VOLKWAGON GOLF 1.9 TDI HATCH

[Benny123]

Hello me and my other half want to get a caravan weighing 1250kg.
I passed my test in 2013 and i no i am limited to what i can tow (3500kg combination car+van) so i am looking for a high litre but not to high that is going to cost me an arm and leg to insure, i have looked up and done research on alot of cars and have found that (golf 1.9 tdi hatch) kerb weight 1450kg and maxium tow weight of 1350kg.
But i just wanted to get advise of this as ive been told that you all no your stuff.
Thanks.

 

[otherclive]

I suspect that you will get similar answers as before as you aren't being specific. However the ratio of kerb weight to caravan MTPLM is 93% which is well above the normal recommendation of 85%. However an experienced caravaner may find that acceptable but I suspect that you don't have much experience so would advise against that combination.

 

[otherclive]

Apologies your kerbweight MTPLM ratio is 86% so you are in the right ballpark. The VAG engines pull well and are reliable so the cars torque output shoul be sufficient for a 1250kg caravan. You could search the VW Owners Forum to see if any members have experience of that car as s tug.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

However the ratio of kerb weight to caravan MTPLM is 93% which is well above the normal recommendation of 85%.

My calculator says 1250/1450 is 86%, not 93%.

 

[otherclive]

However the ratio of kerb weight to caravan MTPLM is 93% which is well above the normal recommendation of 85%.

My calculator says 1250/1450 is 86%, not 93%.

And so does mine if you read my correction above your post

The 2010 Caravan Club Towcar of the Year was a 2.0 TDI golf SE hatchback. So depending on the OP selected cars year it could have the right pedigree.

 

[Benny123]

Thank you everyone for you help, i would have a 2.0 tdi golf but the insurance is quite high so i think ill be getting the 1.9 hatchback.
I passed after 1997 so am i right that i can tow a combination of 3500kg car+van?

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

And so does mine if you read my correction above your post

If you look at the post timings we were both posting at the same time, so I couldn't have read your correction before I posted.

 

[otherclive]

Hello me and my other half want to get a caravan weighing 1250kg.
I passed my test in 2013 and i no i am limited to what i can tow (3500kg combination car+van) so i am looking for a high litre but not to high that is going to cost me an arm and leg to insure, i have looked up and done research on alot of cars and have found that (golf 1.9 tdi hatch) kerb weight 1450kg and maxium tow weight of 1350kg.
But i just wanted to get advise of this as ive been told that you all no your stuff.
Thanks.

Given the normal "health warnings" I have used a Dutch matching website called Towcar.info which providing you know enough details for the car and caravan gives useful information on how the outfit could perform regarding stability, motorway and mountain journeys. You can test the sensitivity of its output by changing payload in car or caravan. It was startling accurate wrt my current and previous outfit. Although I spent quite a bit of time ensuring the accuracy of my input figures. But like all these
aids the basic legal and technical specifications relating to the car and caravan are priority.

 

[Benny123]

Thank you ill have a look at that.
You said before about looking on vw golf forum, i dont no how to get on that?

 

[otherclive]

Are you winding me up? Just try a search on Bing or Google for Volkswagen Owners forum or club. You will get lots of hits. Some forums a model specific others are all VW split into models. One will be the official owners club which requires a few others are free.

 

[Benny123]

I thought you was talking about on this website!!!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Thank you everyone for you help, i would have a 2.0 tdi golf but the insurance is quite high so i think ill be getting the 1.9 hatchback.
I passed after 1997 so am i right that i can tow a combination of 3500kg car+van?

Specifically your limit is "3500kg combined MAM".

MAM stands for the Maximum Authorised Mass, and its the weight limits of the car and the caravan added together, not what they actually weigh. You tell us the caravan has an MTPLM or MAM of 1250kg, this means the cars solo MAM or Gross Vehicle Weight must not exceed 3500 -1250 = 2250kg. I don't believe the Golf will come anywhere near this figure (Check the data plate), so on paper it looks like a reasonable match.

Yes your combined MAM limit is 3500kg. And as the caravan has an MTPLM (The same thing as its MAM) of 1250kg and the cars has a kerbweight of 1450kg you are pretty close to the industry guidance of 85% tow ratio.

If you passed your test in 2013, I strongly suggest you double check with your car insurer about towing. Some insurers put an age restriction on young drivers.

 

[GD485]

I used to tow a Coachman Amara 450 with a Mk5 Golf 1.9 tdi and it was a great tow car.
There are two power outputs available on the PD engined Golf mine was the 130 bhp. It's easy to find as the "I" on the boot badge is red.
The car was stable and had good traction for FWD. Watch out for clutch / flywheel wear on cars over 100k miles.

 

[SamandRose]

Hi Benny
I agree with others (some of whose experience and expertise is far greater than mine) that the weights of your combination look reasonable. However, you also need to give some consideration to performance and specifically which engine you'll actually be getting.

Over the years the VW 1.9 TDI engine has been offered with a range of power outputs between (I believe but correct me if I'm wrong) 90 and 150bhp. However from about 2005(?) the 1.9 engine was restricted to about 105bhp and more power was offered from a 2.0 TDI (initially 140bhp and more recently 150bhp).

From my own experience of towing with VW Passats (we're currently on our third), if your 1.9 TDI is one of the lower powered versions it will cope with the caravan and probably be fine over short or short-ish distances for weekend breaks. However, it will feel underpowered on all but downhill runs and you'll probably need to change down a gear fairly frequently. If you plan to tow regularly or over longer journeys the more powerful or 2.0 versions are worth the extra if you can afford them.

 

[GD485]

I agree the 1.9tdi even in it's basic 105bhp is up to the job. Mine was remapped to 130bhp and finally to 163bhp.
Neither remap improved the low end grunt by much as the tuners though the standard clutch would not be able to handle the extra torque.
At 163 bhp the car was quick even with the caravan on the back and the fuel consumption didn't suffer too much. The only thing that was a bit of a pain was the noticeable turbo whistle around 1800 rpm and above.
The 2.0 common rail engine is a much cleaner unit but can struggle to match the 1.9 on fuel economy until the recent upgrade to Euro 6 spec.
The CR2.0 does allow a much clearer view out of the back window..... less black soot!