Re: What Audi will tow my Audi?

["Linus D. Toy" <linust@interramp.com>]

At 08:10 AM 3/8/96 -0500, GADBOISMT@aol.com wrote:

>Read your owner's manual.  The manual for my 1989 200Q Avant says 2000 lbs.
>maximum tow weight.  Most cars are 2000 lbs. max.   Only exception I've heard
>is that a Porsche 928 will tow 3500-4000 lbs. I never did check this out so
>it may not be true. 

I've posted a few items before about how much i towed with my 4kcsq and
such.  I've also wondered about whether or not I should put a hitch on my
200q20v.  (both cars have a 2000# tow rating)  As I mentioned before,
Europeans use trailers in a different way than we do here in the US.  US
cars are typically rated with a 10% tongue weight while European practice is
for a much lighter tongue weight.  Boats (my need) typically have only 5-7%
tongue weight.  BTW, that light a tongue weight can cause significant
trailer sway as speeds increase, but with a boat, there's a long distance
between the hitch ball/pin and the towed axle, so that helps alot.  So Why
Am I Repeating this?

Today, I found a copy of the 2/96 issue of Volkswagen Audi CAR, the UK
periodical.  No particular article on towing in there, but this:  on page 55
is a comparison test between the A4 1.6 SE and A4 quattro (2.6 v6).
Pertinent item in the Facts and Figures:  the A4 1.6 SE can tow 3087/1389
lbs (brakes/no brakes) and the A4 quattro can tow 3749/1632.  Hey--i don't
need to get a truck anymore!  The quattro did have a factory installed
optional (675 L) hitch system that apparently includes strengthening at the
rear.

So what does this mean to us here in the US?  I'm not sure, but I'm gonna
rethink some comments from Trailer Boat Magazine on towing stresses on a
unibody car.  OTOH, the A4 probably incorporates the latest/greatest designs
for such use, while our 5000/100/200 bodies don't.  Still...

I know a lot of the conservative 2000# tow ratings for US-spec cars is
driven by liability concerns--you're much less likely to have a
problem/accident while towing a light trailer than heavy one, and given the
creative case theories applied in the US legal system, the conservative tow
ratings let the manufacturers disclaim liability.  

One last comment; really a request to our European list members:  Can
someone find tow ratings/capability in Europe for other Audis over the last
several years?  This need not cover every single model sold in Europe since
we never got such choices.  If we can cover the fwd and quattro versions of
the 80/4000 (1.6 or 1.8L 4 cyl--no quattros), 90/4000 (2.2L 5cyl), 100/5000
(2.2 or 2.3L 5cyl NA), 200/5000/S4/S6 (2.2L 5cyl turbo), 90 (2.8L v6),
100/A6 (2.8L v6) and V8, we'd probably cover most of the cars found here.

--linus
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* linus toy           email:  linust@interramp.com                   *
* "...it's stuff that does things people want, but they don't know   *
*     how it works.  But if they did look inside it would probably   *
*     have lots of wires."                                           *
*                            --4 year old explaining 'technology'    *
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