towing

james ashby · Nov 28, 2005

Hi, i am a 911 owner who is considering buying a cayenne for towing, i recently went into my opc, (sutton coldfield) and asked them what it was like at towing. The salesman said he had seen a dvd of one towing a boat, but that was as far as his knowledge stretched. Sorry but this is a salesman who ought to know a little bit more about the product he is selling.
So i must ask the forum about this, cos you know what you are talking about. basically i have a boat, a horsebox and a ifor williams trailer, which i sometimes have 1.5 tonnes in it. Would a Cayenne v6 handle all of this or would i have to have the s.
I look forward to your comments. thanks in advance. James

Helen Goff · Nov 28, 2005

you've come to the right place. we have used our cayenne s for towing car trailers.

we borrowed a v6 cayenne last month as we wanted to compare, and to be honest we found it very noisy and sluggish feeling compared to the v8, not sure it would be up to pulling the sort of weight your talking about comftably.

james ashby · Nov 29, 2005

Thats great, but what is the genuine fuel consumption on the S, bear in mind i am making the jump from diesel! i have a place in France and dont want the thing to bleed me dry!. james

lazza · Nov 29, 2005

James,

I get around 20 mpg from our S, but have a fairly light right foot.

If you drive it hard expect 18 mpg or so.

Also depend on the type of journey. I get a mix of motorway runs (22ish) and hops to and from work (18ish).

If you're towing, expect 15 or so.

I agree with Helen about the S versus the V6.

Lazza

Guest · Nov 29, 2005

Usually get 19mpg from my Cayenne S, but when towing a trailer ironically I actually get more (22-23mpg) as I tend to end up driving a lot slower, and with less rapid accel of braking. Trailer is about 1.2tonnes. You don't really notice the weight of it, and towing is effortless and stable (I do have PASM). Whenever I've driven the V6 I've found it under powered w/o a trailer on the back!, goodness only knows what its like with on on it....
I would suggest going for a well specced 2nd hand KN S.

tiskev · Nov 29, 2005

Larry I get 19 and recently is went to 20 point something again light foot but fast on French Autoroute which was better than I did in a Rangy or a 320 ML.
However camcayenne must have something to get that mpg towing. I dont tow with the KN
but my son tows 2 tons of boat with the Landy TD5 and gets 180 miles to a tankful on the Autoroute.I get 300 miles withot towing in the Landy. What are we doing wrong??

Helen Goff · Nov 30, 2005

ORIGINAL: tiskev

Larry I get 19 and recently is went to 20 point something again light foot but fast on French Autoroute which was better than I did in a Rangy or a 320 ML.
However camcayenne must have something to get that mpg towing. I dont tow with the KN
but my son tows 2 tons of boat with the Landy TD5 and gets 180 miles to a tankful on the Autoroute.I get 300 miles withot towing in the Landy. What are we doing wrong??

we were amazed what a diffrence diffrent trailers make to how smooth/easy to manouver/fuel used. after borrowing/trying several, we treated ourselves to a brand new top of the range Brian James trailer which its easy to forget you have attached as its so smooth and quiet...
Brian James strongly advise you to get trailers serviced and they provide a service book (like a cars) for every trailer sold.

Tony · Dec 1, 2005

A friend in the trade tows a Dassle Race box behind a Cayenne S (usially with 911 or 356 inside) fuel consumption little different with or without the trailer.

Tony

Guest · Dec 6, 2005

Steady driving, optimax (or similar) fuel, anticipating traffic, minimal braking, gentle acceleration, max 50-55mph... if I drive like that without the trailer you can see 24mpg, 20+ with trailer w/o probs.

Tony M · Dec 6, 2005

We have the Electric Towbar on our Cayenne S.

It truly is an engineering and visual masterpiece. When the button in the luggage compartment is pressed, the towbar motors down from its hiding position behind the bumper then swings out through 90o .The Electrical socket also motors down too !

I don't know about the towing capacity and don't really care about the fuel consumption, but the Electric Towbar is a sight to see.[

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Nick Moss · Dec 6, 2005

Not a Cayenne owner, but I do a lot of towing with a 911 on a large Brian James trailer. I get 33 mpg with my BMW 330D and around 23 behind an old Peugeot 8o6 1.9TD. The Peugeot is the better tow vehicle because of its weight and has no trouble dealing with a 2 tonne GVW. The BMW is much more fun and can even overtake in country lane coditions. I would reccomend a diesel for towing anytime. I have also used a Discovery 2 V8 for towing and its slower than the Peugeot and does 17 mpg!

james ashby · Dec 16, 2005

I would agree about the diesel for towing, i have a td5 defender for most towing, but we have just bought a caravan in france. Which is a mighty long drive towing a boat in a defender! Hence the urge to buy something more comfortable.