Need Advice

[dickinsonr]

Hello,

Here is my experience with a 13’ 2011 scamp with a bathroom, and shower, with a receiver 2 bicycle rack on the rear and standard cabinets which shave off pounds.

Before I added an awning, an air conditioner, and a Honda “Handi” 3500 watt generator which I transport in the trailer in front of the right side of the bed, in front of the closet, it weighed in at 1750 to 1950 pounds, total trailer weight, the tongue took 175 to 200 pounds off that weight.

Now, the trailer weighs in at 1950 to 2250 pounds including a tongue weight of 200 to 225 pounds.

I do have an anti sway bar, which I highly recommend, and electric brakes.

I have traveled as a couple, now just myself.

I have done quit a bit of back packing and have my “kit” in the trailer for ease of being able to leave when I want by just adding food and clothes. I keep my clothes in the car, chairs, small folding table, and some food in the car.

I have towed with both a 2011 4 cylinder Subaru Forester and now exclusively with my 2004 Toyota Corolla. The extra weight of the Forester probably made the handling a bit better. As far as power both were about equal, I could really tell no difference on my “test” hill, the Highway 26 Sunset hill traveling west up the Portland, OR west hills. Both cars slowed down to 50-55 mph on this hill.

The forester got 14-16 mpg and the Corolla gets 17-18 mpg when towing.

If you want super power, then these two vehicles don’t do it. If you want adequate power, they are fine for me, both in safe passing and adequate highway speeds.

My Corolla has an added automatic trans mission oil cooler. Both cars maintain their normal engine temperature, no problem.

Yes, I am happily in the minority as most people want a big comfy suv with lots of power, to each his own.

Randy, now Bend, OR.

[vintageracer]

Trade the VW Tiguan for an VW Atlas.

[pedalmike]

I have a 2009 Tiguan S with a 6 speed manual and towed a 13' Scamp Deluxe (no trailer brakes) for many years. The combo worked great. Then I had hitch reinforcements (to allow weight distribution hitch towing) done at CanAm RV in London Ontario and for the last three years tow a 16' Airstream Bambi International CCD (with trailer brakes). The combo tows surprisingly well. Many may advise you against doing this. I understand that, I'm here to tell you that it works well...my rig is very stable.

If you tow with the Tiguan, try to get the factory trailer wiring kit that plugs into the wiring harness. It gives you stability control functionality when towing. Also, if you have a light out on the trailer, it will illuminate a warning on the dash. Only drawback is the 7 pole plug doesn't have a wire connected for the trailer brakes. I had to route that myself from the driver's footwell to the rear of the Tig.

Many manufacturers make a square receiver hitch that threads into the factory bosses underneath the rear bumper. I have a 2" square receiver from Curt.

One thing that makes the Tiguan such a stable tow vehicle is the short distance from the rear axle to the trailer ball.

[redbarron55]

The above post is correct.
Make sure the Tiguan has the trailer module and get the factory plug that goes with the SUV.
That module will give you the VW trailer stability etc.
Add trailer brakes I used a P3 controller and you will have to tap into the brake line for the input the the P3 and run the wires for the brake as they are not included with the VW system as almost all European trailers have surge brakes instead of electrical.

[ALaity]

Hi,


We just received a 2019 Scamp13 Standard Layout 1. We have yet to weigh it, but the manufacturer's certificate says the weight is 1200 lb. We opted for no bathroom/shower, no heater, and no refrigerator. We did choose an air conditioner, awning, 1 propane tank (instead of 2), and electronic brakes with brake controller mounted on the camper.



Tow capacity of a vehicle includes passengers and everything you put in the vehicle itself, and (from what I've read) seems to be largely limited by what the vehicle can do in reverse gear.

[kramg]

FWIW I also have a 2009 Tiguan and have been towing my '74 Boler 13 since the car was new and have never had any problems. My Tiguan is an automatic with AWD c and the trailer has no brakes It's a great combination! The vehicle has a much higher payload than most in it's class did at the time. The only drawback is that it sucks a lot of gas. My guess is that although you don't feel the trailer behind at any reasonable speed, the little turbo works overtime. Gas consumption is good to about 80km/50mph after that you take a big hit. If they hadn't changed the vehicle in 2018 (bigger but tows less) I would almost certainly buy another one as mine is starting to show it's age.