Have long been puzzled by the towing capacities listed in the 2002
Golf Owner's Manual for various engine/transmission configurations,
specifically:

the 115hp gas engine producing 122 ft-lbs torque with manual
tranmission is permitted to tow 1320 lbs without trailer brakes and
1500 with brakes.

but the 90 hp TDi with 155 ft-lbs. of torque is only allowed to tow
1000 lbs., brakes or no brakes, manual or automatic.

Now the 2004 TDi PD is out, with 100 hp and 177 ft-lbs. of torque, and
the dealer tells me 1000 lbs is still the towing limit.


OTOH my '95 Geo Tracker only puts out 95 hp and 98 ft-lbs of torque,
but is rated to tow 1500 lbs.

Can anyone make sense of this?

I'm wondering if the same implausible figures are found in the Owner's
Manuals of 2001 or 2003 TDi models, or if anyone here has ever been
able to get clarification from Volkswagen (I've tried)?


Achim



axethetax

What the manual syas is what it is. A Ford F250 or Chevy 2500 or Dodge
2500 with their huge diesel engines have enough engine to tow 20,000
lbs. or more but not enough chassis. If I want to tow something heavy
I use my little truck which is rated to tow 5,000 lbs. I just haul the
bicycle rack in the hitch on my 2003 tdi.

lohsea (AT) 3web (DOT) nettax (Achim Nolcken Lohse) wrote:


Jim B.

Remember *most* tow ratings include what you also put inside your car! So if
you have 1500 tow rating and 2 fat people(250ea) and 200lbs of fishing gear,
then you can only tow total of 800 on the back bumper. Personally I wouldn't
tow with any of the VW cars. It's time to buy an old truck!


"Achim Nolcken Lohse" <lohsea (AT) 3web (DOT) nettax> wrote

On Sun, 07 Mar 2004 15:33:42 GMT,
jimbehning (AT) doesthisblockporkmindspring (DOT) com wrote:

So you're saying the 2002 Golf with the 115 hp gas engine has a
stronger chassis than the TDi version?

Who said anything about "heavy"? The Class I hitches marketed for the
Golf are only rated to 2000 lbs max in any case. I'm more concerned
about the reliability of ANY information in the Owner's Manual, given
apparent contradictions like that cited.


Achim



axethetax

On 7 Mar 2004 11:00:52 -0500, nospam (AT) zero (DOT) com (Peter Parker) wrote:

So you're saying the contradiction is irrelevant because the
information in the Owner's Manual can't be trusted at all. What do you
use for specs then?

I have the Bentley Service Manual and the Haynes Repair Manual, but
neither of these give any figures on towing. On top of that, the
Haynes has proven to be dead wrong on some important points.
That's why one pays the big bucks for a warranty, isn't it?
I didn't buy mine for historical reasons.

BTW, I have two neighbours with 2002 Jetta TDi's, both of whom have
been hauling utility trailers with them every weekday for the past two
years in the pursuit of their business.

They had the hitch installed by the nearest Volkswagen dealership too.



Achim



axethetax

I think the real problem is that VWoA doesn't want people towing with their
VW's. This is in sharp contrast to VWs sold in Europe. We've discussed this
100s of times over at Fred's, but here is the most convincing thing for me:

http://tinyurl.com/3g39j

If you're too lazy to click this url, it says:

From UK brochure. All weight in pounds (lbs). Manual 5 speed transmission.

Golf 1999 A4 (probably Jetta as well)

Engine Max trailer weight Max trailer weight Towbar load Max roof
load
(braked) (unbraked)
1.8l/126BHP 3308 1433 165 165
1.9l/90BHP TDI 2867 1323 165 165
1.9l/110BHP TDI 3087 1323 165 165

In '99, VWoA was still saying 1000 lbs max. Perhaps it has to do with the
way that American hitches (Class I) mount to the body (through the sheet
metal). In Europe, hitches replace the bumper and bold directly to the
unibody, through factory drilled holes.

I towed a 5 x 7 U-Haul loaded with some pretty heavy stuff from IKEA in NJ
to NH this past June. My '01 TDI has never shown any ill effects. (However,
I have a Euro-spec hitch that I brought back with me when I was over there
last year.)

Anyway, hope that helps. My short answer is that I think 1000 lbs is
something that a VWoA product manager pulled out of their rear-end.

Happy driving,
Jonathan

--

"Achim Nolcken Lohse" <lohsea (AT) 3web (DOT) nettax> wrote

If you try to tow too much you can break your timing belt.





"Achim Nolcken Lohse" <lohsea (AT) 3web (DOT) nettax> wrote