JBaumgart

Just returned from our annual family vacation where this year we drove our fully loaded allroad with boat in tow. Bottom line: the allroad handled the extra-heavy load with no problems and was a joy to drive compared to our Jeep Grand Cherokee, which we had taken on the same trip for the previous six years. Including the 400 lb. outboard motor, trailer, bikes, fishing gear, extra clothing, water toys, etc etc the boat in total weighed an estimated 2600 pounds - about 700 pounds less than the rated 3300 pound capacity of the Audi-installed hitch. And inside the vehicle with the loaded cargo area plus three passengers we had about another 700 pounds, so figure about 3300 pounds total or about 7500 pounds going down the road including the car itself. With this load I didn't want to "push it" especially on the hot summer pavement, so I kept the speed at 70 mph or less - at least until the boat was launched and the cargo unloaded, at which point it was great fun having the allroad instead of a truck to tool around on some of those smooth, twisty roads in the north woods.

In short, the allroad lived up to its billing and then some, delivering SUV-like practicality, carrying capacity and towing power plus lots of extra fun and refinement that you just don't get from a truck.

ÅllroÅd :DFW

Are we there yet? Are we there yet?!!

Wolverine

how was the ride quality affected?

what was the toungue weight?

JBaumgart

The allroad's adjustable suspension worked great - the car stayed level at all times and still adjusted for minor weight shifts, like when one person exits the car. When the hitch is connected it goes into manual mode automatically, but I chose to leave it in the second lowest setting all of the time, except when launching the boat when I put it in the highest setting to minimize the undercarriage getting soaked when backing up into the lake. Going down the highway the car was stable at all times but you definitely knew the load was back there as the ride suffers quite a bit - never uncomfortable but definitely more truck-like. In all fairness my old Grand Cherokee's ride was similarly affected, even though this was a "real truck" frame with a rated towing capacity of 6500 lbs (I think the shorter wheelbase on the Jeep adversely affected the ride quality when towing a moderately heavy load).

I did not measure the tongue weight with a scale but lifting it I would guestimate it weighed about 175-200 pounds. When loading the boat I tried to place the heavier items up front towards the hitch as the heavy 115HP 4 stroke outboard that I have makes the boat a little rear-heavy, and ideally for maximum stability you want 8-10% of the weight resting on the tongue. The hitch itself is stamped 330 maximum tongue weight so I was still quite a bit shy of maximum.