 TDI and want room and towing capacity, look at a Touareg. It's larger in all dimensions than the Tig and is rated to tow 7700 pounds. It does everything the Tiguan does, but better (except fuel economy). Where the Tig may be at it's maximum, the Touareg is hardly working. For towing, there is no comparison. The Touareg is far superior.

That’s good to know about the Tiguan. I just went with what I found on google. I do understand that the vehicles I’m looking at aren’t the “best” for towing but that’s not the point. The goal is good fuel economy (like around 40mpg), ability to tow (probably around 3-5000lbs once a month), haul 250-1000lbs in the bed occasionally, and be fun to drive, as in enough power to put you back in your seat a little. A vehicle that can do all these things won’t be the “best” at any of them. I’m trying to see if I can get by with just one vehicle.