Accessories

[Guest001]

Looks like Westfalia Australia have their A40V available for the previous generation Tiguan with a 200KG ball weight. I've used them previously on my Audi Q7 and they are awesome.

Product-EVTowbars

I've reached out to see if they have one coming for the new gen 2 Tiguan as this may be the answer.

Regards,
Shane.

Remembering that the allowable towball weight is set by the vehicle manufacturer NOT the towbar maker.

Also no gain from putting a (say) 3000kg towbar on a vehicle rated at 2000kg.
The ADR rules state quite clearly that the towing limits of a vehicle may tow either to the rating of the vehicle or the towbar WHICHEVER IS THE LESSER.
Towball mass is set by the vehicle maker

[shanelord]

Remembering that the allowable towball weight is set by the vehicle manufacturer NOT the towbar maker.

Also no gain from putting a (say) 3000kg towbar on a vehicle rated at 2000kg.
The ADR rules state quite clearly that the towing limits of a vehicle may tow either to the rating of the vehicle or the towbar WHICHEVER IS THE LESSER.
Towball mass is set by the vehicle maker

Yeah I've since discovered this. I'm in discussions with VW Corporate via my dealer at the moment.

I'm awaiting a statement from VW as I've challenged them to prove how they can in good conscience advertise a towing capacity like this where no 2500kg caravan in Australia is supplied with anything less than 6% ball weight.

This is borderline misrepresentation/false advertising.

Will let you know what they come back with.

Regards,
Shane.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[Guest001]

Yeah I've since discovered this. I'm in discussions with VW Corporate via my dealer at the moment.

I'm awaiting a statement from VW as I've challenged them to prove how they can in good conscience advertise a towing capacity like this where no 2500kg caravan in Australia is supplied with anything less than 6% ball weight.

This is borderline misrepresentation/false advertising.

Will let you know what they come back with.

Regards,
Shane.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Well looking at it logically it is after all a euro built car and the number they sell here is a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

Caravans in Aus are built out of step to the rest of the world and traditionally have been towed by 4x4 vehicles often with a weight exceeding the vans weight. Actually that is the ideal situation.

Euro vans are built to different specs and generally are much lighter and by careful weight distribution achieve a lighter ball weight.

They also incorporate ESC controllers to help braking and sway. This is gradually being introduced here but not as a rule of thumb in most makes..
Therefore VW and others build for their mass market , which is only to be expected and if you want to tow an Aussie van buy something suitable. I have read the even Amaroks have given trouble towing, with dual mass flywheel problems and people towing in too high a gear and breaking things. Nissan X Trails had big problems with the factory towbar literally ripping out of the bodywork.
Other makes also have foibles and it pays to do your homework BEFORE buying something you THINK may be suitable and then finding out its not.
I know because it happened to me I bought a Patrol 3L auto and then found the van I bought was too heavy for it. Cost me another $23,000 to trade up to a Landcruiser. Nothing like weight, cubic inches of diesel and 145 L fuel tanks for towing my 25ft 3000kg van.

Can your vehicle actually tow 2500kg as GCVM and axle weight limits have to be taken into account.

That is the max allowable loaded GVM of the tug (including ballweight) and the rated GTM (or weight on the wheels only) of the van.

To be precise at any one time it is the actual loaded weight of both which may not exceed the plated GVM and GTM and GCVM

There is a lot more to it than just buying something and hooking up and going.

Personally after driving a Tiguan loaner a couple of years ago I thought it was gutless in comparison to my Passat and too small and light to be towing a decent size van.

Perhaps you should look at some of the Caravan forums. Has been some discussion on them on there about how they go or in some cases dont.

[shanelord]

Well looking at it logically it is after all a euro built car and the number they sell here is a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things.

Caravans in Aus are built out of step to the rest of the world and traditionally have been towed by 4x4 vehicles often with a weight exceeding the vans weight. Actually that is the ideal situation.

Euro vans are built to different specs and generally are much lighter and by careful weight distribution achieve a lighter ball weight.

While I agree partially with this, Australia, like NZ, follow the USA methodology of 6-15% as ball weight.

If you are advertising a car in Australia, misrepresentation or false advertising is when a reasonable person based on available information would be misled.

In this case VW Sales staff, VW brochures and VW website advertise 2500KG towing and don't detail the 100KG ball weight.

The reasonable assumption IMHO for most people would be then that the manufacturer would advertise to suit the local environment, and 2500KG would be realistic based on the towable caravans or trailers in the local market.

We can agree to disagree on this; but until I found this detail on these forums, I was misled.

Regards,
Shane.

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[Sydneykid]

The "European" towbar isn't certified in Australia (ADR 62).
I use a Hayman Reese load distribution hitch to tow ~1700 kgs (race car and trailer). The tow ball weight (without hitch) is 160 kgs but the rear axle load is measured at 95 kgs as the hitch "moves" 65 kgs of load to the front wheels.




Cheers
Gary

[Guest001]

The "European" towbar isn't certified in Australia (ADR 62).


Cheers
Gary

Are you really sure


Product-EVTowbars

And here from Westfalia site :- Westfalia-Automotive Australia bars meet the NZ Domestic Standard 5467 (1993) and Australia Design Regulations (ADR)


Towball weight of a trailer is weighed DISCONNECTED FROM THE TUG.

What a WDH does after you hook up is irrelevant.

It is weighed like that because not everyone uses a WDH ( or needs to)

You would have your hitch done up really tight to move that % of weight to the front wheels and I doubt it extremely.

Normally it is less than 25% and can be checked like this.

Measure height under front wheel arch then

hook up and remeasure height from ground to under front wheel arch.

Attach WDH and do it again. measure how far its dropped.

Other way to check weights is weigh the tug Hook up weigh it again Do up WDH weigh it Will still be almost the same as

previous weight because the action of the WDH applies more force to the joint and distributes some weight forward but in no way

lightens it
How can it. Would need a Jack under it or a skyhook to do that

Other way is to weigh each axle before and after as above to confirm weight changes

I spoke to HR technical services and they confirmed that fact.

Also remember that the towball weight is part of the tugs payload so you cannot legally load tug to GVM and add a trailer.

After a few years of full time vanning with a heavy van and reading up on staying legal I can assure you what is written is on the button
Yes your rear axle weight will alter but it will be a lot more than 95kg even in an empty car.

Unless you mean it will increase by that amount with the WDH hooked up

Most would have a rear axle weight limit in the area of 1200-1900kg depending on the model

[Sydneykid]

Tow weight of a trailer is weighed DISCONNECTED FROM THE TUG.
What a WDH does after you hook up is irrelevant.
It is weighed like that because not everyone uses a WDH ( or needs to)
You would have your hitch done up really tight to move that % of weigh to the front wheels and I doubt it extremely.
Normally it is less than 25% and can be checked like this.
Measure height under front wheel arch thenhook up and remeasure height from ground to under front wheel arch.
Attach WDH and do it again. measure how far its dropped.
Other way to check weights is weigh the tug Hook up weigh it again Do up WDH weigh it Will still be almost the same as
previous weight because the action of the WDH applies more force to the joint and distributes some weight forward but in no way lightens it
How can it. Would need a Jack under it or a skyhook to do that
Other way is to weigh each axle before and after as above to confirm weight changes
I spoke to HR technical services and they confirmed that fact.
Also remember that the towball weight is part of the tugs payload so you cannot legally load tug to GVM and add a trailer.
After a few years of full time vanning with a heavy van and reading up on staying legal I can assure you what is written is on the button
Yes your rear axle weight will alter but it will be a lot more than 95kg even in an empty car.
Unless you mean it will increase by that amount with the WDH hooked up
Most would have a rear axle weight limit in the area of 1200-1900kg depending on the model

Thanks for the detailed response, but I will follow the same process with my Tiguan when it arrives as I did with the Stagea (and the 5 tow cars that I have had before it). Put it on my corner weight scales and loaded it up with the usual gear that I take to a race meeting. Noted down that weight on the rear wheels. The Stagea has adjustable height coil overs in it so once I established the spring preload to achieve zero rake it was a simple process to mark it on the threads so that I can duplicate it when needed for towing.

Then I followed the same process with the trailer, loaded the race car onto the trailer, filled it up with what usually goes in it (mostly fuel). Balance it, by moving the weight around in the race car and/or moving it backwards or forwards on the trailer such that the hitch ends up with around 8% to 10% of the total car and trailer weight. In the case of the current car and trailer that was around 160 kgs. Then I attached the trailer to the Stagea and loaded up the WDH until it showed +115 kgs on the scales under the rear wheels (the Stagea tow bar is limited to 120 kgs). When viewed from the side the car and trailer are in line horizontally (zero rake), so it doesn't look "overloaded". I have found over the years that with this balance/weight it tows extremely well, with no throttle off sway or excessive pitching.

For reference, in my previous post I mentioned 160/95 kgs, that was before I had the adjustable height coil overs in the Stagea and needed to load the WDH more to achieve close to zero rake.

I understand that for those with a caravan it may not be as easy to move the weight around, but I have successfully applied the same process for a number of friends with vans. Moving water tanks, filling them appropriately, moving gas bottles, even silly stuff like taking the clothes out of the cupboards at the front and putting them in suitcases under a raised bed in the rear.

Cheers
Gary

[Guest001]

A link would be good or a scan as the page the brochure says the specs are on gives a 404

Present brochure doesnt give it and it is dated September

[Lupo]

http://www.volkswagen.com.au/content...n2016spec-.pdf

Above is the link - page 11 shows the figure in question.

[Gladbach]

To be fair to Hillbilly, Volkswagen have done a poor job at providing accurate information about the new Tiguan. When the Tiguans were first available to look at (a few weeks before we were actually able to test drive them) the dealer I went to had no material other than providing me with the latest copy of Volkswagen magazine. They then gave me the Tiguan brochure (the basic one) when I test drove the 132TSI. I had a lot of questions that they were unable to answer and despite not having a detailed brochure, and not being able to answer some of my questions, the dealer was pushing me hard to put in an order citing the waiting time as motivation.

I first got a hold of the detailed brochure through this forum, the dealer didn't have a hard copy to give me, and it didn't go up on the website until a few weeks later. There are still unanswered questions around the 162TSI, which doesn't feature in the detailed brochure (other than a brief mention) and isn't on the website. This is a car that I've ordered 2 months ago, but still don't have a full list of features and specs.