Darren Coogan

I have been working out of town a lot lately for work and I have been considering a travel trailer on a camp site to pocket more of my live out allowance. Motels and diners gobble it up quickly. I am spending way too much per month LOL.

I have been searching google and one site said 4000lb for the D3 S8. Then a british site said 5000lb. But I know our numbers are never that enthusiastic in the land of Silverado's and F150's.

Anyone know what we can pull and where to get a decent hitch?

My wife drives a 2013 MKT Ecoboost with the towing package that can pull 4500. Trans cooler and the works. But I would rather drive my own car.

I noticed in the MMI it has a tow mode.


And another quick question. My trunk rarely closes with the button on the lid anymore. Quite annoying now. Could it be the switch or the motor taking a dump. Sometimes it tries to open and I can see the lid twist a bit then close. Most times it opens, just really slow

MP4.2+6.0

Those are two really different topics: towing and trunk. I would separate them. Trunk has been answered many times too, so you should search. If trunk twists as it closes, that suggests a hinge issue. Also, your description isn't precise about the button--as in is it doing anything at all, or are you saying it isn't latching. Your description may also suggest the latch itself. Again, search; lots of posts, including some in past year that get into meat.

Trailer: I looked at my UK A8/S8 pdf of the brochure but it's not in there. In my W12 one, it is 750kg unbraked, and (braked) 2300kg for either an 8% or 12% grade, and either SWB (only in Europe) or LWB. As in, 5,060 pounds. Since the rating is the same for either gradient, you can infer the issue is not the motor or brake power, but either the total hitch capacity or the ability of the vehicle structure to handle it at a high (manufacturer spec.) level of confidence. Those are W12 specs, but reasonable too that S8 will be similar. You won't find any U.S. specs, since other than the old A6 based allroad and newer SUVs like Q5 and Q7, Audi USA assumes folks here never tow with sedans albeit it is commonplace in UK or Northern Europe.

Two people on here have done hitches I know of: one other guy and me. In general at the kind of weight you are saying--beyond standard US Class 2 but within Audi's spec--I think you want the manufacturer style hitch. That means Westfalia or maybe one or two other suppliers. If like mine, a very cool set up that is totally hidden Euro style--like 100% unless you crawl directly under the bumper cover or you have the forged ball arm (easily removed) in place. Being Euro style, it is inserted from below, instead of U.S.from the back box style. And BTW that means it is not meant for typical hitch bike racks and such. The set up is installed by pulling the bumper cover off the back, pulling the bumper shocks from the end rails of the body and then bolting in the very robust steel trailer load bearing stuff. Quite well built and beyond the 2" Class 2 minivan stuff I have put on in the past that usually is 35-3800 pounds and bolts to side or bottom of frame rails. What it's not BTW is the cheap stuff sometimes seen for Audi sedans that is hardly Class 1 1-¼" toy stuff--those bolt to not much more than spare tire well and sometimes bumper area. Since that is all plastic or composite on a D3, essentially a non starter anyway, and you are talking about a serious towing weight class not a 4x6 little unbraked utility trailer or light jet ski.

The hard part is really the electrical--besides dealing with the heavy nature of a hitch that comes from Europe that is. Some posts on it. The factory solution I used is pricy and hard to get. The US flake importer also went under as I recall. The other poster went about it by sourcing from the UK IIRC. You can also find them on the web if you do UK oriented searches, the key word to know being "tow bar" instead of hitch. Remember because the car has rear LED's it is more complicated than the cheap car parts/U Haul kit stuff. As another heads up, from experience you have to have at least some incandescents on the trailer side or the factory/Westfalia set up can't power it correctly.

As far as towing FWIW, my total weight is probably 3500-4000 pounds on a 115HP outboard 16 ft. runabout on a galvanized trailer, variance depending on gear and (up to 45 gallon) fuel load. W12 tows effortlessly on any grade. I have (retrofit) disk brakes on the trailer with a simple tongue slave cylinder type activation. The air ride also makes it much smoother than most when you are on the road for hours, even when I use a poly buffered tongue in a 2" box configuration w/ other vehicles. Air ride also prevents any sag with the tongue weight. Like a W12, you also have the bigger brakes, extra coolers and such in an S8 so it is akin to a towing package set up of sorts. Have towed at extended distances up and down grades over 100F and cooling is all 100% solid and normal/stable, as are tire temp. readings.

I'm surprised you see the trailer mode BTW (unless disabled). Otherwise maybe suggests someone has been playing? Or, make sure it isn't hidden back there (1:10,000...). Trailer mode locks out the sport/dynamic setting, disables the rear parking sensors, and re configures ESP so it can counter act trailer sway in theory. Mine sways zero anyway and is properly balanced tongue load wise, but nice to know it's there. It also shows a second set of turn signals in the inst. panel, basically telling you (nothing more than) the trailer is also flashing a turn signal. With a 2007, the rear camera will make it a lot easier to line up to the trailer; BTDT on the Q5 and one other rear camera equipped tow ride.

Darren Coogan

Sorry for me being vague. When I hit the button on the fob or inside the car, one side sometimes pushes up and sits a few seconds then drops. Happens about 50/50. Then when closing the trunk, I press the button on the boot lid and it rarely works.

As far as towing option, I just took a pic from my MMI. Under car - settings




I am just looking at a 3500-4000lb travel trailer as far as weight goes

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

<a href="https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-s8-d3-platform-discussion-60/weak-trunk-motor-can-fixed-work-again-2850798/#post24466709">This is how I fixed mine</a>

Cheers,

Louis

Jack88

In the trailer towing mode, regardless of the mode previously selected, the car body is not lowered further so as to avoid altering the nose weight. This mode is automatically activated when a trailer is hitched to the A8, or it's supposed to be anyway.

MP4.2+6.0

Actually, AFAIK and as mentioned below, it just locks out dynamic (in a non sport). Thus, when I splash it on a ramp, I routinely select the lift mode to keep car out of water/back it down the ramp that much more. Then I go back back to one of the normal modes for regular towing.

Yes, it does auto sense when you plug in the trailer connector and then alter MMI choices, disables rear parking sensors, etc. accordingly.

dvs_dave

I think it also switches to a different ESP program setup for towing.

Greg5OH

old thread but thanks for the replies. Wife and I are looking at a small pop up camper to tow with our upcoming s8 purchase.
Any further info on where to get the trailer wiring harness fro the a8/s8?

MP4.2+6.0

Sometimes seen on Ebay, more like EBay UK (ebay.co.uk), or EBay Germany (ebay.de). Need some German facility for latter, though part # search can simplify if you have one. Use EU wide search choice--sometimes stuff like this shows up all over EU. Spain, Ireland, Estonia, wherever.

Greg5OH

ah figured. Was hoping I could get it direct from dealer even if it costs a few bucks more.
Very pleased to know people do tow with these. Like you mentioned even for a little 800-1000lb camper people guy buy trucks here, while in Europe you see little VW Polos pulling campers.
YOu dan't happen to have a PN from your harness do you?