Touareg boat mode- floating across deep water crossings

casioqv · May 7, 2024

Do you guys think a Touareg is air tight and light enough to actually float across a large-ish body of water propelled by the wheel movement.

Tesla claims that their vehicles can do this in emergency situations but it's not true- you can see from youtube videos that Teslas are so heavy from dense batteries, they do not float, they sink.

Obviously ill-advised, but I suspect a lot of modern vehicles could actually do this, and the Touareg is especially likely to, because of good water seals, elevated vents, and a high intake.

These guys seem to be actually floating across this mud pit, and not possibly touching the bottom:

In some sections here, I think it they are floating off the bottom and getting pushed by the current:

lachoradkov · May 7, 2024

Maybe it will float if you can afford to submerge it after the headlights level, where the oem air intakes are…

I found that company that makes really nice snorkels for the 7L but only for the passenger side. Unfortunately they refused to make a mirror part for the V8s… Roca Silva Snorkels Touareg 7L

casioqv · May 7, 2024

lachoradkov said:
Maybe it will float if you can afford to submerge it after the headlights level, where the oem air intakes are…

I found that company that makes really nice snorkels for the 7L but only for the passenger side. Unfortunately they refused to make a mirror part for the V8s… Roca Silva Snorkels Touareg 7L

Darkside sells a dual snorkel kit.

I suspect, from the videos above, that a Touareg will float before it drowns with the stock intake if you enter the water slowly and not at a steep downhill angle. Not that I plan on testing this idea anytime soon.

Viking Lady · May 7, 2024

My 63 VW Bug floated just fine, but I wont even attempt floating my wonderful Touareg.

TTreg · May 7, 2024

Heavy as this vehicle is, I thought it would sink like a stone. Doesn't appear to be the case. Nice to know, but, I also hope never to be in water over her shoes!

Black Grouse · May 7, 2024

Judging by how much the sidestream affected a conventional saloon in 9" (225mm) of water, I'd imagine that all modern vehicles will float, at least for a while as there are usually air exit flaps behind the rear bumper (fender) - unless of course it's a Land Rover as they're designed to let water in/out - allegedly.

New2Tregs · May 7, 2024

No way to choose one or the other to vote.
I don't want to try either way with my Treg.

Nslcs87 · May 8, 2024

I didn't know an engine can run with the exhaust tip submerged in water. I thought the water pressure would stall the engine. Is it generally true that submerging an exhaust pipe tip under water won't stall an engine?

New2Tregs · May 8, 2024

Nslcs87 said:
I didn't know an engine can run with the exhaust tip submerged in water. I thought the water pressure would stall the engine. Is it generally true that submerging an exhaust pipe tip under water won't stall an engine?

I would guess that as long as someone is on the gas pedal and the exhaust has a positive outflow the water pressure into the exhaust would be negated. Of course there is the chance, depending on the engine air intake, of sucking water in and hydro-locking the engine.
Hence why a snorkel was mentioned in post #2.

Nslcs87 · May 8, 2024

New2Tregs said:
I would guess that as long as someone is on the gas pedal and the exhaust has a positive outflow the water pressure into the exhaust would be negated. Of course there is the chance, depending on the engine air intake, of sucking water in and hydro-locking the engine.
Hence why a snorkel was mentioned in post #2.

The intake is a for sure. But i think about the exhaust also. I actually made a quick attach exhaust snorkel for one of my vehicles for that and keep it stored in the vehicle. The intake is about twice as high as the exhaust. So by doing that i bought myself water up to the intake. The intake is high enough i believe it would float then sink if any higher anyways. The engine has to be able to breathe in and out. Even if it could stay running by keeping foot on gas it would be a big risk. If you take your foot off the gas for any reason it stalls. Once it stalls then the engine won't restart because water will flood inside the exhaust making it impossible to restart

RSRowe · May 8, 2024

casioqv said:
Do you guys think a Touareg is air tight and light enough to actually float across a large-ish body of water propelled by the wheel movement.

No, I do not think it will work like an amphibious vehicle. Nothing is that air tight, and once it's full of water, it will sink.

casioqv said:
Tesla claims that their vehicles can do this in emergency situations but it's not true- you can see from youtube videos that Teslas are so heavy from dense batteries, they do not float, they sink.

Tesla can claim what they want. Youtube suggests that they float for a long while though, otherwise he wouldn't have needed so much weight in the car

casioqv said:
Obviously ill-advised, but I suspect a lot of modern vehicles could actually do this, and the Touareg is especially likely to, because of good water seals, elevated vents, and a high intake.

I would certainly be cautious about saying the intake is high. It is not!
If you have water above the top of the front bumper, you're going to have issues.

New2Tregs · May 8, 2024

Nslcs87 said:
The intake is a for sure. But i think about the exhaust also. I actually made a quick attach exhaust snorkel for one of my vehicles for that and keep it stored in the vehicle. The intake is about twice as high as the exhaust. So by doing that i bought myself water up to the intake. The intake is high enough i believe it would float then sink if any higher anyways. The engine has to be able to breathe in and out. Even if it could stay running by keeping foot on gas it would be a big risk. If you take your foot off the gas for any reason it stalls. Once it stalls then the engine won't restart because water will flood inside the exhaust making it impossible to restart

Post a picture of this exhaust "snorkel".

casioqv · May 8, 2024

RSRowe said:
No, I do not think it will work like an amphibious vehicle. Nothing is that air tight, and once it's full of water, it will sink.

It doesn't need to be air tight forever, I'm talking about if it is possible or not to float a very short distance, a few seconds max. Obviously you're not going to drive it across the Pacific Ocean before it sinks.

The Touareg is extremely waterproof- I have done some fairly long water crossings at depths deeper than the door seals, and not a single drop got into my T2.

Nslcs87 said:
The intake is a for sure. But i think about the exhaust also. I actually made a quick attach exhaust snorkel for one of my vehicles for that and keep it stored in the vehicle. The intake is about twice as high as the exhaust. So by doing that i bought myself water up to the intake. The intake is high enough i believe it would float then sink if any higher anyways. The engine has to be able to breathe in and out. Even if it could stay running by keeping foot on gas it would be a big risk. If you take your foot off the gas for any reason it stalls. Once it stalls then the engine won't restart because water will flood inside the exhaust making it impossible to restart

A Touareg isn't going to stall from the exhaust back pressure from those depths... the engine has plenty of idle torque, and the ECU will increase power output automatically to maintain idle speed if it were to drop. Plenty of overlanders in vehicles of all types do deep fording after adding snorkels, but they don't do anything to the exhaust- as long as you keep the engine running, there is no issue.

casioqv · May 8, 2024

RSRowe said:
I would certainly be cautious about saying the intake is high. It is not!
If you have water above the top of the front bumper, you're going to have issues.

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't advise going deeper than the factory rated fording depth without a snorkel and many other mods... but those videos I posted above suggest the T1/T2 Touareg may float before the intake drowns, under certain conditions. The amount of weight in the car, engine and other options that affect weight, angle of entry, and speed are probably huge factors.

SaVAGeSoot · May 8, 2024

77 K20 · May 10, 2024

The Rivian has a fording depth of 43". I remember reading articles about the testing of that. The factory found after that depth the truck starts floating and they figured that is a safety issue and stuck with the 43"

New2Tregs · May 10, 2024

77 K20 said:
The Rivian has a fording depth of 43". I remember reading articles about the testing of that. The factory found after that depth the truck starts floating and they figured that is a safety issue and stuck with the 43"

43" is pretty deep.
Probably a good idea not to go any deeper as I'm sure others have seen what happens to the batteries in the EV's when they get wet.

TTreg · May 10, 2024

Of course, one of the biggest critical issues in real world situations is not knowing the depth of the fjord until you're on the other side. We have annual deaths of people trying to drive thru washes after rains here in the southwest. Rate of flow is too often underestimated.

casioqv · May 10, 2024

TTreg said:
Of course, one of the biggest critical issues in real world situations is not knowing the depth of the fjord until you're on the other side. We have annual deaths of people trying to drive thru washes after rains here in the midwest. Rate of flow is too often underestimated.

I carry a stick with the rated fording depth marked, and always walk the crossing to asses depth, bottom firmness, and current across my planned fording path. I’ve easily forded the Touareg on crossings where lots of heavily modified vehicles with snorkels were drowning or getting stuck by carefully identifying a safer and shallower route.

volkswagens-for-life · May 11, 2024

casioqv said:
Do you guys think a Touareg is air tight and light enough to actually float across a large-ish body of water propelled by the wheel movement.

Tesla claims that their vehicles can do this in emergency situations but it's not true- you can see from youtube videos that Teslas are so heavy from dense batteries, they do not float, they sink.

Obviously ill-advised, but I suspect a lot of modern vehicles could actually do this, and the Touareg is especially likely to, because of good water seals, elevated vents, and a high intake.

These guys seem to be actually floating across this mud pit, and not possibly touching the bottom:

In some sections here, I think it they are floating off the bottom and getting pushed by the current:

The Toaureg in both of the posted videos were fully touching ground. The second video he was fighting upstream; perhaps going downstream the circumstance may have been different and had the rear lifted, but maybe not.

The Touareg weights 5k lbs. You're absolutely sinking to the bottom until you get deep enough to induce buoyancy, which at that point you're screwed and the engine is locked.

The stock fording depth on the Touareg is 500mm, around 1.5 foot. I've taken my old HUMMER through water so deep that I could roll my window down and dangle in the water. The reason I know it wasn't floating is because it got high centered and didn't just "float off" of the center lol. Same with a Land Rover I had; went fording water so deep I opened my window and diddled my hands in the pond. Biggest difference? HUMMER stayed bone dry inside, Land Rover was filling fast lol

Touareg boat mode- floating across deep water crossings

Can a Touareg cross a deep water crossing by floating across?

Yes - you can float a touareg across a river

No - it will sink/drown/not move

casioqv

lachoradkov

casioqv

Viking Lady

TTreg

Black Grouse

New2Tregs

Nslcs87

New2Tregs

Nslcs87

RSRowe

New2Tregs

casioqv

casioqv

SaVAGeSoot

77 K20

New2Tregs

TTreg

casioqv

volkswagens-for-life

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