The New Subaru Ascent as a Tow Vehicle for a 17 foot Casita

[trainman]

Originally Posted by Gilda

Brilliant! You "Googled" it! Why did I not think of that?


We have no truck weigh stations near us in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'll have to wait until our next trip. I have to say, I do love truck stops for their mini-marts and for people-watching. I do feel a bit intimidated though with my tiny Scamp being towed by a tiny vehicle. I find the people who work at truck stops to, generally, be very friendly and accommodating, though. I'll ask about a weigh-in next time I'm in a truck stop (as long as they don't think I want a personal weigh-in ).

Ask a truck driver in the parking lot, I find that people who work in places like that really don't know where anything is, remember most young people have tunnel vision and are lucky to find there way to work.

trainman

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by trainman

Ask a truck driver in the parking lot. trainman

Trainman has the correct answer Gilda, truckers can give you locations for every state

[Debbie in Florida]

Hi All. Thank you for the advice. I will be taking it and looking elsewhere for a TV. I will sending in the deposit for my 17' foot Casita shortly and it will take 4 months before I have to go pick it up, so I need to get my tow vehicle...very exciting. I did drive the new Subaru and of course loved it, but I will take your advice which reinforced my concerns. I am most grateful to have this resource and the input of people who know more than I!

[WaltP]

Good luck with your new trailer Debbie. Please check in with a picture or two when you get it.

Walt

[frank_a]

We towed our Parkliner with a 2012 Ford Escape 2 liter ecoboost (turbo charged) with the factory 3500# tow package many a mile. It wasn't ideal, but did the job it needed to do!

Frank

[steve dunham]

One thing to remember is that the average tongue weight of a 17 ft Casita when loaded for travel is 427 lbs ( Source Trailer Weights In The Real World)
We own a Casita 17 ft SD and our tongue weight when loaded for travel varies
between 420 & 430 pounds

[semievolved]

Sounds like the original poster has moved away from the Suby Ascent which I personally think is a good decision. FWIW, I called Subaru dealer and asked about the torque figures on the Ascent. I asked whether the turbo was always engaged or only under load. The salesman said that the torque mentioned (277 ft lbs) occurs when the transmission shifts, i.e. when the tranny shifts down, the turbo kicks in to give a power boost. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me and I am not sure the salesman really understood. But, if that is how it works, the car would have great pull power for short bursts but then when the turbo licked out, it would return to more typical gasser torques which would be much less. On a long grade, you could envision a car constantly cycling between gears, turbo cutting in and out, to keep the vehicle speed up. Does not sound ideal to me.

[semievolved]

oops, meant "kicked out" not "licked out"

[John in Santa Cruz]

neither of those descriptions sound like any turbo system I've seen or worked on. the amount of boost at the intake manifold is a function of the exhaust output, as modulated/limited by a waste gate to prevent overboosting, and by the throttle to modulate how much of that boosted air the engine actually gets.

[Roger C H]

A CVT or Continuously Variable Transmission, has two variable pulleys with a transmission chain between. The chain moves up and down the variable pulley while moving down and up the other variable, thus adjusting the ratio between the two instead of using incremental gears.
It is a little disconcerting at first because there is no gear shifting. I notice on ours that when accelerating, the engine rpm stayed the same, yet the car speed increased.

https://www.planetsubaru.com/lineart...ansmission.htm

Disadvantages I have learned is that if the same ratio is maintained for long periods of time, that spot on the transmission pullies can wear and cause surging entering or leaving. Also, my dealer said that we should get the transmission oil changed more often if towing and the oil is expensive. We have a 2014 Outback.