How was it?? That's awesome. What kind of hitch? Pic of your hitch on the car?
Idk about the rest, but the 2.5 was sold in cali, and passes emissions.
Have you taken it to your local 30 dollar smog place and just run it to see the numbers?
Towing was... interesting. The hitch was bought at U-Haul (branded by them, but actually made by Curt), then installed by Hitch City in Mississauga (didn't trust U-Haul to install it). I towed the 5x8 with as much stuff as I could, and it was pretty unnerving at first, since I didn't know how the car would behave. It was my first time towing anything other than a 14ft. aluminum boat, which was done with a 94' Regal. Basically, the Golf can do it. The fuel economy is shit (~450km/tank or less), and you probably want to do it with a manual transmission, since you need that ability to select gears. I ended up in 3rd a whole lot while towing up the rockies through Colorado, and you need to use the brake + gearing to safely make it down some of those grades. Things only got rough at the continental divide, just at the Eisenhower tunnel, where I made it to the entrance in 2nd. Going up grades was def. awkward. You're faster than the trucks, but much slower than other cars, generally peaking at 60mph.
I'll try going to a regular smog check place - see what they make of the emissions.
somewhat interested in the process and outcome too. Since you can't get 4 door manual 2.5 in the states, but it is available in Canada.
It's confusing - the 2.5 is super-popular in southern Ontario, but all I see here are GTIs or the occasional TDI. My guess is that since cars are cheaper in the states, the 2.5 can't compete. People just get their $23K GTI or TDI, either of which pushes $30K in Canada.