Towing with a 204 DSg 4Motion

[Nick Sherburn]

Morning all,

Has anyone had any direct experience with using their California 204 DSG 4Motion for towing. I have read on the VW tech spec that the vehicle has a legal towing capability of 2500kg and the trailer we tow is 2100kg so all nice and legal, but what I really need to know is real life capability.

Thanks in advance.

 

[swan]

Hi Nick,

I only collected my Cali 204 DSG 4M just before half-term in May, and almost the first thing we did was tow our twin axle caravan (1800Kg) over to Pembrokeshire. I was a little concerned as to how the Cali would cope after being used to a 4.4 V8 diesel RR but I can honestly say I was amazed. Our journey start is up a private drive which must be a 14% approx slope and 250m long. No problem going up. The DSG seemed to find the correct gear almost always - occasionally I tapped it into a higher gear, but the need to intervene manually was infrequent. On the way back it felt even better. The last thing I have to do is reverse up a gravel drive, sloping up, at a fairly acute break angle. Once again, no issues whatsoever. I towed again this week and once again it was excellent. I almost want to say it is better than the RR, but the RR does have a surfeit of power, which always helps. For stability in transit, though, I would choose the Cali - I don't know whether it further blunts the wind, or is just that little bit heavier, but it does seem slightly more stable than the RR. What more can I say!

 

[Nick Sherburn]

Thanks for the response all sounds very promising. This camper will replace a late Discovery so I just had reservations on the 2.0 against the 3.0V6 in the Disco.
Proof will be in the pudding and at least I should get a better residual with the California.