Who's towing with an SQ5?

[2kwik4u]

Saw this image on another board. Anyone here?

 

[djetok]

https://jetboaters.net/threads/what-do-you-tow-your-190-with.6054/post-317154

 

[2kwik4u]

Looks like the same one. That was a far easier question than I expected.

@Shannon how do you like the SQ5 as a tow vehicle for the AR195?

 

[Shannon]

Looks like the same one. That was a far easier question than I expected.

@Shannon how do you like the SQ5 as a tow vehicle for the AR195?

We love it! Tows great and is very stable with tons of grunt. It is a 2017 and the last year they had the supercharger. In 2018 they went to single turbo and made in Mexico body. You will be very pleased towing down the interstate at 75 plus with ease. Also hardly any squat at all. Let me know if you have any other question. I get around 14 mpg at 70 and 11 to 12 mpg at 80

 

[2kwik4u]

We love it! Tows great and is very stable with tons of grunt. It is a 2017 and the last year they had the supercharger. In 2018 they went to single turbo and made in Mexico body. You will be very pleased towing down the interstate at 75 plus with ease. Also hardly any squat at all. Let me know if you have any other question. I get around 14 mpg at 70 and 11 to 12 mpg at 80

Thanks for the feedback.

Wife and I are considering dropping the two new cars we have for a single "nice" car for her to drive, but still need to tow the boat. Really good chance I'll be working from home soon, and won't need a "nice" car anymore. Hopefully trim a few bucks off the monthly budget while we're at it.

 

[Shannon]

That is ironic. I retired in 2015 and in Nov 2016 we did the same thing. Still only 46 years old and dabble in the markets on my on. I sold our 2014 Auid s4 and a 4runner we bought new in 2006. She works a mile from our home and having just the SQ5 has worked great for us. I paid cash for it up front and negotiated a great deal knowing the body style was changing in 2018. We will have it 3 years in November and only have 16000 miles on it. We have 2 lakes with in 5 and 10 miles of our house. Although our favorite lake it 71 miles away and frequent that one also. Best of luck and I think it is a smart choice. Never had any issues with any of the Audi's I have owned. Knocking on wood as I type.

 

[2kwik4u]

That is ironic. I retired in 2015 and in Nov 2016 we did the same thing. Still only 46 years old and dabble in the markets on my on. I sold our 2014 Auid s4 and a 4runner we bought new in 2006. She works a mile from our home and having just the SQ5 has worked great for us. I paid cash for it up front and negotiated a great deal knowing the body style was changing in 2018. We will have it 3 years in November and only have 16000 miles on it. We have 2 lakes with in 5 and 10 miles of our house. Although our favorite lake it 71 miles away and frequent that one also. Best of luck and I think it is a smart choice. Never had any issues with any of the Audi's I have owned. Knocking on wood as I type.

More great feedback. I had an '06 A4 that I really liked. Good solid build on that car, and no major problems. Bought it at 25k miles, and sold it away with a failing transmission 63mo later with 216k miles on it. I feel I got my $18k of use from it, and it was a good car to us the whole time. I like the look of the Audi's, and having a slightly smaller tow vehicle might help keep the urge to upgrade away. Right now I could tow anything Yamaha or Scarab make, which leads me to shopping a bit more than I should.

I'm shooting towards a retirement at 50, not sure I'll make it, as our youngest will still only be 14 at that point. Got 12 years to go, so "stick to the plan man" has been the mantra. If this new position comes through and I start working from home, the furthest the "not nice" car will have to go is to the airport 12 miles away for business travel. Wife works 8 miles away in downtown, and of course my commute will be essentially running to get the boys and such here in the suburbs.

Current investigation process is an SQ5 for her, and a B6 A4 Avant for me (found a few examples of those for under $5k)

 

[Shannon]

That is awesome! We have no kids and we just saved and saved some more over the years. Did I mention compounding and staying in the market even when it looked bad. Stick with it. I am in the process of looking for a 13 to 16 VW Touareg TDI. Has to be silver or white to suffice the wife. They are beasts and will tow the travel trailer I want. Just a few more things to play with. Have a lot of time on my hands.

 

[Shannon]

Here is a pic the day we bought it. Had to drive from Raleigh NC to Washington DC to get the color. At the time there was only 4 this color in the US. Hinze silver or white for our 2nd vehicle as she is a bitch to keep clean.

 

[suke]

Here is a pic the day we bought it. Had to drive from Raleigh NC to Washington DC to get the color. At the time there was only 4 this color in the US. Hinze silver or white for our 2nd vehicle as she is a bitch to keep clean.View attachment 101661

I'm guessing the 5 mile lake is Harris and Jordan is the 10? Go to Harris almost every Friday evening all the way in the back of the lake. Jordan most Saturdays.

 

[Shannon]

I'm guessing the 5 mile lake is Harris and Jordan is the 10? Go to Harris almost every Friday evening all the way in the back of the lake. Jordan most Saturdays.

You got it. Our 4th season. We are at Avent Ferry and 55. Moved here from Cary 11 years ago. Last couple of years we have mainly been going to Kerr lake. Much cleaner and lake is huge. Reminds me of the lakes I grew up on in Western NC. We will be at Jordan tomorrow so we can head back quickly if we get storms. Sunday plan on heading to Kerr as long as the weather holds.

 

[suke]

You got it. Our 4th season. We are at Avent Ferry and 55. Moved here from Cary 11 years ago. Last couple of years we have mainly been going to Kerr lake. Much cleaner and lake is huge. Reminds me of the lakes I grew up on in Western NC. We will be at Jordan tomorrow so we can head back quickly if we get storms. Sunday plan on heading to Kerr as long as the weather holds.

Nice! I'm down the way from you in Braxton Village.

 

[2kwik4u]

@Shannon That is the best color I think. Wife wanted a blue for her newest vehicle (I call it the meh Rogue), but the discounts on the black one they had on the lot were like $5k more so she settled on the black. I test drove an SQ5 awhile back when a good friend was car shopping. He was trading in a standard Q5 and looking at a new A6. Ended up with a CPO S6 (which sounds, OMG Amazing with the sport exhaust on it). The SQ5 was surprisingly quick, and had typical Audi driving characteristics. Aunt has one of the older model Q5's that has the 3.0T in it, but isn't the S trim. She's got a few speeding tickets in the first year of ownership before she adjusted to the "sneaky fast" car, as she calls it.

Had a relative with a Toureg TDi for awhile. he's a big VW nut so he was using it tow his Corrado around to shows. Ended up working a job that gave him a truck allowance and needed to carry a few more tools so he moved to a 2500 class pickup. Still talks about the Toureq fondly though from time to time. Good luck with the search.

 

[NJ-JetGuy]

Great to see you towing with the SQ5! I am looking to purchase a new Yamaha jet boat this fall and will be towing with your sister SUV, a 2015 Porsche Macan Turbo with air suspension and the factory installed tow kit. A couple of questions if you don’t mind?

1. What make / model trailer brake controller did you install on the SQ5?
2. Sounds like she handles the 195 with no issues. Do you think she would have trouble pulling a slightly bigger boat like the AR210? I was thinking about a 21’ boat but worry about the weight. The good news is that I would not need to trailer far. My summer home is literally 100 yards from the public boat ramp and gas is just down the road, less than 1 mile. Perhaps the farthest trip might be winter storage 2x’s a year which is about 30 miles away.
3. The Macan was originally rated for 5,200 lbs with a braked trailer then Porsche lowered the rating to 4,400 for the US. I think it’s still the higher rating in Europe.
4. Assume no problems pulling the boat and trailer up the ramp and out of the water with the SQ5’s power and AWD?

Any tips and feedback would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Shannon]

@NJ-JetGuy The brakes on the SQ5 are huge and stop the 19 footer with authority. The 192 and the 195 have the surge brakes also. In my opinion your Macan and my Audi are fine with out the brake controller towing the 192 and 195. I would install one for the 21footer just to be cautious if I were towing very long distances. Not 30 miles.

Like I said in another post I have virtually no sqaut and do not have air suspension. If I had that option I would not hesitate towing a 21 footer anywhere. Plenty of power and great brakes. Also for a short vehicle it is very stable even at high speeds. I towed the boat this weekend 570 miles with no issues and in the mountains of NC. With your Air suspension and distance towing I would not hesitate with either boat.

The SQ5 is rated at 4400 and same as yours.

I have been on some very steep and very wet slick ramps. Never a hint of any slippage. Our AWD systems claw at the ground are are great for those situations. As for power my Audi stock is 354HP. I have a stage 2 Tune along with an upgraded pulley for my Supercharger. Bumps to around 425+HP. The car can be put on Cruise Control on the interstate and will hold 80 in 8th gear. I generally tow at 75 in a 70 zone. As you can tell I like the SQ5 and have been very pleased with it. Best of luck with your purchase.

 

[NJ-JetGuy]

Thanks @Shannon! Your feedback is very encouraging and is setting my mind at ease about towing with the Macan. Yep, my front calipers at 6 pistons and clamp down hard. I will likely install the brake controller just to be on the safe side as my car is pre-wired under the dash from the factory.

If I go with a new 2019-2020 AR195 it will be fine. The heaviest 212’s with dual engines have a 3,600lbs dry weight for the boat. Assuming 1,100 for a tandem trailer, 50 gallons of fuel at 310lbs, batteries and equipment and I would be hauling just over 5,000lbs. Using the European rating and driving not far and safely I should be fine. Now, I need to work to find a great deal on the right end of year Yamaha boat. I am also looking at the Chaparral H2O 21’ but can’t seem to make up my mind. First world problems . Thanks again!

 

[2kwik4u]

I had no idea the Macan and the SQ5 were the same platform. Guess I should've known.

Wife has told me to "make it happen if we can", so I'm actively on the hunt. Not sure if we want an SQ5, or a Durango R/T. She likes them both and told me to find the best deal we can. I'm a little partial to the Durango, but they are obviously different sized vehicles and hard to compare.

We'll see what shakes out. About 1/2 the time I get on this car goose chase, nothing happens and we say the heck with it and keep what we have.

 

[Troch1]

Thanks @Shannon! Your feedback is very encouraging and is setting my mind at ease about towing with the Macan. Yep, my front calipers at 6 pistons and clamp down hard. I will likely install the brake controller just to be on the safe side as my car is pre-wired under the dash from the factory.

If I go with a new 2019-2020 AR195 it will be fine. The heaviest 212’s with dual engines have a 3,600lbs dry weight for the boat. Assuming 1,100 for a tandem trailer, 50 gallons of fuel at 310lbs, batteries and equipment and I would be hauling just over 5,000lbs. Using the European rating and driving not far and safely I should be fine. Now, I need to work to find a great deal on the right end of year Yamaha boat. I am also looking at the Chaparral H2O 21’ but can’t seem to make up my mind. First world problems . Thanks again!

Brake controllers only work on electric trailer brakes. It will do nothing for surge brakes. Just wanted to save you a few bucks...

 

[NJ-JetGuy]

Thanks @Troch1. So I think what you’re saying is that Yamaha’s jet boat trailers come standard with surge brakes and not electric brakes? Is that true for both the 195 and 212 series trailers? If so, yes - I would not need the brake controller as the momentum of the trailer will apply the brakes.

 

[Troch1]

Thanks @Troch1. So I think what you’re saying is that Yamaha’s jet boat trailers come standard with surge brakes and not electric brakes? Is that true for both the 195 and 212 series trailers? If so, yes - I would not need the brake controller as the momentum of the trailer will apply the brakes.

No Yamaha trailer ever came with electric brakes. You've either got surge brakes or no brakes at all. There are those that add electric actuation to their hydraulic systems, but that is rare and costly and only aftermarket at this time. So to summarize, you do NOT need a brake controller at this time.