2002 Golf tow ratings

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

Reply to
Achim Nolcken Lohse
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What the manual syas is what it is. A Ford F250 or Chevy 2500 or Dodge

2500 with their huge diesel eng>Have long been puzzled by the towing capacities listed in the 2002

Jim B.

Reply to
jimbehning

Actually, 20,000 is GCWR not GVWR. F250/350 etc 3/4 and 1 ton is ~12,300 GVWR towing w/ empty chassis (w/o anything in the bed) or you will go over the combined limit.

Right. No offense to the non-US OPer but VWs are not for towing. You will "kill" the VW body, mind and soul :). The tow rating is for marketing purposes only (sic).

Again, you don't want to tow with a "Timing belt" engine, PERIOD. This is the easiest way to break the timing belt. The Gas 2.0L would survive but the diesel engines would not.

VW,s were historically never considered as a towing vehicle IMHO. They usually are the ones getting towed. :-)

Reply to
Peter Parker

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!

Reply to
Woodchuck

What I really mean is that VWs get towed behind campers and for entertainment purposes. :) You will probably see more Fords on flatbeds than VWs. :)

Reply to
Peter Parker

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

Reply to
Achim Nolcken Lohse

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

Reply to
Achim Nolcken Lohse

Reply to
Rob Guenther

Dude, when I saw this comment above, me, the usually just laughing to myself lurker, had to jump in to comment. The fact that an engine has a belt vs. a chain to drive the camshaft has absolutely NOTHING to do with tow capacity. The belt (or chain) sees NO ADDITONAL LOADS regardless of how much load is being applied to the engine; the timing belt (or chain) exists only to do what the name says---to time the valves. The only reason that automakers use belts vs. chains is for noise suppression in the engine (belts are quiter than chains). If you have any proof (and I mean real engineering proof, not just your sayso) to the contrary, please let me know-------

Reply to
FerdyPooh

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 c 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

Reply to
Jonathan Royce

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

Reply to
Strudelsmith

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