VW Passatt Advice Please?140 or 170 for towing Caravan?

[stevedrummie]

Hello all,

We are looking at the Passatt estate as a possible family and tow car..would really appreciate any advice? Our van is 1300kg and I have heard good things about the DSG box on the new Passatt..any thoughts as to whether the 170 or 140 version of this car would be best for us?..The car will cover around 10K miles per year,2-3K of which will be towing..any thoughts/opinions as to alternatives also welcome?

Thank you very much....Steve

[Catherine197]

What's are both car's kerbweights and in addition to that what do they suggest as a maximum braked towing weight?

[GreatGranny]

No idea how the DSG gearbox copes with towing but I would go for the 170. More power/torque = less stressed towing.
I tow a 1400kg van with a Seat Alhambra 1.9Tdi 130 and it is very good so the 170 should be excellent.
However I have towed with an estate car previously and the large rear overhang is not ideal, creating a pendulum effect when going over bumps. Have you thought about a Touran?
The Alhambra is a lot more stable.
If you are set on a Passat Estate then go for the 170.

[CTE]

The towing capacity is about 1900kgs for either. We use one as a company tow vehicle which is a 140hp, and its fine....its usually towing between 1000 to 1500kgs.

[Catherine197]

True but legally he can't tow above kerb weight.

[Cuzza]

Catherine197 said:

True but legally he can't tow above kerb weight.

Cobblers - you can't exceed the max gross train weight which is generally the kerbweight of the car plus the max towing weight IIRC. I used a Passat 130 for towing my race car (probably 1100kgs with tyres and fuel cans etc) and it was great - either the 140 of 170 should be fine for your application.

Edited by Cuzza on Monday 15th September 13:55

[GreatGranny]

It is recommended that you don't exceed 85% of the cars max kerb weight when towing so a 1500kg van should be easy for a Passat, 140 or 170.