Moved to the appropriate forum.

Do a search and you'll see many people (myself included) who have towed plenty of heavy stuff with a V6.

 

You should be fine... just don't expect to break any land-speed records

 

Towed a 4200# Airstream trailer around for over a year, my V6 did just fine, and that was in Colorado pulling passes. A little breathless in the higher and steeper passes, but fine.

 

I've been towing my 23' Malibu, which is 3900 lbs, all summer with my '08 V6. No problems at all. I just wish I had the air susp.

 

i tow a 21' center console in vermont on interstate up and down mt's w/ v-6
4th gear 70 mph up the hill
maybe 10mpg

 

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I'm new to Touaregs, and VW's for that matter. I am looking at purchasing a CPO Touareg. I would love a TDI, but am unsure if I NEED one. The heaviest load would be a 12ft steel trailer (roughly 1200lbs) with 2 utility quads (650lbs a peice). So I'm looking at 2500lbs for a few hundred miles. What can I expect out a V6? Both gas, and TDI. Thanks in advance

 

You won't feel 2500lbs behind a Touareg powered by any engine. Its a very light load.

As you go up in engine power you'll get better acceleration...same as you would without a trailer.

 

Great, thanks for the info!

 

Towed 4800 pounds travel trailer with my Touareg 2011 v6 fsi yesterday. Mostly flat terrain not a lot of wind. Obviousely 8th gear was out of question. In 7th, pedal to the floor was able to accelerate to around 90-95 km/h at about 2100RPM. In 6th could go up to 110km/h at around 26000RPM and didn't try going any faster really. I wonder whether it would be acceptable to tow long distances once in a while like that? What is a good RPM range for the v6?

 

26,000 rpm? Did you put a gas turbine in that thing?

I just towed a relatively light trailer through the hills of Vermont and just let the transmission do its thing. It was pretty seamless, no need to take over manual control or do anything different. This was with a TDI, but the transmission is the same and I see no reason it wouldn't do its job just as well.

 

2600 obviousely :wink:. You can't compare TDI with gas. You probably have almost twice the torque of my V6 FSI at same RPM.

 

Don't over think it. Just put it in D and it'll be fine.

 

With the 3.6 I towed with the old six speed. Flat was hunting between sixth and fifth with any change in slope or wind (2,000 to 3,500 RPM depending on speed).

Climbing steep mountains could at times result in the direct drive gear ratio-which is third on the six speed...this allows enough power to accelerate up just about any grade (without going crazy because you don't want too high of RPM).

Most climbs were in forth, but would gradually loose speed and have to down shift to accelerate back to 50 mph...we are talking 8% grade here, so pretty steep...also lots of curves so you can't go much over 55 with trailer as some corners are rated at 45 mph.

Whatever direct drive on your transmission is would be the worst case gear if you need power to climb.

The 3.6 did pretty darn good for a six gasser. We now tow with a 4.2 v8 fsi and cruise up the same hills in fifth and fourth...but with a heavier trailer now.

 

With the 3.6 I towed with the old six speed. Flat was hunting between sixth and fifth with any change in slope or wind (2,000 to 3,500 RPM depending on speed). Climbing steep mountains could at times result in the direct drive gear ratio-which is third on the six speed...this allows enough power to accelerate up just about any grade (without going crazy because you don't want too high of RPM). Most climbs were in forth, but would gradually loose speed and have to down shift to accelerate back to 50 mph...we are talking 8% grade here, so pretty steep...also lots of curves so you can't go much over 55 with trailer as some corners are rated at 45 mph. Whatever direct drive on your transmission is would be the worst case gear if you need power to climb. The 3.6 did pretty darn good for a six gasser. We now tow with a 4.2 v8 fsi and cruise up the same hills in fifth and fourth...but with a heavier trailer now.

Spiegelglatt, your tow experience sounds similar to mine with the v8 fsi. I cruise the flats in fifth for the most part around 65mph, and drop to fourth as needed and even third on the steeper climbs trying to maintain just under 3000rpms at whatever speed. Only concern I have are my oil temps, anywhere between 240 and 270F when towing. Do you recall what you see?

 

I don't remember seeing it above noon (about 250)--just got back from a trip yesterday and I remember noting that it climbed really fast (from cold).

However: I am at a low elevation (highest pass is someplace around 2,000 feet above sea level), this might be a reason why yours is higher as I only tow around Oregon and the Oregon Coast (we love the beach). Higher elevation would mean lower boiling point and thinner air...both of which would make your engine work harder and run warmer.

 

first trip with a gasser

Just returned from the first trip with the gasser (and wife:surprise

20 ft grey wolf BH17
CVW at 10140 so loaded trailer scaled at 5240 (car weight 4900)
11500 on odometer (broke in yet?)
60 to 70 mph
841 miles on 4-lane through Ozark hills between elevations of 240 to 1500 ft.

9.9 MPG overall

I worked with several combinations including cruise in drive and cruise in manual mode.

I did find that the cruise in manual acquired the best MPG's by shifting earlier than the auto mode would. But I was letting the speed drop some to max MPG's and did not think about the temperature issue.

In drive with cruise the mileage was far better that anything I could do with my foot but the shifting to 4th for the large and long hills was giving me anxiety.

The worse conditions I experienced was the head wind. That was almost a deal breaker for me. I would not expect a comfortable trip west on I40 against that prevailing wind as I would need to climb in elevation through NM and AZ. (HP Loss = (elevation x 0.03 x horsepower @ sea level)/1000)

The big surprise was that during the last 200 miles I drove without the sway-bar and did not feel a nickles worth of difference. The car is solid!

Comments welcome...

 

I wouldn't fear high RPM'S in the VR6, I had mine above 4,500 RPM and perhaps even higher for long periods of time (an entire climb).

If you want better mileage you have to slow down I am afraid. I ran one trip in the middle of the night (I was the ONLY person on the road) at 45mph versus 60mph and my mileage was over 12.5 MPG!

Or point her into the head wind with the cruise on and the radio up and just watch the gas gage go down, down, down. In the end it is designed for it...it is a proper tow vehicle and the VR6 is a really bullet proof motor, it just screams when it needs max torque. A TDI would do way better but cost more and have more issues...my 3.6 (now my daily) is nearly 95k and has had zero engine or emissions issues since new, plus it has been in front of three travel trailers and countless other heavy trailers.

 

Thanks for the reassurance, I was kinda hoping that the low mileage was going to yield a MPG or two as it gets higher.

I may be looking at Florida this winter as the next trip if the wife can get past the Zika fears. That will be a lot flatter most of the way.

One last question Spiegelglatt, Have you changed oil more often since you have towed so much?

 

I have increased the interval to every 6k. Interesting note is the oil used to by honey colored for a very long time after change (for many, many oil changes), then I did (recently) a Chevron Techron fuel cleaner (the black bottle I think it is every 3k recommended) and the oil instantly turned black...right after a change too...so the cleaner cleaned up something. Going to have to change it again I guess. The factory 10k (or whatever it is) is something I couldn't get comfortable with.

Changing the oil yourself is a breeze, but the cleanup is horrible--it is hands down the messiest oil change I have ever done.

 

#2500
#2000
#2000

#6500 with ease.


Not as much as:

 

I'll give my two cents on this. I bought a 2009 V6 gas to tow our 18' Springdale trailer that weighs out at approximately 4500#. The car is wonderful but it does lack in the power department in my opinion. We have done two road trips in excess of 4000 miles hitting many national parks which involved lots of steep mountainous roads. I also just finished a trip from Seattle to Jasper to Banff than back to Seattle. Absolutely beautiful but very steep hills. My rule was to never go over 65 mph an never exceed 4000 rpm when towing. On a flat hwy it would go between 2000 - 2500 rpm, on any kind of incline it would pop up to 3000 - 3500 rpm. On a mountain pass it would hit 4000 rpm and I would be going about 45 mph. Fuel mileage is pretty bad too. I would average 11.5 mpg, on the mountain passes the instantaneous mpg would be as low as 5 mpg. Long story short, it does the job, it is stable, comfortable, but it does work hard. If you are towing once in a while it is fine, but if you tow often and/or long distances the frequent shifting can be annoying. I tow a fair amount so I solved my problem by purchasing a 2004 V10, good thing one of my best friends has been a VW mechanic at a local dealership for the past 14 years.

 

Peegeez, our towing experience is very similar to yours. It's reassuring to hear. We bought a 2013 V6 in September to tow a Micro Minnie 2106FBS. Dry weight of 3700#. We've only been out twice, both times in the lowlands: Olympic NP ocean and Hood Canal. Towing on the flats the Treg does about 2700 doing 60mph. Any significant hill at highway speed and it'll downshift and push the RPM to 3500 or so. I just drop the speed and, like you, try to keep the RPM lower. We averaged 12 - 13 MPG. We're planning to do Glacier NP, Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP this spring. We'll just expect low MPG and enjoy the trip. Glad to read other posts here about the reliability of the V6.

 

Anybody upgrade the transmission cooler?

 

These transmissions are about bullet proof, not really needed, though I'm sure it wouldn't hurt.