I've been towing my current boat just from my neighborhood to the ramp. I decided to go with a larger boat which meant a 325 mile tow from Maryland to my home near the blue ridge mountains. the new boat is 3800 Empty, Motor 645, Gas 500, Trailer 950 for a total a little over 5K pounds. Going from sea level to about 900' AMSL meant a steady climb, plus a lot of up and downs around Charlottesville VA and near my place at Smith Mountain Lake. I was very please with how well the TD6 pulls the rig, 65mph is not a problem, brisk pull away from lights. The trailer has surge brakes which I am goin to replace with electric over hydraulic because I don't like the braking of the Disco with the trailer on it, The surges take too long to give feel and backing with that weight behind is tricky on loose surfaces. Overall for the ride, 320 Miles there with no trailer, 29mpg (that slight downhill really helps). Loaded return trip with high winds 13.3mpg.

I still need to add resistors to the trailer lights because the Disco will not recognize the LEDs. Had this same problem on my last trailer and bought a kit from ebay, still I'd like another way of programming the resistance into the Disco BCM.

 

I know I would be happy to get 13 mpg towing a real load.

 

Good review thanks.

 

I’ve towed about 1k miles at max gross and 65mph. I tuned mine for more midrange torque but it still handles everything I throw at it.

 

What kind of hitch do you use to tow your boat? Do you have any kind of sway control? I am trying to figure out what kind of hitch is appropriate to pull my 5000 travel trailer with my 2018 Discovery since weight distribution bars are not recommended in the Discovery manual. It also recommends a max distance of 6.5 inches from the pin to the ball, which is extremely hard to find.

 

Great report, thanks! I've towed my 5,000lb travel trailer all over California and the Tdi D5 has performed very well. Typical trip averages 18 MPG even going up over the sierras into Reno, through mount Shasta into southern Oregon or over the grapevine into LA. The only issue is the D5 really likes to run downhill. Keeping it at a safe speed downhill with a trailer pushing you is a bit unnerving. If LR can figure in an exhaust brake, then it would be perfect!

 

Have been towing a 5000 lb travel trailer as well as a 2 horse trailer on 500 to 2000 mile trips for the last coup,e of years. (Have 65k on the car in 2 years). Biggest problem has been the DPF. It’s my opinion that pulling trailers doubles the amount of diesel that has to be processed and shortens the life of that expensive part. The car went into limp home mode once in the middle of nowhere pulling the horse trailer and was stranded. Land Rover roadside service said they would be glad to send a truck to tow it to the nearest dealer several hundred miles away. Fortunately internet searches on the side of the road found a temporary solution to get me going, but the repeated ECM warning codes that the filter was clogged meant that the car has been in the shop too many times for forced regen. Land Rover corporate did pay for a rental of one 2000 mile trip when it was in the shop for several weeks, and after much complaining to England, they finally replaced the DPF at around 50k so I wouldn’t have to pay the $7,000 DPF replacement cost.

I knew nothing about the DPF issue for all diesels until this. My previous diesel Touareg didn’t have the problem, but I didn’t use it as much with trailers. It was the only other non-huge SUV with a 7500 pound tow rating. I also have learned about how differently you need to drive a diesel compared to a gas car now, due to the DPF. No more short trips. Take the Honda for those. Only take the D5 when necessary and make sure to drive it at constant high speed for a couple of hours every month at least.

I learned that in Japan, if you ask a car salesmen about a diesel option, they make you fill out a questionnaire to make sure you are fully informed. Wish they had done that here. I still would have gone with the diesel, but wouldn’t have had to go through all the hassle and research.

and then there is the biodiesel issue, but that’s in another thread. The factory now supplies me with an additive I have to add every tank and that seems to have fixed the sputtering out issue. I also now know where the non-biodiesel stations are, and if I accidentally hit one on a long trip, I don’t fill up.

Love the torque for pulling in the mountains, and the mileage!

 

Per my comments below in the thread, I tow a lot. Use both WD bars and a friction sway control. Couldn’t find anything with 6 inch distance but the car has been towing well. It does have the auto leveling feature.

 

Hey former Touareg Fan, me too

Unfortunately, the Dealer in Wichita could not fix it. Was not a lemon. They just had no clue on the Touareg. Rarely sold one [as you know] so no one in service had a clue.

I am a bit worried I've gotten myself into another similar situation with our Disco. One problem. One. But, 3rd time in, no clue what to do?

 

standard hitch. If you have the airbag suspension you’re good to go. Levels the trailer out so it pulls like a champ.