VW Touareg 3500 kg trailertowing machine

[Vekke]

Next project is on the design table. I need to haul some heavy trailers sometimes and the Touareg is one of the few cars that can legally tow 3500 kg trailer (in europe).

http://www.cars-data.com/en/volkswag...di-specs/53595

At stock it gets reasonable fuel consumption 7-8 liters at 100 km/h speed.

Here is what I calculated settings for the basic car at 100 km/h speed:
https://ecomodder.com/forum/tool-aer...ToStep=40-65-1

When heavily modified it can go as low as this:
https://ecomodder.com/forum/tool-aer...ToStep=40-65-1

Could we try to keep this topic conserning this car please, even the other information is nice most people dont want to see that information here as it makes the reading of touareg info harder...

Edit: Car is bougth and first fuel consumption test done and it works much better than expexted:
https://youtu.be/3QdXmkd1I60
Test on my stock Touareg 2.5TDI with 6 speed manual gearbox This weigths around 2000 kg and is quite big car:
80 km/h=6.3 l/100km (10km average,dry)
100 km/h= 7.3 l/100km (20km average, wet road)
120 km/h=8.8l/100km (20km average, damp road)
140 km/h=11,0 l/100km (20km average, dry)
160 km/h= 14.1 l/100km (20km average,dry)
180 km/h= 18.9 l/100km (10km average,dry) Was not anymore super relaxing speed at nigth
Top speed is around 200 km/h.

Planned mods:
- Lowering, towing car so huge ground clearance not needed.
- 215/85R16 tires with lightweight wheels
- smaller mirrors
- Grill block
- smooth underside
- Ecu remap
- Small custom aero boattail lipspoiler
- Some minor weight savings

[jimhs]

Cool project!!
What is the plan for decreasing the drag by -20% ?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

What would be your options other than the Touareg? BTW are you also looking to make aerodynamic enhancements to a trailer?

[Vekke]

Mitsubishi Pajero 3.2 200hv)
Land Rover Defender, discovery ja Range Rover (new models)
Mercedes Benz G
Nissan Pathfinder (V6)
Nissan Patrol 3.0 engine
Old Toyota Land Cruiser 4.0 (HJ61) nyt ainakin.

Touareg is the most aerodynamic and efficient option for sure.
Aero mods the basic:
narrower and taller tires
grill block
bottom paneling
and some minor tweaks here and there should do the job easily.

Plan is to install 1.9 TDI in this at some point to boos the engine efficiency up

I will make my own custom aluminum trailer model so yes it will have some aerodynamic modifications also to trailer.

[JockoT]

Why don't you buy a 1.9 tdi in the first place?

[Vekke]

1.9 TDI not available for the Touareg. Smallest engine is the R5 2.5 TDI with 174 hp or 128kW. That R5 aint one of the most reliable vw engines and is too big after the modifications to get the engine efficiency over 35% at 100 km/h speed.


20hp at 2000 rpm is 240g/kwh -> 0,24->35% efficiency

[JockoT]

Here in the UK you can only buy the 3.0 dti new. The 2.5 and 1.9 are available as used cars. When you said you were going for the 2.5 I thought you were getting a used car.
Is the 1.9 still allowed to tow 3500 kg or is that the towing allowance for a 2.5?

[Vekke]

Of course there are cars that have the 1.9 tdi but they cannot tow 3500kg trailers. Engine swap does not effect the towing capability, and my 1.9 will have more power and torque than the oem 2.5tdi has.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

That's an interesting project, even though I would be quite concerned about the suitability of the 1.9TDI for such a high load factor.

Anyway, when it comes to aero mods, wouldn't some old-school body-on-frame rig give you some more flexibility to try some extensive aero mods?

[JockoT]

Originally Posted by Vekke

Of course there are cars that have the 1.9 tdi but they cannot tow 3500kg trailers. Engine swap does not effect the towing capability, and my 1.9 will have more power and torque than the oem 2.5tdi has.

I checked the UK regs and it is the vehicle weight that determines towing allowance, not the power.
If you passed your test after 1st January 1997 you can tow a trailer where the total weight of the car AND trailer (both fully loaded) is no more than 3500 kg. To tow more you must pass special car and trailer test. That allows a total weight of 8250 kg - the same as you can drive with a licence issued before that date,