Recommendations for Tow Vehicle?

[floyd]

You just take Alfred Latourneur off that bicycle and replace him with Vin "Diesel" then watch your rearview mirrors as he blows by you on a 5% grade!

[Mark J]

I'm thinking about purchasing a 2009 or newer Chrysler Town and Country with a factory tow package.

The older dodge Chrysler transmissions had plenty of problems which make me nervous spending that much on a newer vehicle.

Are the new ones holding up under towing small trailers?

Anyone have experience towing with them? Mileage?

[MC1]

Mark... I am a big fan of towing with a Mini Van and have been researching the Dodge and T&C vans for decades. They appear to be getting larger and larger, better and better. There was a great article in one of the RV magazines on one being tested for a few years towing not a smaller trailer but a larger one. Over the long term it seemed to stand up well.
It is interesting the first Dodge magic wagon that was introduced in the 80's had 100HP and was rated for 3,500lbs. The new offering has nearly 300HP.
Based on this report one would suggest that they would be fine towing a glass egg.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

As Simon and Garfunkal said "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest"

Steve so true!! I BTW still enjoy Simon and Garfunkal.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Carol H

hummm so why not feel the same about their setting of their tow ratings!

After all who knows better than the manufacture as to what components they have or have not put in the models they sell here in NA and what it will and will not stand up to & under what driving conditions

Actually in many cases, the mechanic who spends his life fixing what the manufacturer engineered wrong, or the operator who uses the product in the real world and not the "Tron" world of a computer screen.

Many OEM engineers are CADs only, having no width of experience, and no practical field experience and even worse are sheltered from feedback.
Even then, the engineers often have little or no input as to what ratings or standards are presented to the buying public.
To paraphrase the aforementioned Paul Simon...
We have squandered our resistance, for a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises... all lies and jests , still....

[MC1]

Floyd.. what you wrote......so true.

I also read a blurb the other day about a guy I know who was at the Detroit Auto show. He was checking out the Hemi 300C sedan. One of the reps approached him, introduced himself as a Chrysler engineer, and asked if he had any questions.

The guy suggested the 300C has a lot of potential as a TV and was wondering why it was only tow rated for a very low amount.

The engineers reply was that it could be rated much higher but the 1,500lb rating was all they wanted to attach to the car.

[redbarron55]

Perhaps check out this Utube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H65PMTcXOU

You might also want to check out the UK specifications for towing here:

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new/golf...gines/overview

The rating for the manual Golf 2.0 150 hp Golf is 1600 KG and for the DSG is ....... 1600 KG as well

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volkswa...lkswagen-jetta

[Carol H]

I forgot to mention that in 2016 VW is giving us more towing options the

new VW Alltrack

Golf Wagon. Rumour has it that the tow cap rating will be about 2200kgs ( 4850lbs).

[Andrew Gibbens]

Just saying.....

tandem towing a portafold caravan - YouTube

And, yes, that is a molded folding fiberglass trailer.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

Our Ram has the 5.7 Hemi engine, but there are other options. Pulling the trailer in "tow / haul" mode, which changes shift points and cancels the cylinder cutout function will drop the MPG down to around 12 or 13. That's running at about 65 to 70. Cutting the speed back some increases the MPG slightly. Not towing MPG will be 17 to 18. No doubt this is more engine than I need, but with little time to search for a truck before heading south it was the best I could find. And it does pull the camper real nice !! Both truck and camper were bought less than a month ago.

I too had an 2009 Ram Hemi, but recently upgraded to a 2014 Ram semi with 8 speed automatic and 3:21 rear. It also has the active shutters so not towing I'm getting 18-20 with the cylinder deactivation and towing in the tow mode I'm averaging 14-15 mpg.

[mary and bob]

I'd like to get that kind of mileage towing, Jim. Maybe I'm having too much trouble keeping my foot out of it, LOL

[cpaharley2008]

Yes, drive like you have an egg between your foot and gas pedal.

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Yes, drive like you have an egg between your foot and gas pedal.

In light of the egg you have hitched to the rear, that seems oddly appropriate!

Thanks for the mpg update, it's good to know. I came really close to buying a hemi Grand Cherokee last summer, but finances made me decide to delay purchase... not sure for how long.

[mary and bob]

looks like I've been using a hard boiled egg !

[honda03842]

Bob,

I don't know if this is a possibility on your vehicle, but our dash has a screen that shows instantaneous mileage per gallon. This provides good feedback to the driver, encouraging me not to break "Harley's egg". I love it when the engine switches to the '3 cylinder 50 mpg' mode.

We had a similar system on our Honda CRV and I believe this was in part responsible for our good mpgs.

[cpaharley2008]

The engine deactivation is really nice for awhile, that is until a tune up is needed. then you will pay big bucks. For my Ram, it costs around $350 for 16 spark plugs, there are 2 per cylinder, each one is either full throttle or gas saving mode, thus each one has different temperature and gap settings. Very interesting set up.

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

You might also want to check out the UK specifications for towing here:

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new/golf...gines/overview

The rating for the manual Golf 2.0 150 hp Golf is 1600 KG and for the DSG is ....... 1600 KG as well

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volkswa...lkswagen-jetta

I've always wondered why in Europe the tongue weight specifications are so much lower than in the USA. That VW is rated to tow 3500 lbs, but is restricted to a 175 lb tongue weight, which is only 5% of the maximum towing weight. Seems in the USA we always hear that 10-15% is required, although my Subaru recommends 8-11% tongue weight.

[mary and bob]

My dash doesn't show mpg, only if I am in "ECO" mode. Personally I don't care for the cylinder cut out feature, I'm an "old school" type person, I want all 8 cylinders firing all the time. I also like having a heavy enough vehicle that gives me the "don't even know it's back there" towing experience. Obviously this truck is not going to be our every day driver. It was not exactly what I was looking for, but with buying the Casita hinging on finding a suitable tow vehicle and only a few weeks left before heading south, it was the best option available. So far it is working out very good, both truck and trailer.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

Perhaps check out this Utube video:

The rating for the manual Golf 2.0 150 hp Golf is 1600 KG and for the DSG is ....... 1600 KG as well.

These types of performance based vehicles are so impressive the way they handle larger sized trailers in tow. Especially impressive is the way they can do it with just a basic, low tech ball mount.

It is easy to imagine how much better they could work with the use of a properly set up WDH. Apply the technology.......

[honda03842]

Jim,

We never did a tune up on the CRV and only replaced the plugs after a single misfire reported by our Ultraguage (and not the Honda's OBD system) making me realize the plugs needed replacement.

I believe the spark plug change interval for the Odyssey is 105,000 miles the same as the CRV. The CRV went to 150,000 miles before changing or once in more than 225,000 miles.

There are only 6 spark plugs on the Odyssey so I expect the price will be well less than $350, 6 plugs are less than $50 and could be a DIY.

The big maintenance item on the Odyssey is the timing belt at 105,000 miles.