The V10 TDI powered Touareg was fitted with some steel plates in the rear and in the front to bring the weight of the car up to over 7000kg. Special towing bar and adaptor were used and they also swapped out the rear end, which turned out to be unneccessary. Aside from that everything else: the engine, transmission, suspension, wheels, tires, frame, chassis, body, were all factory stock.

They calculated that the Touareg could, theoretically, pull a 200 tonne aircraft but they could not find a 747-400 in time, which weighed 190 tonnes, so they settled for a 747-200, which weighed at 155 tonnes.

It successfully towed the 747 at 5 mph for 150 meters. And the aircraft was stopped by the Touareg's own, stock brakes. The VW people said if they could obtain a heavier aircraft, they are more than happy to tow that as well.

So is this just another PR stunt or a true show of the mighty V10 TDI muscle?

http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/11/221106-c-vw.jpg

http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/11/221106-b-vw.jpg

http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/11/221106vw.jpg


http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/11/221106-a-vw.jpg


http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/22/touareg-v10-tdi-tows-a-747/
http://www.easier.com/view/News/Motoring/Volkswagen/article-85593.html

wow im impressed. To me this is both a show of power and of course a PR stunt by VW.... I love how you can see the massive size of the 747 compared to a decent size SUV. Great find

now the rich guys are gonna want to buy a Touareg to replace the regular ugly, aircraft tugs. lol

I'm wondering if the full-ton trucks like the C/K 3500 and the F-350 can do similar feats as well.....in fact they should be able to do better since they are built for towing massive weight.

Those are great pictures.. but my PC won't fit.
I will need to crop it..

I'm impressed with the Toureg.. should be put this car under the underrated car section ?
I would says Audi's Q7 could do better..

Would warranty cover such a stunt?

Would warranty cover such a stunt? I doubt that...

i wonder if the current gen amer pick-ups can do the same...i say..the mite.how bout the ram srt-10..that mite do it.
as for the touareg..wow.never knew it cud do such stuff.it was always in the cayenne's shadows.

I'm harly a fan of VW's, but I really like the Toureg. And with the V10TDI, it's probably the best VW ever made.

NICE.. lol.. i cant believe it towed it, i thought the thread name was some type of bull***** or something...

Man, VW must have built a bulletproof engine in order for this thing to rev up and haul a full-sized airliner.

i have seen a couple here and despite the weight they are fast.

the amount of torque they have are awesooommeeeenneeessssssssss:):)

I would think that the American Diesel's would be able to pull that weight if not more, the Chevy 3500 HD, Ford F-350. But none of the american SUV's could pull that weight, that is one hell of an engine.

I am laughing just trying to picture an escalad with all the bling tear itself off its own chassy.

This is a very interesting story and thank you for bringing it up nist.

As for the public stunt this has worked for me, I am a Tuareg lover all over again. This thing is something else and the fact it can do such a tough job makes it a whole lot better.

1. Same 747 from the JB Casino Royale movie.

2. The plane must have been modified for it to weigh that little.

3. V10TDI is nutting futs.(figure it out)

still tells you that diesel have great torques...wow, impressive...5mph is a great speed already, couldnt image that it could tow some of those heavy duty stuff

im impressed ! .. wonder what the Q7 V12 TDi can do :rolleyes:

SCHWERSTES GEZOGENES FLUGZEUG:
David Huxley (AUS) zog am 15. Oktober 1997 in Sydney (AUS) eine Boeing 747-400 mit einem Gewicht von 187 t in 1:27,7 min 91 m weit.


in english:

heaviest pulled aircraft:

david huxley (AUS) pulled a boing 747-400 with a weight of 187 tons 91 meters far. in a time of 1:27,7 .

it's in the guiness book of world records.

http://www.guinnessbuch.de/

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/amazing_feats/tests_of_strength/heaviest_aircraft_pulled_(individual).as px


so dont think the touareg is that impressive...

^I wonder what torque he was producing? :D

Yeah, it's great that the Toureg can pull a 747-200, but it had had serious mods on it to it could, and the weight went u to 7000kg. If it was completely stock, I would be amazed and applauding it, but it's not really an achievement for the Toureg if it needed to be modded like it was in order for it to pull the plane. It's not like I can go out and do the same thing with a stock Toureg.

It's just a lame PR stunt. Yes, I'm impressed - but they were cheating by making it 7000 kg heavier. It would never be possible in real life, and we will never hear the whole truth. The aircraft was probably helping making the life easy for the VW in some way.

^I wonder what torque he was producing? :D

Yeah, it's great that the Toureg can pull a 747-200, but it had had serious mods on it to it could, and the weight went u to 7000kg. If it was completely stock, I would be amazed and applauding it, but it's not really an achievement for the Toureg if it needed to be modded like it was in order for it to pull the plane. It's not like I can go out and do the same thing with a stock Toureg.
That's exactly what I thought, I don't think you can fill a stock Touareg with more than 4 tons of metal and drive it like it was a normal day, the suspensions can't hold that much wheight IMO...anyway they probably are thinking on renaming the 2007 V10 model as TOWareg or something like that :rolleyes:

Not that I don't think this is amazingly impressive but keep in mind that aircraft are made out of the lightest materials possible so the massive size is deceiving.

Still, it's definitely amazing.

Wow, that's very very impressive. A car pulling a 200-tonne aircraft...sheesh.

The first pic is definitely the best. It just shows how small the Tourag is in comparison to the plane.

The car even looks good aswell. Respect, VW!

i wonder if the current gen amer pick-ups can do the same...i say..the mite.how bout the ram srt-10..that mite do it.
as for the touareg..wow.never knew it cud do such stuff.it was always in the cayenne's shadows. I think the Ram SRT-10 is made to go fast, while the V10 engine of the Touareg is made to pull things. Plus it has a lot of torque due to the diesel engine.

I don't know a lot about engines so tell me if I am wrong.

^Yeah the VW has much more torque. The RAM can still tow a shitload, but not a 747!

now i am outta the shadow.
towing 155 tonnes is no joke...ir-respect of what it's made.
10 kilos of lead is same as 10 kilos of cf.

Prove me wrong, but that *looks* like Biggin Hill.....I think I forgot to tell you about my flight to Jersey in a friend's plane from Biggin Hill...it turns out that Bernie Eccelstone has 5 private F1 'labelled' jets there. {One so his wife can do her shopping anywhere in the world} Anyway, if that is Biggin Hill, those big warehouses contain his private collection of cars stacked up, one on top of the other, ands there's hundreds....

Fake?!

Take a better look into the Volkswagen Simbol... :)

I don't know, but is difficult to believe, still more because of the symbol picture slow quality...

Fake?!

Take a better look into the Volkswagen Simbol... :)

I don't know, but is difficult to believe, still more because of the symbol picture slow quality...

I don't think it's fake, it has been reported by many credible news agencies: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=touareg+747&btnG=Search+News

Why is it so hard to believe? Remember what boss said, aircrafts are designed to glide through air with the smallest possible interference. And that means those wheels that the 747 is riding on is probably very very slick, which means very small rolling resistance.

If you can't belive this then you should call this guy, David Huxley.

He is a man. And he single handedly pulled a 747-400 for 91 meters, which is about 30 tonnes heavier than this Touareg pulled.

How much torque and horspower do you think one man produces? A lot less than the Touareg I bet.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/amazing_feats/tests_of_strength/heaviest_aircraft_pulled_(individual).as px

Ok, this can be true, but you have to agree with me, the Volkswagen Symbol is with an low resolution, and it appears an fake! :)

I believe it to be true considering for a moment that the car is NOT pulling the plane's weight since from the picture you can see the plane is on level ground (on a hill it won't stand a chance) so the VW is having to fight against rolling friction more than anything else.

That's quite impressive, even though as SL pointed out, it's on level ground. Either way it's quite a feat..pulling an air craft at any time is quite something.

It's just a lame PR stunt. Yes, I'm impressed - but they were cheating by making it 7000 kg heavier. It would never be possible in real life, and we will never hear the whole truth. The aircraft was probably helping making the life easy for the VW in some way.

When in real life, would you need to tow a 747?

what would a V12 Q7 pull....... a A380?

When in real life, would you need to tow a 747?

Well, no. But if that's the case, then what's the point of doing this at all? You could say it was done to prove how much torque the engine has, and its capabilities and such, but when you have to go ahead and mod he car to th point that it was 3.5x as much in order for it to do so, you start to wonder why they did it at all.

I wish we had some time or distance figures, then I could work out the force pulled by the VW, and then the energy used as well.

the figures are in the text. Distance = 150 meters

Well, no. But if that's the case, then what's the point of doing this at all? You could say it was done to prove how much torque the engine has, and its capabilities and such, but when you have to go ahead and mod he car to th point that it was 3.5x as much in order for it to do so, you start to wonder why they did it at all.

I wish we had some time or distance figures, then I could work out the force pulled by the VW, and then the energy used as well.

Advertising is the only thing that comes to mind. Other than that, no point.

if it generates more than 900ft/pnds of torque it may be possible. Those where the figures of the tow trucks with detroit diesel engines used in the 80's for the 747. My only concern will be the rear support. it looks so poor to hold the forces made by pulling an aircraft like that.

@ audi....

A380-800 - Operating empty 277,000kg (610,700lb), max takeoff 560,000kg (1,234,600lb).
A380-800F - Operating empty 252,000kg (555,600lb), max takeoff 590,000kg (1,300,700lb).

nopes....maybe not.

If a Toureg can do that, then imagine a hummer.

I would LOVE to see a Smart car attempt this!

oh, i think it would take the wohole tank of fuel to pull it for about 5 cm or so..:D

still the smart pulling a 747 would be a great laugh. i doubt it could even move it though