A4 TDI MPG WHILE TOWING??? What weights are folks towing?

I have a 2001 TDI Golf and a '01 TDI Jetta. I was thinking about putting a Curt hitch on one of them to tow my lawn mower occasionally. The small landscape trailer weighs about 350 lbs and the mower weighs 994 lbs. It would be about 1400 lbs.. Is anyone else out there towing this much on an occasional basis?

Thanks!

Quite a few folks are towing 1500 to 2000 lbs routinely.
Curt hitches and many others are in use. I chose the Bosal. Check for recent posts. I think someone had a few issues putting in the Curt.

Search on "curt hitch" in quotations, 20 replies or more, any date and newer, relevancy in decending order, threads, boolean. Then choose save search preferences - GO, then choose search now.

Sometimes it saves time to search by posts instead of threads, if you are looking for something really specific.

I will tow (with the Jetta) for the first time this month. I plan to tow about 1500 lbs (uhaul 4x8 enclosed trailer plus load) for about 1500 miles or so, on my way back from Amarillo, TX to Columbia, SC.

Towing question

I will tow (with the Jetta) for the first time this month. I plan to tow about 1500 lbs (uhaul 4x8 enclosed trailer plus load) for about 1500 miles or so, on my way back from Amarillo, TX to Columbia, SC.[/quote]


Wow, thanks for all the info! That's going to be quite a load. If you think about it, let me know later what kind of MPG you end up getting on that trip.

Thanks
geven.aston@att.com

I will post my mileage in the July mileage competition thread. You can catch it there, or PM me.

Dan

I have a bosal hitch and regularly tow. Last weekend i towed my atv and riding mower to my grandparents place. That was about 1400 pounds.

I have towed as much as 3700 pounds. I wouldn't recommend doing that on a regular basis, but it is possible in a pinch.

As far as fuel economy goes...it depends on your driving style. I towed a 5x10 box trailer & cargo(1700lbs) to Mississippi. Aerodynamics was a big factor on that trip. The big box held me back at 70mph i only got 20-22mpg. Towing a little 5x8 with mower or atv I see 30-35 depending on speed.

I tow a 1500lb camper (Scamp 13) with an A3 jetta.I have only done it twice both times roughly 200 mile round trips so did not use enough fuel to get a real handle on the mileage as the same tank was used for driving without the camper,but it definitely burns more fuel towing.Tows very well up to about 60mph,at that point the wind resistance on the camper makes it work too hard to go any faster.I have exhaust temp and oil temp as well as manifold pressure and oil pressure.When the oil temp (rotella 5-40) gets up the oil pressure drops and the exhaust temp gets to around 900 i just will not push it any harder.I did fit the larger oil cooler but have not towed with the car since. Towing that weight i think trailer brakes are a very good idea. My $.02 Don

I have towed several 3000+lb trailers and typically return 25-27mpg on the highway. With a 1500lb (rather large) trailer I got 27-30mpg but I suspect the majority of the loss was due to aerodynamics rather than the weight. I suspect with a small 1500lb trailer you could top 30mpg easily.

Don't know your tranny, but if it's an auto (I hate mine), and you tow frequently, you might want to invest in an aftermarket transmission cooler as well! It has saved my S-10's transmission, and I've hauled well over 4000lbs with it. And Don's right - trailer brakes are an excellent idea, even with 'only' a 1500lb load.

Last trip with the 17' fiberglass boat, ~2000 lbs, 27 miles per gallon. There were some pretty good hills in the mix.

#2000 in tow, 75mph, AHU/A3 Jetta = 28mpg

The trailer stood 10 feet off the ground and shaped like a brick, so aerodynamics were severely against me!

I would STRONGLY recomend that if you are towing that much weight on a regular basis to have a trailer with electric brakes or a hydraulic brake system especially with the A3 Jetta (small front disc, rear drums).

I towed a #4,000 dual axle trailer loaded with house goods, but the trailer had hydraulic brakes to all four wheels. I could drive 70mph but the car accelerated like a semi lugging a load (as you would expect). Fuel economy, I could not tell you since the trip was only 50 miles.

As always, proper loading of the trailer is extremely critical to handling and safety. Always err to the side of more tongue weight rather than a tail heavy trailer. The light weight of our cars really requires that tongue weight to insure towing stability in the event you need to make an aggressive manuever.

DB

SoKYTDi said:

Don't know your tranny, but if it's an auto (I hate mine), and you tow frequently, you might want to invest in an aftermarket transmission cooler as well! It has saved my S-10's transmission, and I've hauled well over 4000lbs with it. And Don's right - trailer brakes are an excellent idea, even with 'only' a 1500lb load.

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The VW automatics are already liquid cooled transmissions. The transmissions use a coolant to fluid heat exchanger eliminating the need for an aftermarket system that would result in an unregulated fluid temp which is critical to proper operation.

DB

I neglected to say that both of my TDI's are 5 speeds. I agree though, all my other automatic cars have tranny coolers. It's a must. Another interesting point on that is "when" transmissions generate heat. I put a transmission temp gauge on a Suburban one time and at the same time had put a transmission cooler and a small electric fan on the cooler. What amazed me is the amount of heat that built up in a matter of seconds while backing up and parking a camper in a campsite. No airflow over the cooler and the cooler wasn't doing much good. I had a manual switch on the fan (attached to the trans cooler). Once turned on, it made a huge difference, dropping the temperature immediately.

All your posts have been very enlightening! I'm amazed at how much weight AND WHAT folks are towing with these cars. I'm also interested to know if anyone with a Passat TDI Auto is towing up to 3000 lbs.

Thanks!

SoKYTDi said:

Don't know your tranny, but if it's an auto (I hate mine), and you tow frequently, you might want to invest in an aftermarket transmission cooler as well! It has saved my S-10's transmission, and I've hauled well over 4000lbs with it. And Don's right - trailer brakes are an excellent idea, even with 'only' a 1500lb load.

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I push a 5000 pound shoe box. Does that count?

BuickGS/BuickTurboT said:

I neglected to say that both of my TDI's are 5 speeds. I agree though, all my other automatic cars have tranny coolers. It's a must. Another interesting point on that is "when" transmissions generate heat. I put a transmission temp gauge on a Suburban one time and at the same time had put a transmission cooler and a small electric fan on the cooler. What amazed me is the amount of heat that built up in a matter of seconds while backing up and parking a camper in a campsite. No airflow over the cooler and the cooler wasn't doing much good. I had a manual switch on the fan (attached to the trans cooler). Once turned on, it made a huge difference, dropping the temperature immediately.

All your posts have been very enlightening! I'm amazed at how much weight AND WHAT folks are towing with these cars. I'm also interested to know if anyone with a Passat TDI Auto is towing up to 3000 lbs.

Thanks!

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Tomorrow, I'll be using our '05 GLS Passat Wagon TDI Auto. Only going about 10 miles though... just taking some furniture out of the house to our storage locker so we can redo some rooms this summer.

I usually get about 33-35mpg with my TDI towing another TDI with the dolly.. I do it quite often.. Better brakes are your best friend when towing heavier loads.. My towing mileage varys greatly depending on what shape the vehicle is that's on the dolly... Towing an S-10 pickup is worse than another Jetta...

I tow a almost 1ton popup caravan. On my last 1400km trip I got 10km/l down to the coast and 9.7km/l back up. Traveling at about 110km/ph.

BuickGS/BuickTurboT said:

I have a 2001 TDI Golf and a '01 TDI Jetta. I was thinking about putting a Curt hitch on one of them to tow my lawn mower occasionally. The small landscape trailer weighs about 350 lbs and the mower weighs 994 lbs. It would be about 1400 lbs.. Is anyone else out there towing this much on an occasional basis?

Thanks!

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Just a note. The Golf is a little better tower then a Jetta. The hitch is not as far back from the rear wheels. My son had Jetta and I have Golf with hitchs on them and my Golf with the hitch about 15" to 20" closer to the rear wheels makes it drive better. The trailer has less leverage on the car. Walt

A4 BEW trailer towing mileage

I have a 2005 PD A4.

With about 900 lbs of load in the car, I towed a 4X4X8 Uhaul rental trailer, total weight 1600 lbs, at 71 mph. I was towing on highway 287 and 82 across northern Texas, where it is 70 mph, then small town with slow to 30 or stop, then back to 70 mph. I got 29.09 mpg for this first 416 miles at 70. (Paper and pencil calcs.)

During long interstate portions with the trailer at 70 mph, - all the way from Shrevesport to Columbia, SC - I got 31 mpg. (Paper and pencil calcs.)

My average without a trailer for the last year has been 52.8 mpg; and 52.5 is what I get on the interstate at 70 mph during long trips without the trailer.

I noticed that I did have to correct the volume of fuel used on my SCANGAUGE II; it was off about 10%, predicting more fuel used than actual. So I anticipate having to change it back after shedding the trailer this weekend.

The car handled it flawlessly. No problem braking, accelerating, or handling. Not twitchy at all; no sway or wag. I literally did not feel it back there, ever.

Let's see a Prius do this task.
DanG

I average 35mpg towing my wooden boat in the high mountains, 38 on the flats. Boat and trailer total about 500lbs but of course windage is a major factor, as is the roofrack with the mast attached.

Sure beats the 13mpg I was getting on my 91 Nissan 4x4 towing the same boat on the same mountains!

I've not felt particularly suicidal lately, so I let my Jetta tow my butt around and not much else.

When I want to tow, I use the Cummins. Then, I'm good for about 16,000 lbs.

But if you insist, the REASONABLE limit is 1200 lbs. But people are bound and determined to be unreasonable. That accounts for using a vehicle specifically designed as a passenger car as a freight hauler.

But if you insist, the REASONABLE limit is 1200 lbs. But people are bound and determined to be unreasonable. That accounts for using a vehicle specifically designed as a passenger car as a freight hauler.

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i hope not to be one of the unreasonable people, just an over designer.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=188448&page=3

had to build this so i can fish my favorite lakes w/o the guilt of driving the guzzler.

i don't have any good milage numbers yet, we're heading out to go campng for the weekend, and were almost out of the driveway when i noticed the dreaded flat. had to take the Explorer for a whomping 17mpg. owie did my wallet hurt. filled the jetta to the top from empty and the same w/ the ford an hour later and again on the way home . should carry a piece of wood to bite down on while lifting the fuel pump handle.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=188448&page=3

pretty heavy for a mower eh? is that a zero turn? i mean my yard tractor weighs just under 600 and it has a vtwin!
it should pull it without a problem

Franko6 said:

I've not felt particularly suicidal lately, so I let my Jetta tow my butt around and not much else.

When I want to tow, I use the Cummins. Then, I'm good for about 16,000 lbs.

But if you insist, the REASONABLE limit is 1200 lbs. But people are bound and determined to be unreasonable. That accounts for using a vehicle specifically designed as a passenger car as a freight hauler.

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haha that goes for me as well! But i've had more then 16,000lbs on my goose neck before, and the cummins with the banks gear hauled it all with style.

But i don't really get that good of milage when towing, normally around 10-12mpg. lol

I don't notice much of a hit towing my single pwc. About 750lbs.
It reduces my mileage, but not by too much... about a 5 mpg hit on average, depending on conditions.
Still way better than my Blazer with no trailer...

pete3221 said:

But i don't really get that good of milage when towing, normally around 10-12mpg. lol

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Yeah I recently got 11 with about 10000lbs behind the blazer... Definitely too much weight for the blazer, even with the turbodiesel.. I have a pretty hefty hitch and the weight distribution setup which makes a huge difference pulling any serious weight, but either way the truck is too light..