Phokaioglaukos

Looking for thoughts on a compromise family car/tow vehicle for a 20-24 foot enclosed aluminum trailer. Understood that a sedan plus a pickup would be better for each function, but a compromise vehicle that could address both functions would be really good. So far I've been thinking of the V-10 diesel Touareg, but before I get too far down that path I'd be interested to know what experience you have had with the Cayenne (sharing the frame) and the Mercedes. I think they are all rated at 7,500 lbs. towing capacity, but that is just the start of the inquiry.

Veloce Raptor

Touareg V-10 TDI

ltc

Rennlist member 'skl' has a V nose aluminum enclosed ATC (18' IIRC) that he pulls with his PASM equipped Cayenne S.

I had an Cayenne S with PASM that I used to pull my 20' enclosed aluminum Cargopro V nose (~5500-6000# loaded, depending on what car is back there).

It was mechanically adequate, but 6th gear was pretty much useless, you had to drive in 'manual' mode due to the lack of a 'tow mode' program for the transmission.
The lack of rearward visibility is a major concern, as there are no mirror extentions. Toby P (in this forum and the Cayenne forum) ended up using some of the ones that clamp/strap onto the door.
The 26 gallon tank and ~9-10mpg meant fairly frequent stops for gas.

A diesel would obviously be better (torque, better use of the transmission, better mileage), Audi says they are bringing the V12 TDI Q7 here in 08 and the Touareg should be available in 07 (although maybe not in 08 in the 5 'Green states'?)

FWIW, I much prefer using the wife's 05 Excursion diesel. Longer wheelbase, better stability, proper tow mirrors, 'tow' mode transmission, longer range.....just feel more comfortable when you're driving/towing. But, as a compromise vehicle, the Cayenne with PASM was OK (mechanically.......we'll skip the trailer lighting compatibilty issues)

GT3 Nut

Go with the longest wheelbase vehicle you can. I have towed with Cayenne turbo an enclosed trailex and a 20' V-nose Featherlight. I DO NOT like towing with the Cayenne. It is more than powerful enough, but the wheelbase is too short to tow an enclosed trailer without the trailer throwing the Cayenne around. My wife drives the GL450. I have not towed with it though. I tow my Trailex with the Yukon Denali XL. The VW is probably the torqueist of the 3 but the wheelbase is too short. Many will say that they tow with no problems with a Jeep, Cayenne, Explorer, etc. However I don't feel safe enough to make a habit of doing that. There has been much discussion about this here. Ask Larry Herman about his towing experience even with the Denali XL. If you need a compromise tow vehicle - get the biggest one you can stand. You are towing a $100k car behind you so be safe about it. Even more important is your own personal safety as well as others on the road with you.

Juan Lopez

You want to have a long wheel base tow vehicle. The options you mention are IMHO not adequate due to shortness of wheel base.

I tow with an Avalanche and a Yukon Denali a 22 ATC and directional stability is sometimes compromised.

Be safe out there.......

Phokaioglaukos

Thanks, Matt. I've talked with Larry and read about his towing adventure. I thought a crew cab pickup would be a good compromise vehicle, and the family says that's fine, but also get a sedan! I really don't want two motorcycles, the Porsche, the BMW convertible, the pickup, some four-door sedan and a trailer around the house. We only have a two-car garage (and no room to expand it). If I can get a sedan/tow vehicle compormise then the Porsche can live in the trailer and the BMW and sedan/tow vehicle can share the garage with the bikes.

Wheelbase

Touareg 112.4 in.
Cayenne 112.4 in.
GL450 121.1 in.
Q7 119.0 in.

Tundra crew 145.7 in.
F250 crew 158.0 - 172.4 in.

Mark Dreyer

I just bought the 05 Diesel Excursion. I plan to tow my car to Road Atlanta next month. This truck feels strong enough to move a house.

Sean F

I went with an 05 diesel Excursion as well and have been really happy with it. It's a great kid hauler as well as car hauler. I decided to go this route after exploring about 1,000 combinations of sedan + tow vehicle and then all the options for SUV's. In my opinion, it's a great compromise vehicle. My wife loves it and often times she drives it around town and I take her car to work (the train station). Since you are going with an enclosed trailer, I'd opt for more towing power and a longer wheelbase. If you went open/aluminum trailer you can get away with more on the tow vehicle (or so people here told me when I investigated this).

LVDell

Chris, I tow with a Cayenne. I can honestly say that while it is OPTIMAL to get a long wheel base tow vehicle, there is NOTHING wrong with towing with a Cayenne. The damn thing is rated at over 7700# and does it with ease. I have towed to my local tracks many times (one is 1.5hrs and the other 3hrs) without and incident or "oh ****" moments. I am VERY VERY VERY careful and aware of what I am towing with. It helps that most of my driving to the two tracks are backroad 2 lane highways mostly. My speed never really gets above 60. The thing I have noticed is that I do NOT enjoy towing once I am above about 65. At that point I feel like I have lost some control and I just back it down. FWIW, when we moved out here (NC) from Las Vegas I towed my 20' enclosed trailer with a car and a whole bunch of crap cross country almost 2500 miles! This is where I figured out that my magical number was 60mph for comfort, overdrive is worthless, and as long as your are aware of your surroundings, tow with common sense, and drive like you are towing not like you are driving a car, and you will be fine.

Sure, in a perfect world we would all have these moster trucks that most will rec'd you get, but it just isn't practical and not something I care to own. The Cayenne is a nice compromise. However, with that said, next summer when my lease is up I will be shopping around for something a bit larger but NOT like the behemoths that most rec'd. I will probably go with a Denali/Escalade, etc.

Toby Pennycuff

Ditto LVDell's comments. As Larry, umm, I mean Lewis , noted above, I pull my Haulmark 24' enclosed trailer behind my 2006 Cayenne turbo. And I pulled it with my 2004 Beta Cayenne S as well. The Turbo is better suited to pulling in my opinion due to the higher available torque. As for directional stability, or having the trailer drive the car, I have not experienced these phenomena to this point. And I pulled my trailer in the sand storm we experienced a few weeks ago here in Dallas (50mph+ winds) with no ill effects.

I'm very happy with my 06 Cayenne Turbo. It's a CPO car that I got with everything I wanted on it (including the *working* GSM Phone module and reverse camera) for a 20% discount off sticker. Yes, it had 20K miles on it, but I also had ALL PIWIS print-outs on the car and a complete history on the drive train. I'm a pretty happy camper.

Now, if I can just talk my wife into letting me buy a GT3......

Toby

LVDell

Just the opposite for me. If I could just get the wife to let me grab the Cayenne TT and trade back the little old V6 pepper I currently have then I would be very happy

Sean F

Don't listen to what anyone is telling you about smaller SUV's. You need something big, I mean really big. Think 18 Wheeler big. Even that is marginal at best. If you can get a used tank from the army, go with that (but still get a load distributing hitch - tanks produce too much sway when towing).

bobt993

Chris , having towed with a Toureg V8, Dodge V8 1500, and the Titan, I would go with a Toureag diesel no problems there. You would want load stability and see Carl T as to the correct trailer to use. His setup is great. The Toureag is so heavy that I never had sway or load issues.

Phokaioglaukos

For the kind of money we're talking about, I could get THIS , but then I'd have to live in it. Might not be so bad.

Thanks, for the word on the Touareg, Bob. My hope is that the a/c on the Volvo wagon is finally fixed, but if it isn't and we need to pull the dash to replace the evaporator again, it's going to a new home and we're getting a tow vehicle/sedan or a sedan this year. Soon it will be hot enough to check the a/c.

Acropora

The GL450 tows my 993 easily. It doesn't handle as well as the cayenne but it's way better than most SUV's.