Summary of smaller TVs?

[Bobbie Mayer]

I have a Subaru Forester 2000 and am looking ahead to eventually needing a new car (though it is and always has been running great) and wonder whether there is somewhere I can find a comparison of smaller tow vehicles.

Bobbie

[Harry Young]

Hi Bobbie,

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/...26/article.html

Edmunds compiles lists according to who does it best and worst, the above link is the top 10 best list.

Harry

[Bobbie Mayer]

Thanks, Harry, but I'm particularly interested in comparing things in the same class as Forester.

Although, I did just see that the Diesel Forester is supposed to hit the US this year. That might answer my question if it is true!

[Gerda, H]

Wow, if I would know that my current car type would come out as a Diesel in near future, I would GET it! It looks like Subaru brings the Diesel to the US, yes! Maybe even I will change car type just to get the Diesel. It will be able to pull the Escape 17' it looks like!

[Nancy]

Bobbie, Hope you are not vertically challenged. I have been looking for something for a small person. The Subaru Forester was the first I looked at. It grew and I shrunk. It no longer feels comfortable to me.

Nancy

[Bobbie Mayer]

I bought my Forester because I'm tall from the waist up and it has a ton of headroom! I don't like the 2010 model, though, and emailed them to say so. I liked the lower floor (lower center of gravity) on the older models.

I do hope the diesel comes, though, it has great mileage and will pack a punch for towing. Plus it has a six-speed manual transmission.

[Kent I]

This is a great question because I share your situation. I am looking to replace my 1997 subaru Legacy wagon. I have been looking at Subaru, and especially the legacy, only as a sedan in Canada, only to discover to my and the salesperson surprise that the 2010 only has a 1000 lb towing capacity, whether trailer brakes or not. I have been considering a used Outback, a 3.0 litre one is very nice, or to move to the Forester or a new Outback. Not sure if to move to an automatic after 30 plus years of driving manual transmissions. I am looking for an economical daily driver and something that can pull the compact junior. a note on the net suggests the Mini can pull 1400 lbs. but not sure if that is too close to the weight of a loaded junior. That is a fun daily driver The 2009 Jetta diesel had a tow capacity of 1650 but was revised down to 1000 lbs, several months later after introduction. I hope you continue to share your thoughts and search. I also have contact Subaru Canada about plans for a diesel.

[Radar1]

I have been looking at Subaru, and especially the legacy, only as a sedan in Canada, only to discover to my and the salesperson surprise that the 2010 only has a 1000 lb towing capacity, whether trailer brakes or not.

Kent,
I'm surprised the limit is only 1000 lbs in Canada, as the 4 cyl 2010 Outback (both the CVT and manual trans) in the USA is rated at 2700 lbs (same as the 2009) as long as you add brakes to the trailer.

John

[Dana T]

... the Mini can pull 1400 lbs. but not sure if that is too close to the weight of a loaded junior....

Frederick L. Simson has measured the weights of various trailers at several of the rallies.

The lightest Compact Jr he has ever measured was Hillary's and Michael's at the Lake Casita rally last September. It was 1120 lbs. (See http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...mp;#entry338694 ) Theirs is unusally light because they wanted a minimalist trailer -- see http://thistinyhouse.com/2009/a-brief-hist...y-tiny-trailer/ for some info about their trailer.

The second-lightest that he has posted is mine, which weighed 1300 lbs with a full load of water and all the camping gear we had at the time. Since then I have added a small chest refrigerator (40 lbs) and am looking forward to a spare tire (25 lbs if I stay with the 13" wheels, more if I go to 14") and new axle and brakes (about 100 lbs more after the brakes, frame beef-up, spare tire mount, etc.)

He has posted the weight of one other Compact Jr and it was 1600 lbs.

So I think your Compact Jr may be too near or exceed the weight limit of the Mini.

[WtMtJim]

Getting back to your original question about comparing vehicles. . . Edmunds.com has a comparison feature where you can line up about 5 vehicles at a time across the page and see all the specs and stats, including tow ratings, etc., side by side. I have found it to be fairly complete and comprehensive when comparing details of various vehicles. You select the vehicles you want to compare.

Another possibility is Trailer Life magazine and website. They do a comparison of tow vehicles every year. Personally, I like Edmunds better. More info & more flexibility in choice of vehicles to compare.

BTW, I know at least one person towing a 17" Casita with a new Toyota Rav 4, which is a pretty small vehicle.

Good luck!. Hope it helps.

[Gina D.]

The Edmunds list posted here has an Subaru Outback at the bottom. It is rated for 3k lbs with brakes.

That is VERY respectable for a CJ or Trails West, and in the same ilk as your Forester for sure.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Edmunds may be the way to go; I'm thinking of things like the Rav4, though as I said if the Subaru Diesel were to come out at a decent price I'd go for it. I gather the issue is meeting emissions standards in all 50 states but it wouldn't bother me if they skip California emissions as I'll change to Washington residency in a year or two anyway. (Meeting emissions standards in California will make it much more expensive.)

At any rate the current Forester is rated for something like 2400- my trailer doesn't have brakes so we aren't rated that high but if I bought a larger trailer I would have brakes.

[Nancy]

The Rav 4 fits me best, but we really don't like that swinging back door.

Someone on this site tows with the Hyundai Santa Fe. That felt bigger to me than the RAV4, more like the Highlander? So then we looked at the Hyundai Tucson. The Tucson only pulls 2,000 lbs which might work for our bare bones Scamp.

When comparing the different cars at Edmunds I find it interesting to read the turning circle stat. The Hyundai Tucson, the Subaru Forester and Rav4 are in there with small turning circles.

We haven't considered the Chev Equinox yet. I think its tow rating is only 1500. The turning circle on that sort of turns me off also.

Just did the 100,000 mile service on our Honda. We need to replace our second small car and I was hoping to find a small car that could haul our 1500 pound Scamp if needed. I really want to keep our Honda Odyssey forever.

The Hyundai brochures from the dealership are useless. They do not have stats in them. Have to go to Edmunds for stats. I think there was a CA version on one of the ones I was reviewing.

Nancy

[Mark J]

We are towing with a 2010 Subaru Forester which works fine with a 13' scamp. I don't have trailer brakes but do think brakes would be a good addition.

The newly redesigned Subaru Outback is nice but I remain concerned about the CVT (constantly variable transmission) and towing. The CVT is new and it's reliability still remains a mystery.

I thought seriously about getting a manual transmission and actually wanted one but decided to get an automatic becuase we spent more time pulling a boat to nearby boat ramps. The manual Subarus do have a hill holder clutch which does help in those situations however.

[Bobbie Mayer]

I thought seriously about getting a manual transmission and actually wanted one but decided to get an automatic becuase we spent more time pulling a boat to nearby boat ramps. The manual Subarus do have a hill holder clutch which does help in those situations however.

My Forester has a manual but no hill holder (came out before that) but I just use the emergency brake which is how I learned to shift on hills in the first place. The manual Forester has a lot more pep than the automatic (my mom has the automatic.)

[Edward Shook]

I have posted our satisfaction with the Rav.last year. The Rav is rated at 3400. V6 with towing pkg. We tow a casita SD 16'. We have put on 3000miles towing. From our perspective the Rav is fine up to around 2600lbs loaded. I would not go with more weight or any longer trailer. We can haul at 60mph all day no trouble, no gear searching etc. We have put air bag helper shocks to level trailer. The Rav seems well matched for our trailer and handling is good, we use a single bar stabelizer.and are getting 20mpg towing and 26 to 28mpg without trailer. We had a Chevy Tahoe v8 which was over kill and with 14mpgtowing and 15mpg the rest of the time it didn't make sense. The real problem was the repairs of 500 to 600 dollars a year on the Tahoe. Very satisfied with the Rav. after 3years.