Record-breaking Touareg Tows Boeing 747 on Michelins

Be careful what you say – an off the cuff remark recently resulted in a VW Touareg towing a jumbo jet down a run-way. On Thursday this week, a Volkswagen crew did indeed hook up a new generation Touareg V10 TDI to a 747 and it pulled it off. However, there hasn’t been a rush on orders from airport operators wanting to replace their 70-ton pushbacks with Touaregs.

In order for the Touareg V10 TDI to be able to tow the big bird, the weight of the Volkswagen had to first be increased by 4250 kilos. This sounds paradoxical but is absolutely necessary so that the power of the engine can be converted into propelling force. For this purpose steel balls and steel plates were distributed in the SUV. Other modifications were kept to a minimum, but the crew did have to increase the air pressure in the standard Michelin tyres to 4.5 bar. The speed was also limited to protect the tyres, says VW.

The post-pull Touareg was said to be good shape, there are, however, no reports about how the tyres faired.