So, what's your gas mileage?

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Norm,
I think the Casita and Scamp's battery locations are different. The Casita I think is up front where as the Scamp is the rear. If you move 50lbs from front to rear you get a 100 lbs differential. I also think the wheelbase, i.e. the location of the wheels from the front can play with t/w variables. Just my thoughts.

The battery on my Scamp 16' is on the front - not seen one on the back of a Scamp before.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Carol H

I tow with an Outback but its more than two years old so it doesnt have new to Subaru CVT transmission. Mine has an automtic but can be switched over a manual sport mode option. Have towed with it for more the 5 years without any issues at all.

I would love to hear if anyone is towing with the new to Subaru CVT transmission - I think they changed to CVT in 2010? was kind of disappointed to hear Subaura had switched to CVT as I had heard also that they were not as good for towing as the old transmission they were using. But then again I have heard a lot of people claim that the Subaru Outback isnt a safe choose for towing in the first place - lol - but then again those who often say it have usually never actually towed with one.

I actually had a fellow from Texas camp beside me in a campground this summer. He asked me where I was heading and I told him I was going down the Coast then into Idaho, Wyoming and Montana and then home via the Washington Cascades. He told me that he had driven through some pretty big mountains on his way to Portland and there was no way that Subaru could tow through them and that I should re think my plans. I giggled and asked him if he had noticed my license plate and pointed out that I fairly familiar with mountains as we have a few of them in BC and that I actually live on the side of a ski hill. I jokingly said that my driveway might be declared a mountain from someone from Texas. He shook his head and said no way he would tow without a lot more power as it just cant be safe. I assured him I was towing within the Subaru's tow cap & had been through the Cascades before without any problems. What was funny about the conversation was the guy had a really big truck with a tow package on it but he was camping in a tent in the rain but he said he had a really nice trailer at home. When I asked him why he didnt have the trailer with him he said he could not afford the gas towing the trailer on such a long trip so he was camping in this tent for 3 days and every 4th day staying in a hotel...... I left him to go back to the comfort of my dry little trailer where I ROFL....

Here's our 4CYL Escape & 13 Scamp deluxe in the parking lot at the MT St Hellens observation spot...(we're from ILLannoy)

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by floyd

Here's our 4CYL Escape & 13 Scamp deluxe in the parking lot at the MT St Hellens observation spot...(we're from ILLannoy)

Is your Escape a Hybrid with a CVT transmission?

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by Carol H

The battery on my Scamp 16' is on the front - not seen one on the back of a Scamp before.

Actually we saw a Scamp where the owner had put two batteries on his rear bumper. I was surpised.

We try to keep the tongue relatively light. We have a battery and one Propane tank on the tongue of our Scamp. We had two propane tanks on our Casita. I think those are about equal senarios.

[Borden]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Borden,
I'm interest in how similarly sized trailers, the Casita 16/17, Scamp 16 and the Boler 17 can vary so much in max weight. We towed a Casita 16 2800/280, Scamp 16 2400/200 and your Boler 17 2300/200. Of course the Casita 17's are typically in the 3200/400 pound range.

Both Casita and Scamp had air conditioners and baths. The Casita has dual propane, the Scamp single propane.

Where are these weight differences?

Boler has shower toilet combo and dual propane
No air or oven on ours though oven was an option in 78
They all seem similar in weight? especially the Scamp and Boler your air will equal the some of the 100 lb difference

[Borden]

Originally Posted by honda03842

I used a Casita 16 for 6 months this past winter and hated the battery under the dinette. It was difficult to service and wasted inside space.

Though the Casita had the battery in the back it had two propane tanks that balanced the loss of battery weight compared to the Scamp that only has one propane tank.

I still don't understand the extra 400 pounds in the Casita. Actually the Casita is about 3-4 inches shorter but weighs 400 pounds more. Could this be the fiberglass under the floor?

Other than that they seem to be similarly constructed.

Our boler has a fiberglass sub floor?

[honda03842]

Sometimes, though the bottom is fiberglass, they have plywood on top iof the fiberglass. Is that the case in the Boler?

[Borden]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Norm,
I think the Casita and Scamp's battery locations are different. The Casita I think is up front where as the Scamp is the rear. If you move 50lbs from front to rear you get a 100 lbs differential. I also think the wheelbase, i.e. the location of the wheels from the front can play with t/w variables. Just my thoughts.

My cousin has a white Airstream Argosy trailer the axle is back far enough that a class IV hitch is required, very heavy on tongue but the trailer is not very heavy? Axle placement makes it heavy on the tongue.

[Borden]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Sometimes, though the bottom is fiberglass, they have plywood on top of the fiberglass. Is that the case in the Boler?

Yes fiberglass sub floor with plywood then linoleum
at least the floor can not rot through

[Carol H]

My Scamp has a side bath with no ac and comes in at the 2400/2450 range fully loaded (including all tables chairs, bq, water hoses, wheel chocks etc) - one battery & one propane tank but with little to no water - have noticed the newer units same config come in a bit heavier as do ones with AC or front bath set ups.

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by Carol H

My Scamp has a side bath with no ac and comes in at the 2400/2450 range fully loaded (including all tables chairs, bq, water hoses, wheel chocks etc) - one battery & one propane tank but with little to no water - have noticed the newer units same config come in a bit heavier as do ones with AC or front bath set ups.

Thanks Carol,

My Scamp 16 is 2400 lbs including the tongue weight. I do have the side bath plus all my additions. I now have AC as well. I don"t have a micro wave or awning but may add the latter.

We usually carry a half tank of water for lunch stops and the like.

Mine is a 1991, maybe older and lighter.... I've gotten lighter with age.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Is your Escape a Hybrid with a CVT transmission?

No, my Escape is a 2.3L - inline 4CYL {not Miller cycle} 5SPD manual trans. I kept the extra $15,000 to buy gas for the first 100,000 miles.
I still manage highway...24MPG with the trailer and 30MPG without it.

[honda03842]

"No, my Escape is a 2.3L - inline 4CYL {not Miller cycle} 5SPD manual trans. I kept the extra $15,000 to buy gas for the first 100,000 miles."

Floyd, It's hard to justify a Hybrid, even with all the government incentives. Chevy is having a hard time with their's though the Prius seems to be doing OK.

I'd actually like one, particularly one that actually has a significant battery pack. The torque curve with a decent electric motor becomes diesel like.

Unfortunately I don't see the diesel or hybrid in our next vehicle purchase in 2016. Your Escape seems like a very reasonable towing solution, in engine size not to dissimilar from our Honda CRV.

Safe travels,

[floyd]

Originally Posted by honda03842

"No, my Escape is a 2.3L - inline 4CYL {not Miller cycle} 5SPD manual trans. I kept the extra $15,000 to buy gas for the first 100,000 miles."

Floyd, It's hard to justify a Hybrid, even with all the government incentives. Chevy is having a hard time with their's though the Prius seems to be doing OK.

I'd actually like one, particularly one that actually has a significant battery pack. The torque curve with a decent electric motor becomes diesel like.

Unfortunately I don't see the diesel or hybrid in our next vehicle purchase in 2016. Your Escape seems like a very reasonable towing solution, in engine size not to dissimilar from our Honda CRV.

Safe travels,

The new Escapes are 2.5L and up 10% in HP with no loss in mileage.
I also like the electric power steering. The Escape Hybrid is fast rising in the ranks of Taxi Cabs, especially since they quit making the Crown Vic, which was the most prolific taxi/police car ever.
The Prius isn't really in the same class as the Escape, especially when it comes to towing... besides it is not really "sold" as a hybrid.
It is sold as a political statement, an advantage lost with the Escape Hybrid, since it is a FORD and also because it can't be readily discerned as a Hybrid, without reading the label.
I have noticed a broader market for the Prius lately though.
With the "early" Prius drivers you were constantly overtaking them in traffic, now they blow by you like you were up on jacks.

[Mike Magee]

I smell another topic split coming...

[BCDave]

In terms of mileage my newest "toy" is a 4Runner which I bought because I need a 4X4 for "those days" when it sometimes does snow around here. Living in the countryside, my road NEVER gets plowed and my old 4X4 '89 Suzuki Sidekick - reliable as the sun - finally succumbed to rust.

However, even though it has 5,000# tow rating the 4Runner's fuel economy suks big time. The Sidekick always got well over 30 MPG in commuter use. I have now owned the 4Runner long enough to run the first full tank through and got (wait for it) 15.2 mpg, when I am NOT towing!

Geeze - my huge ol' '92 GMC one ton gets way better than that!

[cpaharley2008]

The good news is that it will not drop that far towing, maybe to 13-14 mpg. That is what I found with my t/v's, poor gas unhitched means not much worse while towing!!!!

[Jon Vermilye]

Dave - That seems to be a complaint from everyone that owns a 4Runner. Other than gas mileage, they all love it!

[honda03842]

Has anyone tried towing with a Toyota Highlander Hybrid?

[CallDon]

Originally Posted by BCDave

However, even though it has 5,000# tow rating the 4Runner's fuel economy suks big time. The Sidekick always got well over 30 MPG in commuter use. I have now owned the 4Runner long enough to run the first full tank through and got (wait for it) 15.2 mpg, when I am NOT towing!

Geeze - my huge ol' '92 GMC one ton gets way better than that!

I personally do not plan to get of a paved surface, I don't do unpaved roads or travel in snow. That's why god made Florida, for folks like me. in other words, no 4wd needed. The 4Runner seems to be a great TV for fiberglass trailers. Lots of Casita people use the 4Runner. But that mileage!?!

The Highlander gets lots of high votes also.

Here's something to consider:

CanAm RV in Toronto has a VW Jetta they have been using for several years for transporting Airstreams that weigh far more than a Scamp or Casita. They build customized hitches for the Jetta and other vehicles that they think have the ability to tow.

So how about the new Jetta TDI diesel or the Passat TDI that is made in Chattanooga? Mileage is great on those VWs. The Passat TDi just came off the assembly line. I bet CanAM RV will go to work on those, especially because of the TDI.

Any thoughts??

D*