I think it's important to be clear what we're talking about here. A VW
Passat TDi station wagon has a combined mpg of 48 and a long-run mpg
of 58, with 236lbs/ft of torque at 1,750rpm. The car has a kerbweight
of 3,500lbs and using the figure of 85%* of kerbweight to give towing
capacity, that allows trailers of up to 3,000lbs to be towed
comfortably.

*85% kerbweight - with 7% of the trailer's weight on the hitch or the
tow car's maximum, whichever is lower - is the maximum safe weight for
good stability, arrived at by the University of Bath in the 1990s when
they did instrumented testing and model simulation of tow cars and
trailer combinations.


Dan