MK6 Golf Towing / Tow Bar thread

[gtimal]

HI
This is the type of trailer I'm lookng at ,something I can throw some camping gear on and set up at a powered caravan site ruffing it .

http://www.easytrailer.com.au/about_easy_trailer.html

Cheers

[Dubya]

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.

What I object to, and what this forum could well do without, is people (adding weight to their views and misleading others by) stating opinion and conjecture as fact:

… I didn't say you cannot have 18" wheels and a towbar … what I said was it's not recommended.

Others queried who, if anyone, has made this “recommendation” with which you have muddied the water:

By who VW Australia or BMW.

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

Weaselling:

To clarify, I've never said what VW don't recommend.

Then to what authority were you referring when you said “it’s not recommended”?

Elsewhere you slide from "its not recommended" to:

… it's probably not recommended …

You then write that VW does not “specifically” proscribe a towbar when 18” wheels are fitted. (Are you implying that VW does something less, like hint or tacitly urge people not to do so?):

VW doesn't specifically say that you can't have 18" wheels and a towbar on the GTI.

Not only does VW not express any such concern, after you have made your bold assertions about combining towbars and 18s, pictures are posted of a VGA GTI with a towbar and 18” wheels, but you address this minor inconvenience with:

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

So the photo of a GTI with towbar and 18s fitted does not imply anything or detract from your claims? VGA is just recklessly ignoring a "recommendation". But nor is there any VGA disclaimer regarding fitting a towbar and 18” wheels, so perhaps VGA has no issue with this combination.

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

The tyre profile does what? Sounds technical, but it'd be the other way round wouldn’t it?

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

Yeah, let's talk about trucks now!

But it is not so much that trucks and vans have high profile tyres as they have no need for the more costly and less suitable low profile tyres fitted to cars for which handling is a priority.

As I said - there is no law saying you cannot tow heavy weighs with low profile tyres.

Backpedal!

Don’t defend the indefensible and unsubstantiated thing you did claim (that combining towbars and 18s is NOT recommended), defend something you didn’t claim, that there is “no law” against it.

So the lower claim about TB+18s “not being recommended” must be true because you did not make an even more outrageous claim about towbars and 18s being illegal? Brilliant!

You then go from technical bull**** to just plain bull**** (“towing experience”, whatever that is) and throw in something about “suspension travel” for good measure, even though it remains a constant whether 17” or 18” tyres are fitted:

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

I have no issue with your opinions, Coreying, but it is unfair to express opinions and conjecture as facts, even if you’ve heard them elsewhere. Tell us you read of an issue, don't write "it is not recommended" without attribution or explanation. As Swallowtail said:

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.

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.

You should concede more than that.

Why wade in and cause alarm and spread misinformation by making unsubstantiated claims that there is a “recommendation” against fitting tow bar + 18s, especially when when you do not even know whether the towbar is to be used for a bike rack or a ski boat?

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

Nor did you – you just came out and claimed adding a towbar with 18s was “not recommended” which not only was not true (you also said it was "probably not recommended"), it did not take any account of the OP’s needs.

But I don't care enough to further discuss with the rude people who have come along …

The issue raised by these "rude" people is transparency, not towbars.

to do nothign else but throw insults around without adding anything useful to the thread, so I'll leave this be

No one’s throwing insults, Coreying, just doing the Aussie thing of calling out bull**** when we see it in the hope that others will think twice before trying it on in this forum in future.

As for being “rude”, you were condescending:

It appears to be obvious to everyone but you guys.

as soon as your peddling of opinion (and conjecture) as fact was exposed.

It was obvious alright.

[Swallowtail]

Holy crap Dubya, now that is a serious rebuttal... you're not a lawyer perchance are you?

I think that is probably enough on the side topic now folks, let's get things back on track and on topic.

NOTE: ANY efforts to continue this aspect of the discussion WILL result in infractions. Don't tempt me folks...

[Pearso888]

Towing with a Golf

I really like the GTI/GTD but the problem i have is i need to be able to tow a trailer occasionaly and just wanted to know if anyone can give me any advice as to how a GTI/GTD might go towing a trailer. Currntly i have a Subaru Forester and i know the golf will not tow as well as the Forester does, buit for the occasionaly times that i tow would the golf cope?

[Stoney!]

The diesel will certainly cope with the weight with 350nm of torque, ottiengerchip should get it over 400nm too, only problem being its FWD!

Stoney!

[team_v]

Could look into a TDI Tiguan or Passat if the Golf isn't suitable enough?

[cme2c]

What sort of trailer? For example, my son tows a small boat trailer with a Hyundai Excel. I towed his Excel on a trailer with my Bedford. Just be aware of towing weights and towball weight.

[STV4SYT]

I have a mate who use to regularly tow a 15ft Bullet Speed boat with a TDI pacific, it was right on the limit (legally) but had no hassles.

[barges]

i test drove the new forrester petrol manual and stalled it twice. i thought it was really underpowered and had no low down torque. i supposed im spoilt as the only manual i drive is a big 4x4 ute that just pulls out in second gear.
i think my diesel golf would be ok in towing a trailer, but not too sure about the dsg seems a little clunky from stationary.

[mtaoz3]

I towed a bit with my Mk V 2.0 TDI Manual. I never had any dramas with small trailers up to 700kg. I towed an empty car trailer (900kg) several hundred km without drama, although you have to work the clutch a bit on takeoff. Just for the hell of it I did try to tow a loaded car trailer (1100kg car on 900kg trailer) and whilst it had the power to tow it easily enough, it felt that the trailer was driving the car, which is what you'd expect. It was way over the legal and practical towing capacity of the car!
Stick to the VW recommended limits and you'l have no issues. Fitting the towbar isn't cheap though as the wiring at the back of the car is multiplexed, requiring the use of a special VW harness. Check the price of the harness first.

[glenc]

Best Tow Car Award

Most Australians think that you need a 4WD to tow a caravan but it's different in the UK.

2010 Towcar of the Year awards
The VW Golf SE 2.0 TDI reigned supreme in its price class and went on to be voted overall winner by a panel of 10 judges for its great performance when towing in a variety of situations and its practicality as a caravanning family car.
2010 Towcar of the Year awards | Practical advice | The Caravan Club

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/practical-advice/thinking-of-buying/award-winning-choices/towcar-of-the-year-awards/tested-towcars/volkswagen/volkswagen-golf-se-20tdi

Other winners were:

• Kia Soul Shaker 1.6 CRDi
• Land Rover Discovery 4 TDV6 HSE
• Mazda6 2.2D Estate TS2
• Škoda Superb Elegance 3.6 V6 4x4 DSG
• Volvo XC60 SE D5 AWD

[Corey_R]

Wow - thanks for the news. There you go. A FWD 2L Golf voted best tow car!

[glenc]

I recently towed an ALiner to Sydney, Adelaide, Darwin and back home to Casino.
My Golf 2.0 TDI averaged 7.1 L/100km (14 km/L, 40 mpg) over 11,900 km with the van. I cruised at 95 kph.
The Golf has more torque than a V6 Commodore and better resale value too.
The traction control came in handy a few times going up hill on gravel.

[glenc]

2011 Towcar of the Year awards

The Volkswagen Golf Match 2.0TDI 140 (103 kW)
won its class in the 2011 Towcar of the Year awards

2011 Towcar of the Year awards | Practical advice | The Caravan Club

[supermotojm]

Mk6 towbar + 103 TDi 30k service

Hi folks
Newbie on here and don't yet own a VW. Picking up a second hand manual 103 TDi with sport pack, hoefuly this week end.
Looking forward to it!
I need to occasionaly tow a small trailer with a dirt bike so will need to install a towbar.
Have been quoted $1500 to $1700. I thought it was a joke until I read some posts on Mk5 tow bars and I found a post on Mk6 towbars. The parts cost $1045 and then there is $500 to $600 in labour. Crazy stuff.

Had a few queries:
1. Has anyone installed a non genuine VW tow bar on a Mark 6? I found this one for $699 - half price!
VW Golf Tow Bar Sydney

2. Is anyone else interested in ordering a towbar so we could try and get a group price with some Sydney dealers.

The 103TDi is due for its second 30k servive even though it has only clocked 25k - service light is on. It turns out this service is a $660 service where the some filter needs to be changed. I get the feeling this is a diesel engine specific service job.

- As the vehicle was registered in July 2009, so 2 years haven't yet come up and we have not yet reached $30k, am I able to wait another 5k to do this service or should I be taking the hit right away and service this baby?
- Anyone had any experience with non VW garages servicing (like Midas)? Have a feeling there could be a saving there as well, but haven't got any quotes yet.

Thanks for your help guys.

JM