MK6 Golf Towing / Tow Bar thread

[Corey_R]

VW doesn't specifically say that you can't have 18" wheels and a towbar on the GTI.
However, other companies, like BMW, won't fit towbars to cars with their 'M Sport Suspension' (ie. lowered like in the GTI) and with the lowest profile tyres.

The profile of your tyres is part of your 'suspension' system. If you have lowered suspension and low profile tyres, it just makes then less comfortable to tow etc. But there is no rule or law to say that you can't.

[Lima]

Note the price at the bottom of the left hand column on the 3rd image...







And, FWIW, the car had 18s as well...

[Corey_R]

Thanks for the pictures. So the towbar does change the appearence of the GTI... there is a cutout in the valance.

As for the car having 18" wheels, it has every single dealer accessory, which is the point of the car.

Again, I didn't say you cannot have 18" wheels and a towbar, because clearly you could put 20" wheels on there and have a towbar, what I said was it's not recommended. It does depend on what you're towing though. A bike carrier, fine. A 1300kg trailer... you may want to think again

[Swallowtail]

Thanks for the pictures. So the towbar does change the appearence of the GTI... there is a cutout in the valance.

As for the car having 18" wheels, it has every single dealer accessory, which is the point of the car.

Again, I didn't say you cannot have 18" wheels and a towbar, because clearly you could put 20" wheels on there and have a towbar, what I said was it's not recommended. It does depend on what you're towing though. A bike carrier, fine. A 1300kg trailer... you may want to think again

I don't think it's "not recommended" by VW at all.... The Golf GTI is rated for 640kg unbraked trailer and 1300 braked.

[gtimal]

Note the price at the bottom of the left hand column on the 3rd image...







And, FWIW, the car had 18s as well...

Thanks lima for the pic's ,I have ordered the car with a towbar and the comfort setting on the ACC might come in handy..Doesn't look to bad from a distance I can live with it .


Cheers

[gtimal]

what I said was it's not recommended. It does depend on what you're towing though.

By who VW Australia or BMW .
What I need to find out is the max load rating of the 225x40x18 tyres .

Cheers

[Mr Spitfire]

Do I read that right that the pricing on all those accessories does not include fitting?

[Corey_R]

Guys look at a truck.... look at all vans etc, even VW's vans. Wondered why they have such high profiles?

It appears to be obvious to everyone but you guys. The tyre profile works in conjunction with your suspension.
As I said - there is no law saying you cannot tow heavy weighs with low profile tyres. It's just that your towing experience gets worse the lower the profile is and the shorter your suspension travel is.

[pologti18t]

Apparently you can get kits from UK that dont require a cutout

http://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/Towbars/vehicle_technical_details.aspx?vtid=204685

[Dubya]

It's just that your towing experience gets worse the lower the profile is and the shorter your suspension travel is.

What's "towing experience"? lol. Could you be less specific? Who said anything about shorter suspension? Even the rolling diameter is unchanged...

Guys look at a truck.... look at all vans etc, even VW's vans. Wondered why they have such high profiles?

It appears to be obvious to everyone but you guys. The tyre profile works in conjunction with your suspension..

Yeah, so there! Coreying's the expert. Speculating all the way!

I didn't say you cannot have 18" wheels and a towbar, because clearly you could put 20" wheels on there and have a towbar, what I said was it's not recommended. It does depend on what you're towing though.

Depends on what you're towing - what a gem! And while you shouldn't have 18s, "clearly" you could put on 20s!

Clearly! But because you are making this up (ie bull****ting) you initially hedged your bets by saying it's "probably not recommended" (not that it was "not recommended" as you later claimed as you have no idea what is and is not recommended):

You can get the towbar kit for the GTI, although it's probably not recommended if you're upgrading the 18" wheels etc.

No facts, just speculation and conjecture all the way!

And to top it off you tell everyone "they" don't get it.

Marvellous. Make it up, weasel out and then tell everyone else they don't get it!

Five stars, Coreying.

My bull**** detector nearly blew up!

[Swallowtail]

Guys look at a truck.... look at all vans etc, even VW's vans. Wondered why they have such high profiles?

It appears to be obvious to everyone but you guys. The tyre profile works in conjunction with your suspension.
As I said - there is no law saying you cannot tow heavy weighs with low profile tyres. It's just that your towing experience gets worse the lower the profile is and the shorter your suspension travel is.

I know that Coreying... we all know that... any towing vehicle is a compromise. I tow a 700kg+ trailer with my Passat and it is brilliant at it. Ultra low profile tyres on 18s. Sure it's a bit jiggly over bumps, but the car has trucks full of torque, pulls like a train, has huge brakes, ESP that knows and caters for trailers being attached, and awd so it drives very stably.

So whilst I accept that a car with stiff suspension and low profile tyres on big wheels is not as good a dedicated towing car maybe as some others (go buy a Landcruiser), given that you don't buy a GTI solely to tow with, but you buy a GTI to tow with occasionally, my comments are 'go for it'.

I need to tow... occasionally. I choose a car for enjoyment, and as long as it has a towbar that I can use occasionally then I'm happy, as would most people be who tow occasionally.

Your comment was that it is 'not recommended' - which was what I disagreed with... VW do not say that it is 'not recommended', but have a towbar option and state what can safely be towed.

[Brian]

[QUOTE

Five stars, Coreying.

My bull**** detector nearly blew up![/QUOTE]

Mine went offscale! Has this person ever towed anything?
9 years of towing a ski-boat with 40 profile tires and all i can say is they will probably help you with stability control and traction. Do some research and get some life experience before expounding your (lack of) world knowledge on the forums
Brian

[gtimal]

Guys look at a truck.... look at all vans etc, even VW's vans. Wondered why they have such high profiles?

It appears to be obvious to everyone but you guys. The tyre profile works in conjunction with your suspension.
As I said - there is no law saying you cannot tow heavy weighs with low profile tyres. It's just that your towing experience gets worse the lower the profile is and the shorter your suspension travel is.

Hi C
Have you ever read the DOTARS ADR laws on towing or changing wheel/diameters and tyre profiles and how it effects the load rating .
Also axle loads and maximum suspension compression allowed.

It would be interesting seeing what the load rating is on the 225x45x17 tyres compared to the 225x40x18 tyres because the tyre widths are the same so the
load rating on the 18's should be less but the tyre wall would also be stiffer and stronger ,anyone know the load ratings on both tyres .
Also we need to know the max axle load and if the spring and shock a stiffer on the 18's fitted cars from the factory .

If the load rating on the fact fitted tyres are say 600kgs and you decide to change to 19" wheel tyre combo and the new combo has a load rating of less then 600kgs then you have gone outside of ADR laws an its illegal just a bit of useless info .


Cheers

[Corey_R]

I know that Coreying... we all know that... any towing vehicle is a compromise. I tow a 700kg+ trailer with my Passat and it is brilliant at it. Ultra low profile tyres on 18s. Sure it's a bit jiggly over bumps, but the car has trucks full of torque, pulls like a train, has huge brakes, ESP that knows and caters for trailers being attached, and awd so it drives very stably.

So whilst I accept that a car with stiff suspension and low profile tyres on big wheels is not as good a dedicated towing car maybe as some others (go buy a Landcruiser), given that you don't buy a GTI solely to tow with, but you buy a GTI to tow with occasionally, my comments are 'go for it'.

I need to tow... occasionally. I choose a car for enjoyment, and as long as it has a towbar that I can use occasionally then I'm happy, as would most people be who tow occasionally.

Your comment was that it is 'not recommended' - which was what I disagreed with... VW do not say that it is 'not recommended', but have a towbar option and state what can safely be towed.

Thank you. Whilst you don't agree with me completely, at least you can have a nice discussion without resorting to insults and useless nonsense like others have resorted to, so I appreciate that.

To clarify, I've never said what VW don't recommend, because as you said, they don't state it anywhere in their brochures.

But way people are talking here, they think that the tyre's load handling is the only consideration. It is these types of posters that you have to question whether they've done any towing before, not I.

I've highlighted in bold the types of things I'm getting at. You have stated that your Passat is jiggly over bumps, yet unlike your Passat the GTI is not AWD, so that jiggling causes much less stability in a FWD car. We we also don't know the loads, type of towing, or amount of towing that the OP is considering doing.

So I still stand by my original comments that it's better to stick with the 17" wheels for a car intended for towing. When this thread came up, my initial thought was the type of towing I and my family do (large box trailers, dingos/bobcats, caravans etc) and not occasional lightweight towing.

So I'll conceed that since the OP hasn't said what he intends to tow and how often, the 18" wheels may be fine.

[Corey_R]

Hi C
Have you ever read the DOTARS ADR laws on towing or changing wheel/diameters and tyre profiles and how it effects the load rating .
Also axle loads and maximum suspension compression allowed.

It would be interesting seeing what the load rating is on the 225x45x17 tyres compared to the 225x40x18 tyres because the tyre widths are the same so the
load rating on the 18's should be less but the tyre wall would also be stiffer and stronger ,anyone know the load ratings on both tyres .
Also we need to know the max axle load and if the spring and shock a stiffer on the 18's fitted cars from the factory .

If the load rating on the fact fitted tyres are say 600kgs and you decide to change to 19" wheel tyre combo and the new combo has a load rating of less then 600kgs then you have gone outside of ADR laws an its illegal just a bit of useless info .


Cheers

Yeah, it's clear these guys haven't considered any of these things things from their posts (except Swallowtail).

But I don't care enough to further discuss with the rude people who have come along to do nothign else but throw insults around without adding anything useful to the thread, so I'll leave this be