R36 Tow Bar

[ash]

Hi Guys,

I ordered my new R36 with a dealer fitted tow bar. When I collected it a few weeks back I flagged with the sales rep that the tow bar did not seem to have been fitted correctly. My main concern was how the lower bumper had been cut and a cheap looking edging strip had been installed.

It has a removal able tongue but the car looks pretty silly if you remove it as there is a gaping hole...

Can anyone comment if this is correct?

[vanDub]

It looks standard to me. When originally fitted by dealer mine looked the same but I didn't get the edging. See an earlier post:

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=13307&page=3

After a rear ender where the bumper was replaced and a new genuine towbar fitted (fitting outsourced by panel shop to an independent towbar specialist) it looked exactly as before but now with edging ie same as yours.

I suspect that there are VW supplied fitting instructions including where to cut the bumper as they wouldn't all be the same otherwise.

As I got rear ended while the tongue was not fitted I now have two of them. One is now more permanently fitted to discourage people touch parking. I replaced the quick release pin with a high tensile M17 bolt and locknut.

[vanDub]

What are the towing limits for R36?

I (foolishly) believed that my Passat would be able to tow a 1500kg caravan. According to the manual it can tow 1500kg but the towball download is limited to 85 kg which effectively limits anyone to an 850kg braked van/trailer under our common Aussie 10% rule. The manual actually warns against loading a caravan/trailer with weight to the rear to reduce towball download as it is dangerous (and I know from experience that it is). The Europeans do this with their caravans but they seem happy with neccessary lower speeds as they aren't going far.

Although I believe the Passat should have a much higher towball download limit, having seen how far the rear end drops with 250kg of pool salt in the boot with no rear seat passengers, I can see why the limit is so low. I would hate to think what a large(ish) Aussie caravan and two rear pax plus luggage in the boot would do to the poor thing.

Strangely, although I have the 125KW TDI, I have a manual supplement that states that the 103KW TDI can tow 1800kg on 12% slope or 2000kg on 8% slope with a masssive 90kg towball download. The supplement does not cover the 125KW TDI.:frown:

[gead]

What are the towing limits for R36?



from VW australia website...

You’ll soon appreciate why the Passat wagon won the prestigious 2007 Towcar Awards. An unbraked towing capacity of 750kg and a braked capacity of 1,500kg offers plenty of haulage to cater for all of your towing needs.

[tryingavw]

from VW australia website...

You’ll soon appreciate why the Passat wagon won the prestigious 2007 Towcar Awards. An unbraked towing capacity of 750kg and a braked capacity of 1,500kg offers plenty of haulage to cater for all of your towing needs.

its all about the europeans- they probably reckon a 6x 4 trailer is a big load :biggrin:.

[Malpractice]

from VW australia website...

You’ll soon appreciate why the Passat wagon won the prestigious 2007 Towcar Awards. An unbraked towing capacity of 750kg and a braked capacity of 1,500kg offers plenty of haulage to cater for all of your towing needs.

Yes, but this was a UK 2 litre TDI 4 Motion varient. N/A here in Oz:duh:

[Cro]

I remember when VW Australia first published the specs for the R36 back in July 2007, the said it had a 2500kg towing capacity...
How things change..

[Rocket36]

that looks like a non VW genuine tow bar to me! Bad form from that dealer!

[vanDub]

that looks like a non VW genuine tow bar to me! Bad form from that dealer!

Sorry Rocket but that is the genuine VW towbar. It's not a factory fit but is an after market job made by Best Bars in NZ and fitted by dealer. It is however the "official" tow bar provided by VW for the Australian market (and presumably others like NZ as well).

[Rocket36]

Sorry but you're contradicting yourself. If can't be the "genuine VW tow bar" when it's not factory fit. The VW tow bar is designed to curve under the rear spoiler. Look at one on a German VW. Fits a LOT nicer than the cheap after market cut out Australian job. Not that it bothers me. If I need to tow something, I'll tow it with my V8!

[ozr36]

Sorry but you're contradicting yourself. If can't be the "genuine VW tow bar" when it's not factory fit. The VW tow bar is designed to curve under the rear spoiler. Look at one on a German VW. Fits a LOT nicer than the cheap after market cut out Australian job. Not that it bothers me. If I need to tow something, I'll tow it with my V8!

European tow bars that curve under the rear bumpers do NOT meet ADR so the Australian supplied towbars on Australian sold euro cars are either from NZ or Haymen Reece

[Maverick]

Sorry but you're contradicting yourself. If can't be the "genuine VW tow bar" when it's not factory fit. The VW tow bar is designed to curve under the rear spoiler. Look at one on a German VW. Fits a LOT nicer than the cheap after market cut out Australian job. Not that it bothers me. If I need to tow something, I'll tow it with my V8!


Sorry Rocket but that is the genuine VW towbar. It's not a factory fit but is an after market job made by Best Bars in NZ and fitted by dealer. It is however the "official" tow bar provided by VW for the Australian market (and presumably others like NZ as well).

I concur with Rocket but it's a hard one as VWA supply it to the dealer channel.

It's like the bluetooth, VW have an awesome bluetooth in the Skoda kit but in Australia they supplied overpriced junk like the parrot.

With the golf I'd order the factory tow bar when I want to get one as it goes under the rear bumper and I assume that VW will let you order it through parts. If not it'll cost about the same to get it shipped from Germany so I'll go down that path.

[vanDub]

Sorry but you're contradicting yourself. If can't be the "genuine VW tow bar" when it's not factory fit.

Rocket36.
Please don't mis quote me just to suit your own purpose. I did not say "genuine VW tow bar", I said " "official" tow bar provided by VW for the Australian market" ". That is exactly what it is and AFAIK it is the only one available to dealers from the VW parts system.

If you don't like it please don't say that it is "Bad form from that dealer!" when the dealer had no say in the matter (except to refuse to fit it and that's not likely at the profit margin that must be built in to the exhorbitant price).

By your arguement, my mud flaps, bonnet protector and headlight protectors (all genuine parts) must be non genuine purely because they were fitted by the dealer as part of the pre delivery process.

[Swallowtail]

I remember when VW Australia first published the specs for the R36 back in July 2007, the said it had a 2500kg towing capacity...
How things change..

My manual says 2200KG braked / 750KG unbraked for the R36, but the bar itself says 1500 / 750.

May be time for a clarifying request to VWA... if they'd have a clue!

[passatpout]

My manual says 2200KG braked / 750KG unbraked for the R36, but the bar itself says 1500 / 750.

May be time for a clarifying request to VWA... if they'd have a clue!

I'd love it if a Passat could tow 2000kg+.. but then I'm not sure if I want that much hanging on the rear end, especially trying to pull a boat up a ramp..

[Rocket36]

Rocket36.
Please don't mis quote me just to suit your own purpose. I did not say "genuine VW tow bar"

Errrrrrr......


Sorry Rocket but that is the genuine VW towbar.

:duh:



By your arguement, my mud flaps, bonnet protector and headlight protectors (all genuine parts) must be non genuine purely because they were fitted by the dealer as part of the pre delivery process.

That's not at all what I said. The fact is VWA aren't supplying a properly fitting tow bar engineered for the car by VW in Germany. They're supplying an after market one than needs some dodgy body work trimming done in order to fit it. The mud flaps, bonnet and headlight protectors (although detracting from the look of the car and generally being a waste of money) are the parts supplied by VW in Germany. Nowhere did I ever claim they weren't non-genuine. The thread isn't even about those options.

[gregozedobe]

My manual says 2200KG braked / 750KG unbraked for the R36, but the bar itself says 1500 / 750.

May be time for a clarifying request to VWA... if they'd have a clue!

If you want to tow anything that weighs a bit it is also worth paying very close attention to the design ball weight limit - VAG cars often seem to have very light ball weight limits compared with Oz trailer norms.

[vanDub]

The fact is VWA aren't supplying a properly fitting tow bar engineered for the car by VW in Germany.

Rocket, vehicle manufacturers don't always make every component in house but buy in from specialty manufactures, eg Bosch for fuel injection, Borg Warner, Gertrag or ZF for transmisssions.

Yes, those examples are factory fitted but a similar situation applies with tow bars even for the Euro market. See post by Jmac 25/02/08 on an earlier Tow Bar thread [QUOTE] "I fitted Genuine tow bars back in the mother country and the VW/AUDI ones were made by BRINK" [QUOTE]. The Aust ones just happen to be made by Best Bars and I would not be so rash as to claim that either the Brinks or Best Bars ones were or were not engineered for the car by VW in Germany.

The attached placard on the Best Bars towbar looks awfully like its an "official" VW part, maybe I'll even say its "genuine".

Damn, they have changed posting of pictures - but it says in part:
"Part No VGA 803 921 PAS06
NZ PATENT 231286. VOLKSWAGEN GROUP AUSTRALIA. FOR TOWING PURPOSES ONLY.
Manufactured, designed and tested in accordance with AS4177 1-1994 by BEST BARS NZ"

[Maverick]

European tow bars that curve under the rear bumpers do NOT meet ADR so the Australian supplied towbars on Australian sold euro cars are either from NZ or Haymen Reece

Do you know what the problem is with the Euro ones?

BMW sell factory fitted bars into the country without any problems and I thought that were a similar design.

Is it just another case of our ridiculous ADR's being inflexible and slow to move with the rest of the world as is the case with isofix child seats etc.

I'm inclined to import the factory kit as it looks so much neater and is removable without making a mark on the bumper unlike the bodgy towbars VWA slapped together to meet ADR's.

[Umai Naa!!]

There are four distinct templates for cutting the Passat rear bumper. Sedan, wagon, R36 sedan, R36 wagon.

Using the wrong template, or cutting the bumper in the wrong spot will leave a nice big hole. Done correctly, the modified section is barely noticable once the towbar tongue is fitted.

[ozr36]

Yes some ADR are quite retarded indeed
I feel sure that if the German design and fitted towbar meets the German needs it would be more than fine for Australia
My concern is warranty and insurance in Australia and how they view the issue of non ADR approved towbars
Same deal with ISOFIX child seats - they are way better but technically not legal in Australia - As I said - retarded!!

[PASHN8]

After reading through this, has anyone in fact gone ahead and imported a genuine German/EU VW tow kit for an R36 wagon?

Any links on where to order a complete kit from EU?

[Joey]

For anyone looking at this old thread for towing data, consider the information at this link:

Towball Weight and Trailer Stability (https://www.outbacktravelaustralia.com.au/driving-towing-towing/towball-weight-and-trailer-stability)

The key points suggested for a North American study:
10% tow ball pressure allowed stability up to 160km/h (suited US towing speeds)
3% tow ball pressure up to 105km/h
negative 10% tow ball pressure up to 72 km/h

European testing in 2009 (Department of Mechanical Engineering at Bath University in the UK) concluded the following:
Load is best massed at centre of gravity
Optimum nose mass (ball load) was 6-8% of the trailers gross mass
ESC or equivalent assisted stability with a trailer produced more stable behaviour during "stability manoeuvres"

My Summary - keep you mass over the axle, don't go over 85KG ball weight (as per VW supplied bar) and the R36 can handle the max ATM weight of 1500kg at 5.7% ball load. The highest speed limit in any state is 110 km/h with a caravan.

Shop1Auto also provide a Hayman Reese hitch with a rating of 1800 ATM and 90 kg ball weight. This would be at a percentage of 5%

VW Passat Tow Bar Sydney (http://www.shop1auto.com.au/New%20towbar%20pages/Towbars_VW_Passat.html)

What do people think about this research from Bath?

[Passat my07]

The Hayman reese towbar won't increase the ball weight because it goes back to the manufacturer spec of 85kg.
I doubt 1800kg would tow well with 85 kg ball weight.
I guess these specs might be related to the slower German towing speeds.
In Australia we have to cover big distances on bad roads so maybe that's why we have the higher specs?
It is interesting that they say 6-8% Is ok though.
I've looked at pop up caravans recently and you can hardly get anything with a ball weight below 85kg.