Tow capacities are plummeting on 2012 cars...

[Lgboro]

A VW Jetta TDI would meet the above requirements. An it has 237 ft lbs. of torque which is more than any gas motor vehicle I could find. Also has most of the toys as standard equipment.

[2bits]

New World Order

Time to think for one's self. Teardrop people by nature always do.

[hazelc]

I have a 2011 Nissan Cube with a 4 cyl, 1.8 whatever and it has 122 hp. Is this enough? I plan to tow a little guy SS 5X10 with the trailer brakes. Please, please tell me it is enough as I love my little car.

Hazel

[Larry C]

I have a 2011 Nissan Cube with a 4 cyl, 1.8 whatever and it has 122 hp. Is this enough? I plan to tow a little guy SS 5X10 with the trailer brakes. Please, please tell me it is enough as I love my little car.

Hazel

http://www.golittleguy.com/forum#

http://www.cubeforums.com/forum/nissan-cube-forum-general-discussion/191-trailer-towing.html

Check with the above forums to see what both Liittle Guy and Cube owners have to say. If you have the CVT auto Trans, that may be a factor. IMO a 1.8 L is not enough to tow a 5X10 Tear.

I just bought a 2011 Nissan Frontier with the 2.4L engine and a 5 sp man. trans. I haven't towed with it yet. It has a 3500# tow capacity which is way more than the 4cyl engine could safely handle. Your Cube has a "no tow" listed in the owners manual. Both are Nissan products, one seems it is rated to tow more than it should and the other is rated to not tow at all.

Your Cube is a 5 passenger car, why it doesn't have a 1000# Tow rating is strange, but all new cars are going this route.

I think this boils down to common sense. I personally wouldn't tow a trailer as large as the LGSS with a car that only had a 1.8L engine, but I am sure lots of others will have their opinion.

I bought my truck after trying 19 different vehicles, it was the only 4cyl vehicle I tried that I felt could tow my light weight build that I hope to keep under 600# total tow weight. I feel my engine/trans will be just adequate for the duty, nothing more!

SOOOO... to make along story short, common sense says:

NO DON"T TOW WITH YOUR CUBE!!!!


Larry C

[Pete S]

The Outback doesn't break 30 mpg at fueleconomy.gov even in 4 cylinder trim and without a trailer. As best I can tell the newer Outbacks now compare in size to the bigger CUVs, not exactly just a car anymore.

We are getting 30mpg exactly in combined driving with our Forester. We didn't get that when it was new, but we are near 90k miles now, and the fuel economy just keeps getting better. Or maybe it's my driving.

Mike...

What year?

2009, SOP was in 2008. We got ours in April 2008.



Mike...

I'm curious. I'll give it a good look. Have you had it in the mountains?

[john warren]

member back in the day? when dad would hook up the airstream to the buick or oldsmobile and away we would go.

todays cars don't have a tow capacity.

???wait???? did i just age myself?

[john warren]

Easy fix is keep the maintenance and up keep up on your owned vehicles and it's all moot.
They can have their new cars if they think so much of them.
My S-10 is a 1986 model - a $50 purchase I made back in 1998.
I've used it for a tractor, a TOV and many other things most wouldn't do with larger size trucks or cars. It's all in your maintenance.

actually wolf i am currently looking for an older, say mid 60's pickup to redo for my tow vehicle. something with a carb, a distributer,,, and no damned computer so i can fix it myself.

[2bits]

actually wolf i am currently looking for an older, say mid 60's pickup to redo for my tow vehicle. something with a carb, a distributer,,, and no damned computer so i can fix it myself.

Not to threadjack or anything, but I think that mindset really falls into the nature of the "teardropper" mentality. I mean we are the step-child of the RV industry, but proudly so because we do not follow the masses and think for ourselves. This is also represented by the fact that most of us, build out own.

This is not to say anything at all negative about those who do not build their own teardrop or maintain an older vehicle, it is just a generalization toward the whole and ANY teardropper bought or built is about the style of camping, so I hope there is no misunderstanding.

In my own case to relate John, this might be of interest since some people equate "old" to "gas guzzler". My previous truck was a '71 Chevy Truck, and it was the best of both worlds, very lightweight, a classic, and had an inline 6 cylinder under the hood so in combination with style came good mileage as well. The plan before I sold it was to drop an overdrive transmission in, and I would be getting over 20MPG easy...



Currently I am in the process of selling my new car and I will only own my 74 Monte Carlo for my daily driver, and my 78 Chevy Truck, my current camper vehicle which is an all original, fully loaded, all power, dual tanks, one owner, 5/8 ton truck, both fully paid for. Yes the old classics take maintenance, but so do new cars, and as far as repairs, I can fix anything and everything on mine, and for those of use who can, we can live debt free.

[john warren]

ahhhh 2bits,,,sweet setup. i recall my 73 chevy with a six 3 speed stick got 23 mpg pretty steady. since i do most of my travel in my own state i'm only talking 1 or 2 tANKS OF GAS FOR A WEEK LONG TRIP ANYWAY

[hazelc]

Dale
What is this chip and where do I get one?

Hazel

[2bits]

It is sad that manufactures are so scared of liability they refuse to put any faith into their own vehicles, even when they will do the job just fine.

Slow, you are right on, out of all the modern advances I think the 90% increase in mileage is due to the overdrive transmission, everything else is minimal IMO.

a 700r4 is the next order of business for both my 78 and 74.

[Pete S]

Mine is a 2011 Subaru Outback. 21mpg towing. Its a 4 cylinder.

I bought it because it met the following criteria:
1) Good gas mileage
2) Comfortable for a tall persons.
3) Less than $25K.
4) Can tow a trailer.

I could not find any other car that had all 4 of the above.

I don't know what this car would get towing a teardrop but it would definately be better that 21 mpg. I used to tow with a 2006 VIBE and
here are my mpg:

VIBE:
31 mpg, no trailer
26 mpg with 4ft w x 4ft h teardrop ( height about 6 inches higher than the car.)
21 mpg with 5ft wide x 4ft h teardrop.
15 mpg with 6ft wide x 5ft h breadloaf (My current trailer that I get 21mpg with the Subaru).

I read that they are tweeking the 2012 engine to get even better gas mileage out of the Outback.

Well, we sure looked at a lot of cars! We didn't run into any big surprises. You know, the 40 mpg wonder that is rated for 1500# towing. Just not there.

In the end the criteria was still:

A brand new car, 2011 - 2012.

Gas mileage, gas mileage, gas mileage...

Ability to tow our teardrop and gear WITHOUT VOIDING THE WARRANTY OR EXPOSING US TO LIABILITY.

Something that won't take up much more space in the garage...

What did we wind up with? A car that was NEVER on the radar before you guys pointed it out. 2012 Forester.

I think it will work for us...

[2bits]

One thing I always find funny is that My Lincoln Town Car gets 25mpg.... Whoda thought..

[McBrew]

Hi folks! Haven't checked in here for a while. I sold the half-built tear and bought a Scamp (family expanding). I towed my Scamp with a 2009 Scion xD (similar to a Toyota Yaris, but with the 1.8 liter engine from a Corolla). That car towed fairly well and got about 24 MPG doing so. It carries a ZERO pound tow rating in the US, and a 1,600 pound rating in Europe.

Since I now need room for two child seats, I traded the xD in on a 2011 Subaru Outback. I have gotten up to 29.6 MPG with the Outback (calculated at the pump). It tows the scamp quite a bit smoother than the xD did. The tow rating in the US is 2,700 pounds. In Euroope, it is rated to tow 4,000 pounds. The fuel economy is nothing to write home about, but the full-time AWD is helpful when pulling the Scamp out of the yard. Unlike most AWD vehicles, the Subaru actually powers all four wheels all of e time. Most of them only send power to the rear wheels AFTER the front wheels start slipping.

[Cliffmeister2000]

I have gotten up to 29.6 MPG with the Outback (calculated at the pump). . . The fuel economy is nothing to write home about . . .

Nothing to write home about? 30mpg under tow is pretty close to amazing! 30mpg for constant AWD is a dream machine.