looking for a car that can lightly tow.

[LTC8K6]

D:

At one time, Cadillacs were crazy. 400+ cubic inch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_V8_engine#472

Still got a 427 cubic inch V8 in the Corvette.

You could still get the Vortec 8100 in a pickup truck in 2009.

 

[Meghan54]

The cruise control on every car does that. On a hill with no load, my car will drop to second gear and rev close to 6k rpm. If you think the car is doing it wrong, bitch at Toyota. Obviously their engineers are terrible and you could design a much better car with a more function cruise control. Where did you get your degree in mechanical engineering?


The manual says a Corolla can tow 1500 pounds. Oh right, you have a PhD in mechanical engineering and the designers at Toyota don't. I forgot. How would you recommend we find the tow rating of our vehicles if it's some number other than the number stated in the specifications? Do we need to send you a PM for each vehicle or is there some blog I can read?

While I don't have an engineering degree, my father has his master's in engineering....BS from the Naval Academy and MS from MIT......and he thinks you're an idiot, non-driving teenager. That do it for you?

 

[heymrdj]

While I don't have an engineering degree, my father has his master's in engineering....BS from the Naval Academy and MS from MIT......and he thinks you're an idiot, non-driving teenager. That do it for you?

What good did this post do? Every vehicle I know of with an AT downshifts for power. On hills, on cruise, hell on flat land with a trailer in a bad headwind.

 

[LTC8K6]

What good did this post do? Every vehicle I know of with an AT downshifts for power. On hills, on cruise, hell on flat land with a trailer in a bad headwind.

You need to have been there for ShawnD1's many earlier claims.

I personally have never been in a car that revved to 6K to go up any normal hill you'd encounter in normal city/highway driving. At most, the autos I have driven will drop out of overdrive and rev up a little for a hill on a highway.

I don't even think it would rev to 6k in second gear at 60mph...

Shawn had his transmission repaired, so I'm not sure if he is claiming that it is still revving to 6K for hills...

 

[T2urtle]

I dont live in a very hill-y area, chicago is known for wind not mountains.

Well given the u haul trailer is a lot heavier then i thought. I think i need someone to do 1200-1750# since i might have a body with me at times. I know how to read specs but i dont know if the towing specs are realistic numbers or actual numbers. Looking back into the last 90's and early 2000's real HP numbers from euro, jap, and american cars were all over, so i assume this applied over to numbers in towing as well.

All that stated, i'm still thinking of grabbing a 1st gen forester auto or legacy 2.5 NA

 

[Zenmervolt]

A half ton of free weight pushing you with all its inertia isn't to be treated lightly. Brakes is one of the most forgotten about but most important aspects of towing.....everyone seems to only think about the tongue weight and trailer weight and whether the vehicle can pull it.

At 1,000 pounds trailer weight even a compact economy sedan should have brakes that are capable of stopping the load safely unless the driver's an unholy idiot who rests his left foot on the brake pedal all the time.

ZV

 

[andylawcc]

i tow my bike (ninja 250) to the tracks with my Civic 1.7L. It sucks going uphill, but it does the job.

 

[Bignate603]

The cruise control on every car does that. On a hill with no load, my car will drop to second gear and rev close to 6k rpm. If you think the car is doing it wrong, bitch at Toyota. Obviously their engineers are terrible and you could design a much better car with a more function cruise control. Where did you get your degree in mechanical engineering?


The manual says a Corolla can tow 1500 pounds. Oh right, you have a PhD in mechanical engineering and the designers at Toyota don't. I forgot. How would you recommend we find the tow rating of our vehicles if it's some number other than the number stated in the specifications? Do we need to send you a PM for each vehicle or is there some blog I can read?

I do have a degree in mechanical engineering and can tell you that if you had any basic understanding of mechanical advantage through gearing the reason why your transmission drops gears to go up hills.

To get the torque necessary to keep the car moving up the hill without dropping speed the transmission drops into lower gear where it has more mechanical advantage, increasing the amount of torque available. That lets the car maintain speed up the hill without holding the engine at full throttle and low RPM.

 

[exdeath]

How about a Civic?

 

[Doppel]

That civic is definitely overloaded.

Anyway, I think people just don't appreciate towing/roofracks in this country, which is why a lot of people never use it and instead cart around their SUV/minivan for a family of 3-4 when they're probably just solving a problem already solved literally decades ago if they'd think outside the box (literally--the box of the vehicle).

The Prius is one of few vehicles with literally a 0lb tow rating and yet there are several hitches available on the market and people use them for bike racks even up to small utility trailers.

If the tow rating of a civic if 1000 lbs I'd be fine towing that!

Obligatory towing caravan fail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyp-46dJHk0 Probably a 2000lb+ caravan being towed by a vehicle I'd guess has 60-70 horsepower (certainly not more) up a steep hill. What can go wrong?

 

[dawp]

D:

At one time, Cadillacs were crazy. 400+ cubic inch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_V8_engine#472

I little bit earlier caddies had double the cylinders:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_V-16

too bad Cadillac hasn't resurrected the v16, imagine the hood length on cts.

I wonder what they could tow.

 

[ShawnD1]

How about a Civic?

Does your transmission still work? If so, Toyota sucks. My car doesn't even have a trailer hitch and the tranny blew.

Probably a 2000lb+ caravan being towed by a vehicle I'd guess has 60-70 horsepower (certainly not more) up a steep hill. What can go wrong?

Just keep it in first gear and keep the rpm up. As long as the engine or transmission don't overheat, it should be good :thumbsup:

 

[punjabiplaya]

I little bit earlier caddies had double the cylinders:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_V-16

too bad Cadillac hasn't resurrected the v16, imagine the hood length on cts.

I wonder what they could tow.

would also depend on the full driveline, not just the motor

 

[waffleironhead]

Does your transmission still work? If so, Toyota sucks. My car doesn't even have a trailer hitch and the tranny blew.

User Error. You own a cheap car and you admitted to racing it thru the gears.
You overstressed the drive train components to achieve negligible fuel economy gains. Penny wise pound foolish.

 

[PottedMeat]

How about a Civic?

lol

"yo, dude let's go to costco and pick up a catamaran in a box. We can tow it with your civic."
"we are so high right now."

 

[Bignate603]

Does your transmission still work? If so, Toyota sucks. My car doesn't even have a trailer hitch and the tranny blew.

Just keep it in first gear and keep the rpm up. As long as the engine or transmission don't overheat, it should be good :thumbsup:

Considering how you say you drive I think the problem is in between the seat and the steering wheel.