New(er) Subaru Tow Vehicle

[Shadow Catcher]

Nancy has told me I need to start looking for a new(er) TV and mine is 12 years old and it will be a good bit more difficult to pay for once she retires. Our current TV is a Subaru Outback with the 3L H6 and 160,000 miles which did very well last summer on our trip out to California with minor over heat issues (turn off the AC wile climbing). Compass Rose fully loaded out is probably in the 1700 to 1800# category. I am looking at the 3.6r Outback with 5 speed auto (only available trans) it will get a big transmission cooler as with the current one. Availability of the 6H is much less than the 4H and price higher but all the Subaru Outback forum folks say I would not be happy with less towing. This will be Subaru #14 since 1977.

I know that others on the forum tow with a Subaru, what is your experience?

[BillZ]

Nancy has told me I need to start looking for a new(er) TV and mine is 12 years old and it will be a good bit more difficult to pay for once she retires. Our current TV is a Subaru Outback with the 3L H6 and 160,000 miles which did very well last summer on our trip out to California with minor over heat issues (turn off the AC wile climbing). Compass Rose fully loaded out is probably in the 1700 to 1800# category. I am looking at the 3.6r Outback with 5 speed auto (only available trans) it will get a big transmission cooler as with the current one. Availability of the 6H is much less than the 4H and price higher but all the Subaru Outback forum folks say I would not be happy with less towing. This will be Subaru #14 since 1977.

I know that others on the forum tow with a Subaru, what is your experience?

I tow with an 01' Forester, auto tranny. It generally does just fine with towing our tear although it labors a bit going over the Western Maryland mountains. No tranny cooler but I would get one if I was going to keep it much longer. I am currently looking for a newer one with stick shift to help with towing. We are probably 500lbs or more lighter than you and the Forester is 4 cyl so probably not a good comparison. I think the newer Foresters have a higher tow limit.
Zach here on the forum know a lot about Subarus and will probably chime in.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

14?! NICE!! I'm only on 6.

My current is a 2005 Outback 3.0R sedan (tows 300/3000), and has been great. My X-II probably weighs in around 1500-1600 when loaded, and never any issues. My Dad (also now a Subaru transplant due to me) is on his 2nd, which is an 04 Forester. He LOVES it, but was just looking at getting a new one because he's getting up there in miles, and the 0% financing had him interested.

I was surprised to find that the towing capacity of the Forester dropped from 2400 (with brakes) for the 2013 model, to only 1500 with a 176lbs tongue weight for the 2014!! It must have something to do with them now coming with CVT transmissions, but the H4 Outbacks have had the CVT for a couple years and their towing capacity didn't drop like that. I love Subaru, but they need to get their game together with this *new and improved* Forester!

Anyway, I'll be looking at snatching up a used Outback 3.6 in a few years!

Towing specs for the 2013 Outbacks....

2.5L 4 cylinder, both CVT and manual transmission - 2700 pounds with trailer brakes. 1000 pounds without trailer brakes.
Hard towing - over 104* F when towing up a long hill max weight should be 1350 pounds. Replace the CVT oil at app 24855 miles if towing.

3.6L 6 cylinder (5 speed automatic) - max 3000 pounds with trailer brakes, 1000 pounds without trailer brakes. Over 104* F or when towing up a long hill max weight should be 1500 pounds.

[Gladtobehere]

I am also investigating a new tow vehicle, because my Toyoya Matrix simply isn't big enough to match my desires.

I have only heard good things about the Subaru, but have no personal experience.

I am investigating the Toyota Venza V6 as an alternative to those monster SUVs or pickups I read about in the RV forums and see in the campsites. My dream trailer is max 2600lbs (1600 dry) and the Venza is rated to 3500 lbs when properly fitted. So I figure that should work well.

I am finding that good information on smaller tow vehilces is difficult to uncover. So is accurate information on identifying TOW packages on used vehicles. (extra cooling, etc). BUT if I had a 10,000 lb , 5th wheel job, no problemo.

My concern has always been reasonable fuel milage, but that too may be a dream, like the trailer I want. :-)

Sorry that doesn't help much but I will be watching for more details.

[Shadow Catcher]

Our 3L has the largest transmission cooler I could fit and the total ATF is 10 qts Amsoil synthetic. I also went with a 60 40 antifreeze mix for a higher temperature.

[GerryS]

We don't have to contend with hills, but our 12 H6 outback pulls our campinn with ease. 75 mph at 21mpg

[parnold]

Even though my 2011 Impreza (2.5l) is rated to tow nothing in the US, it is rated to tow up to a max of 2600lbs (braked) in other countries with a smaller motor. I have towed my teardrop of around 800lbs over 6000 miles last summer with no issues at all. NJ is about 1200ft elevation, and I have pictures of myself standing next to a continental divide sign of 7988ft elevation. I never had any issues at all with hills.

I did add a trans cooler myself to be on the safe side.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

I did add a trans cooler myself to be on the safe side.

Thats on my list of things to do this summer

[parnold]

If you have the expertise to install a trans cooler yourself, the total cost is less than $50.00 to possibly save the cost of a $5000.00 transmission. If you have someone do it for you, it will probably be around $200 to $250. Cheap insurance in my humble opinion. Every car that has an automatic has a "transmission" cooler from the factory; it's part of the radiator, so it is subject to some degree to the temp of the water. Adding an aftermarket cooler is a smart option.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Adding an aftermarket cooler is a smart option.

Nobody likes a hot tranny!

[Shadow Catcher]

My understanding from looking into it there is almost no such thing as too cool for transmission fluid. We went over a number of passes of 8,000 and Tioga at 10,000, temperatures in Utah and Nevada at over 100 with head winds at more than 40 mph all day. The transmission cooler I have covers half of the radiator.

And by the way I am part of a ministry to the transgender community, one study replicated twice, there are 13.5 million transgender individuals in the US alone, 5% of the population, equally divided between Female to Male and Male to Female though many F to M do not know it.

[Kharn]

14?! NICE!! I'm only on 6.

My current is a 2005 Outback 3.0R sedan (tows 300/3000), and has been great. My X-II probably weighs in around 1500-1600 when loaded, and never any issues. My Dad (also now a Subaru transplant due to me) is on his 2nd, which is an 04 Forester. He LOVES it, but was just looking at getting a new one because he's getting up there in miles, and the 0% financing had him interested.

I was surprised to find that the towing capacity of the Forester dropped from 2400 (with brakes) for the 2013 model, to only 1500 with a 176lbs tongue weight for the 2014!! It must have something to do with them now coming with CVT transmissions, but the H4 Outbacks have had the CVT for a couple years and their towing capacity didn't drop like that. I love Subaru, but they need to get their game together with this *new and improved* Forester!

Anyway, I'll be looking at snatching up a used Outback 3.6 in a few years!

Towing specs for the 2013 Outbacks....

2.5L 4 cylinder, both CVT and manual transmission - 2700 pounds with trailer brakes. 1000 pounds without trailer brakes.
Hard towing - over 104* F when towing up a long hill max weight should be 1350 pounds. Replace the CVT oil at app 24855 miles if towing.

3.6L 6 cylinder (5 speed automatic) - max 3000 pounds with trailer brakes, 1000 pounds without trailer brakes. Over 104* F or when towing up a long hill max weight should be 1500 pounds.

My new Impreza has a zero tow rating with the CVT. The dealer said any evidence of using a hitch for anything but a bike rack would void all sorts of warranties, but its awesome for commuting and I have a big truck for camping.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

The dealer said any evidence of using a hitch for anything but a bike rack would void all sorts of warranties, but its awesome for commuting and I have a big truck for camping.

They'd never even know. Unless they were trollin T&TTT for possible warranty violators like Paul.

[Shadow Catcher]

OK why are all the 3.6R's Black with Black Leather? My bet is we would hate it every summer particularly if we headed west.Most H6's are more than 100 miles away.

I did find one 2012 in Dayton that is White with White and my feeling is this will be the one even though I could save a thousand or so with BLACK.

[Kharn]

The dealer said any evidence of using a hitch for anything but a bike rack would void all sorts of warranties, but its awesome for commuting and I have a big truck for camping.

They'd never even know. Unless they were trollin T&TTT for possible warranty violators like Paul.

I think the wiring harness for the trailer might be a bit of a give-away.