chrcook

After 12 years of dutiful service, this winter has resulted in a rust hole in the side of my 3/4 ton, 8.1L of fun, Chevy Suburban. She's been a work horse, but the time is drawing near for the pasture.

While I realize trucks, specifically diesel trucks, are the tow vehicle of choice, I prefer the utility of a large SUV for a variety of reasons. As such, while looking at the new Suburban, which doesn't (yet) come in a 3/4, I noticed the price with is about 70k by the time you get it the way you want. However, I have a Q7 TDI w/ towing package sitting in the driveway currently being used by the wife.

Is anyone out there towing with a Q7? If so, what size trailer? Also, is the air-suspension a must?

Spartan

I tow a 20ft featherlite with a Q7 tdi and its great. Air suspension is a must if you want to tow a car though imo. Had a chance to tow the same rig with the same Q7 sans air suspension and it was night and day. The standard rear susp will severely sag under the weight and handles much worse all around.

I'm looking forward to the next gen Q7 coming out in 2015. Should be around 600-700 lbs lighter and fingers crossed we get a V8 diesel!!

rhargy

I'm pulling an 18ft steel open with a Q7 TDI ( no air suspension ). I did have to pay some extra attention to get the tongue weight correct, but it pulls it without any problem.
I'm figuring my total weight is about 5400-5600.

Canyonrs4

We use our Touareg TDI to tow a 2 horse trailer, does great, the Q7 air suspension would be a good option, not available on the VW so tongue weight is important to get right. I figure we are towing 5,000 pounds and you hardly notice you have a trailer. Does well even through the mountains here in Colorado.

Polarporsche

I've towed my 20ft Enclosed Trailex trailer with my wife's 2013 Q7 TDI from Edmonton to Miller Motorsports Park (18 hours one way) without any problems, the Q7 has lots of power and actually got decent fuel mileage.

The Q7 is very stable and I had no issues with heavy braking or how the steering felt with the trailer in tow.

DDun911

I was towing a 24' enclosed all alum with my Cayanne GTS which I think is the same frame as the A7
and found it worked great in fact was more stable at speed than my F350.

DDun911

Make that Q7 ,

mooty

open trailer with Q7, no prob
enclosed, no so much

BoostPower

I tow my race car + steel open trailer (about 5500 lb) with my 04 Cayenne Turbo, no problem here.

Dan in Florida

I used my wife's 2007 six cylinder gas engine Q7 for 3 years pulling my track car on a Trailex 7541 open trailer to tracks in the Southeast, including Road Atlanta. Regular Q7 suspension. Didn't get into mountainous areas, but never had a problem. And the back of the Q7 was always loaded with the usual track tools.

A plus for the Q7 is the long wheel base. With the torque you've got in the TDI, you'll have no issues. As is the case with any tow vehicle, keep an eye on your tongue weight.

Cyril

I did some research about this when I bought my 20ft Featherlite and I decided to replace my Q7 4.2 for a Q7 TDI.

BTW, coming from the 4.2 to the TDI, it was just night and day!
The 4.2 was a 2007 premium full equipped (with air suspension) and was a pig.
The TDI is so much lighter (no air suspension and multiple useless options) and the torque is phenomenal.
One of my best buy and I had quite a few cars, or toys… ;-)

One thing you should consider, if you want an enclosed trailer, is an Aluminium trailer.

Few numbers…
Car: 2500 lbs
Gear (wheels and tires, tools, jack, fuel, parts…): 500 Lbs
Trailer: 2900 Lbs
Winch, battery, race ramp 100 lbs
Total load: 6000 lbs

Towing capacity : Q7 TDI - 6600 lbs (Canada/US) or 7700lbs in Europe!

chrcook

Thanks for all the thoughts. I'm in an an aluminum enclosed today that is about 5500-6000 loaded, but will be moving to bigger trailer at about 6000-7500 loaded. I may run a experiment with the wife's Q7 this spring, but I'm certain on it will have some serous tail squat. When I pulled the trailer unloaded, the tail dropped a couple of inches and that was with 250-300 of tongue weight. Loaded, my tongue weight is north of 500, but the trailer is very stable.

I think I'm down to ether a late model 2500 suburban or a Q7 with air-ride. Either that or duct-tape the existing workhorse!