It is much easier to drive a "balanced" car with a trailer. This means that the load of the car itself should be close to the maximum permissible, while the load of the trailer is as small as possible. If possible, move some of the load to the luggage compartment of your car, while maintaining the required load on the trailer eye and ensuring an even distribution of the load in the luggage compartment.
The higher the speed, the more difficult it is to control a car with a trailer. Do not drive the car at the maximum permitted speed. Reduce speed even more in adverse weather conditions, especially on a steep descent. Be especially careful when driving past oncoming cars and trucks, and immediately reduce speed at the slightest sign of trailer sway. Never try to eliminate trailer sway by increasing engine speed.
Follow speed limit signs. On some sections of the road, the speed limit for a car with a trailer is lower than for regular cars (without a trailer).
Be sure to activate the braking system in advance.
When driving down a steep hill, shift into a lower gear to move the vehicle slowly using the engine braking effect. Using the vehicle's brake system alone can cause it to overheat and fail.
The cooling efficiency of the radiator fan does not increase when downshifting because the fan speed is independent of engine speed. Therefore, on steep hills, shift to a higher gear with lower engine speed if possible.
Carefully monitor the temperature gauge. If the gauge needle approaches the extreme right point of the scale, immediately reduce speed and/or turn off the air conditioner. If the temperature warning light on the instrument panel starts to flash, stop the car at the side of the road and let the engine run for about 2 minutes at idle speed to avoid engine seizure associated with overheating.
Recommendations for driving a car with a trailer
Driving conditions with a trailer vary depending on the amount of additional load and how evenly it is distributed. The safety of driving and its service life will largely depend on how you load the trailer and how closely you follow the instructions for driving with a trailer. Before you hit the road, practice driving with a trailer away from the roadway (turns, stop, reverse).
The method of moving backwards uphill is very difficult and requires a certain skill. The techniques for driving a car with a trailer with this method of movement are completely opposite to those used when driving a car without a trailer.
Keep a large distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front, as the braking distance for a vehicle with a trailer is longer than for a vehicle without a trailer when stopped.
The turning radii are also significantly larger than those of a car without a trailer. When changing lanes, remember that you cannot increase engine speed as you normally would because of the additional load on the car. Make sure there is enough space to perform this maneuver.
Avoid sudden starts, sharp turns or quick lane changes. When parking, always block the wheels of the car and trailer. Do not park the car with a trailer on a slope. If it is impossible to do otherwise, do the following:
- Press the foot brake.
- Ask someone to place chocks under the trailer wheels to block them.
- Release the brake slowly.
- Turn the wheels towards the curb.
- Set the car's parking brake.
- With an automatic transmission, set the gearshift lever to the "P" position, and with a manual transmission, set the gearshift lever to first gear or reverse.
If you move the automatic transmission selector lever to the "P" position before the parking brake is applied and the wheels are locked, you will later have to apply significantly more force to move the lever out of the "P" position. If you need to move the car from a parked position, reverse the steps:
- Start the engine.
- Place the transmission in gear.
- Release the parking brake and slowly move the vehicle away from the wheel chocks.
- Stop the vehicle and remove the chocks.
Note: Do not tow a trailer during the vehicle's break-in period. If you regularly tow a trailer, the additional load on your Volkswagen requires more frequent maintenance.
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