Tow a trailer and dirt bikes with S3?

[FabianS]

My wife and I have two dirt bikes, and 2 street bikes and I was looking at getting this awesome 2 bike trailer to haul them around at times. The trailer weighs 400 pounds, and our dirt bikes weigh around 250 pounds each, street bikes around 400 pounds each. I was talking to the lady who sold me the car at the dealer when I went to get my car serviced on Friday, telling her of my plans, and she said the S3 is not designed to tow, and it would void my warranty. I told her that euro cars have tow ratings (same vehicle), and companies make tow hitches for them, so what is the problem.

This is really disappointing to me, because if I can't at least tow a small trailer and my bikes on occasion, I feel like I'm going to want to sell it and get another Toyota Tacoma. I love the gas mileage, handling, etc, but if it can't even tow a small trailer, it's pretty much useless to me. Thoughts?

[mroberte]

She's full of crap, there is one person that I know that tows, believe he bought a normal towbar from Amazon or the like and tows his dirt bikes all the time.

Audi Europe also sells tow kits, so your Audi rep needs to do some research before quoting you incorrectly. I assume she just thinks only trucks and SUVs should tow, even though they both essentially share the same engine.

Lastly Audi US's first response is always "it will void your warranty". Until they can prove anything in court, especially if you get OEM parts, will they have a hard time winning any cases.

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[LINDW4LL]

Neither the S3 or Golf R are officially listed as having official tow capacities per Audi- maybe the muffler w/ quad tips is in the way of a hitch? Of course, the car is certainly capable of towing, it's just a matter of it not being officially homologated. Most Audi sedans are rated for ~ 4,000 lbs in Europe...

I looked it up on a UK site and it looks like other 8V models are rated to tow up to 3,500+ lbs with a braked trailer, and ~ 750kg (1650 lbs) without trailer brakes.

[FabianS]

That’s what I thought. My wife’s damn Lexus with 238 HP is rated to tow 2200 pounds, so I figure mine should be able to tow 1000-1500 pounds like nothing is there.

[theweebabyseamus]

That’s what I thought. My wife’s damn Lexus with 238 HP is rated to tow 2200 pounds, so I figure mine should be able to tow 1000-1500 pounds like nothing is there.

I agree, but remember that power output is a minor part of towing.

[FabianS]

Agreed, but her small SUV is not much heavier than my car, has AWD, and is also a unibody structure. I figure 1000-1500 pounds is not a stretch for the S3.

[theweebabyseamus]

AudiGrid.com has the 2016 A3 at 600/1800 kg unbraked/braked.

[FabianS]

So 600 kg unbraked?