Rick

I asked a similar question about 8 months ago but hoping to get some insights from experience that people may have gained over the last 8 months. I'd really like to get input from people who are actually towing enclosed trailers.

I'm considering buying an enclosed trailer to tow my race car and curious if anyone has towed such a trailer with the Cayenene S. The total weight will be approx. 6600lbs but I'm curious how the Cayenne will handle towing someting with the wind resistance of an enclosed trailer.

I'm considering several trailers but will certainly get something with an aerodynamic front - either a wedge front or a slope nose. I plan to look at a Trailex next week (will have to pay for extra height since the standard interior height is 4' 11''), a Featerlite and possibly a Haulmark w/ sloped nose.

Thanks much.

skl

Hope to get some responses here as I'm looking at aluminum trailers as well with an S with air to tow with. Will carry either a spec Miata or a 911. I'm going with a lower trailer to cut wind resistance...

ltc

The Trailex (open or enclosed) uses leaf springs, most other trailers will use Torsen axles.
If you live near a trailer dealer, take a flat nose and V nose out for a pull. You will notice a difference almost immediately.

skl

I'd love to see a Trailex enclosed up close- never seen one other than in pictures. They seem a lot more expensive than any other aluminum trailer and I don't know what makes them worth that much more? A local place can make one or sell me a Contential Cargo trailer in aluminum with a V-nose, but I don't know much about that company either. Not a lot of choices (in person at least) out here in fly over country.

ltc

skl,
these folks make extremely high quality trailers:
http://aluminumtrailer.com/php/produ...lers/index.php
$$, but well worth it.
They're in Indiana, sort of close to fly over country.

ltc

Perhaps a useful webpage for trailer manufacturers:
http://www.roadsters.com/trailers/#Race
(yes, there are LOTS of options here)

ltc

If you don't like aluminum, how about stainless steel:
http://www.stainlesstrailers.com/
(skl, they're in Iowa!)

redcar1

I had the same question, going from an F250 to a TT Cayenne for occasional pulling of a 24’ enclosed car hauler. I can report that for trailering the TT is better in every way than the Expedition I had before, and the TT’s torque feels as strong or stronger than the F250 Powerstroke.

The dealer just got my brake controller sorted out, and I haven’t pulled the trailer much yet, so I can’t say how it will handle heavy crosswinds, but so far it feels very stable, although definitely not as comfortable as the F250, where you could forget you were pulling a trailer. You certainly won’t forget its there with the Cayenne.

The air suspension is nice for trailering. I’m playing with the Tip, because I don’t really like the way it shifts with the additional load/wind resistance. The mirrors definitely need to be extended. Anyone know of a clean fitting mirror?

One thing is for certain, if you leave the trailer at the track and drive your tow vehicle into town the Cayenne makes for a much more enjoyable drive!

Mark McKenzie

mudman2

you should not be in auto mode towing, manual only.

daddyE

I attached a couple pictures to give you an estimate of what I've towed with my Cayenne TT.

I can't recall how big the enclosed trailer is, but we estimated the weight to be around 8 or 9000 pounds. (3 ATV's, a few hundred pounds of food, supplies, an entire A/C system, and lumber).

It was towed through the "mountains" of western Maryland and West Virginia for about 250 miles. Nothing like out west, but still some fairly good slopes.

I am proud to say that the TT pulled this trailer like a champ! I could definately tell that the trailer was tugging on the Cayenne, and I could feel the wind resistance since the Cayenne is so much smaller. But the 450hp turbo engine handled the weight with ease. It was actually a little difficult to get used to at first because I didn't want to rip off the trailer hitch by hitting the gas too hard.

Now a couple warnings...
First, don't expect very good handling with this setup. With that much weight you better be ready to accept your fate in an accident.
Second, the electric brake controller is key. Without that setup and balanced correctly, the trailer would push the Cayenne like a matchbox car.
Third, I got an amazing 6-8mpg while towing. That means 3 stops at the gas station for 250miles. But did I really think about money when buying this vehicle?
Fourth, you MUST get mirror extenders before attempting to tow a trailer of that width.

That all being said, we normally tow that trailer with a Silverado. The only benefit of the Silverado is that it is a little more stable with that large of a load behind it (mainly because the silverado itself is of comparable size to the trailer). But the Silverado cannot pull the weight with ease, and is almost just as bad on gas mileage. (but it has a larger gas tank so you can avoid stopping as much).


With a much lighter loaded, such as a 911, you won't have any trouble with the TT.

One other note: That trailer had too many running lights for the Cayenne to power. I got the usual warning in the dash when I turned on the lights, so my solution was easy: Don't drive at night. I'm waiting in hopes that the rumors are true that there is a fix coming out for this amp issue....

E

daddyE

I also forgot to mention that the Air Suspension was great for this. The tounge weight of the trailer was enough to make any vehicle sink at the tail when applied. But the Cayenne balanced it out perfectly with the front of the vehicle immediately after attaching it.

Oh... and I got more strange looks from other drivers while towing that trailer than I ever have just driving around in the TT normally. : )

E

38D

I am also thinking about towing an enclosed trailer with my C-S (an Alum ATC). Any other experiences out there?

Torags

There was a Treg owner who towed a live in trailer with a tongue weight of 700-800lb. The air suspension went nuts; it couldn't level the truck & was all over the road. VW ate the truck.

With your load (sounds like you had more than 600lb tongue weight)., I wonder if PSM had anything to do with stabilizing the Pepper.