Tow vehicle suggestions!

[BGZOOM]

Hello boys and girls, new member here so be gentle

Looking at a new (2nd hand most likely) vehicle purchase in the coming weeks. Having previously owned and loved a MY05 GT liberty sedan I'm looking for something subaru-ish again this time around.
Thing is, i would *like* to tow my '81 Mazda rx7 racecar with this new purchase. The car itself tips the scales at around 900kg, and i've been looking at braked trailers that weigh between 300 - 500kgs. So my total load is going to be of the order of 1200 - 1500kgs.

Another GT sedan of similar vintage would be great, but i'm thinking that it's getting very close to the tow rating of the vehicle (which is 1500kg). Other options include gen4 liberty 3.0R-B (1800kg tow rating), H6 outback (1800kg tow rating), and MY05-MY07 Forester XT (also 1800kg tow rating).

What i'm looking for is people's experiences with any of these vehicles and what loads they have comfortably towed. Who HAS pulled 1200-1500 odd kgs and how successful has it been?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and feedback!
Cheers.

[spike]

ive towed multiple subaru l seires wagons on our smallm trailer built for a honda race car with the foz, 05 i think.
tows like a dream
what engine you got in the mazda?? need some bits lol

(strangly enough it seems if youve got a suabru youve got a mazda too??)

[Alex]

anything with the 6 cylinder will do it with ease.

alex

[*Raptor*]

An AWD 6cyl car that tows easily which means lots of lazy low-down torque = Ford Territory FTW

It just so happens I have one for those. Subie's are a side interest

PS. Your location = Wollongong. Mt Ousleys a bitch towing with a small car. A Tezza wouldn't even know it's there (1800kg tow rating std. up to 3200kg with heavy duty hitch setup)

[longy99gt]

yeah, the 6cyl is a must
i tow my boat which is about a ton? or so, unbraked, with my 2.0L turbo, and on the highways at about 100-110 k's it get really thirsty on fuel, handles it, but guzzles,
so definately go a 6, the increased torque would be critical,
Good luck

[Alex]

An AWD 6cyl car that tows easily which means lots of lazy low-down torque = Ford Territory FTW

It just so happens I have one for those. Subie's are a side interest

PS. Your location = Wollongong. Mt Ousleys a bitch towing with a small car. A Tezza wouldn't even know it's there (1800kg tow rating std. up to 3200kg with heavy duty hitch setup)

may as well get a real 4wd like a patrol, get a hell of a lot more car than the territory for that price range. The man wants a subi, 3.0RB lib or outback FTW

alex

[spike]

without going highly modified like a fox with EJ20TT or the ex?? SVX g cylinger you dont want a subaru......................

[BGZOOM]

Thanks for the feedback guys much appreciated.

Spike: What was the 05 forester, an XT? Manual or Auto?
The Mazda is powered by a 13B turbo, making little over 220rwhp
What bits you got spare?

Re territory, not really my cup of tea...I need something i can live with daily and that includes approx 500kms of work commuting per week. So far the preferance is for a 3.0R-B, probably a wagon. Next question, what's better for towing heavy loads, auto or manual's?

Cheers guys,
Brad G.

[AndrewT]

The power of the engine of the tow vehicle should be quite low on the list of priorities when choosing a suitable vehicle.

- Weight of the tow vehicle, when compaired to the total weight of the trailer + car on the trailer
- Braking power
are the two most important things.

It's one thing to have the balls to do the pulling, but it's way more important to be able to handle the job safely.

Look up the official tow rating of the car and towbar to get a better idea.

Also correct loading of the car onto the car trailer is very important. Don't load the car on backwards and try to position most of it's weight over the axels - don't want too much or too little on the towball.


I've towed a car on a car trailer with an L series a few times - pretty stupid, it's hair raising.
I've also used a 6cylinder VN commodore wagon a few times - this is much nicer, but still over the legal towing capacity of the car I think.

Really you need a "real" 4x4 with some decent weight in it. Landcruiser, Patrol, something like that, but an Outback or Tribeca would handle the job fine I'd say, but best you check the official ratings.

[spike]

Thanks for the feedback guys much appreciated.

Spike: What was the 05 forester, an XT? Manual or Auto?
The Mazda is powered by a 13B turbo, making little over

Brad G.

base model manual NA

12A and maybe 12B/13B baffles that we made years ago.
and some random flanges that dad cant remmeber but they're all together so all rotary we think

[twilightprotege]

why get a territory when a falcon is the same?

i guess another question to ask yourself is how often will you be towing and when you're not towing, could you live with that car? no point getting a bit mofo 4wd to tow a race car you'll tow twice per year. if you're not towing often, maybe it's easier (and far cheaper!!) to just rent a big car when you plan on towing???

funny comment spike about mazda and subaru - i tick that box lol

[BGZOOM]

how often will you be towing and when you're not towing, could you live with that car?

Exactly why i'm not looking at 2 tonne trucks. Probably tow between 6 - 12 times a year, at around 2hrs travelling time in each direction. The racecar is currently street registered & engineered, and driven to events with a load of 4x wheels plus jack and tools in the cabin (yes, a tiny rx7 cabin haha). Being able to tow the car to the track is a massive perk...

Question still stands, what's the preference when towing heavy loads, auto or manual?

Cheers,
Brad G

[twilightprotege]

i prefer manual - i hate it when auto's change down when i dont want them to!

[spike]

id say manual but its about personal choice i guess.
the problem with our forester even when not towing is the computer doenst know when to kick in
pedal down thinks about it then goes again

[twilightprotege]

also auto's are renounded for overheating unless it has a good trans oil cooler. if you get an auto, a cooler is a must

[*Raptor*]

why get a territory when a falcon is the same?

The same

Since when did a Falcon have AWD, a raised ride height and less rear overhang which is better for towing

may as well get a real 4wd like a patrol, get a hell of a lot more car than the territory for that price range....alex

Only if you want to drive a truck based vehicle everyday rather than a 'good' car based vehicle.

But as this isn't my Territory forum that's enough from me on this topic

Oh, one more thing. Auto for towing but a trans cooler is a must.
Though maybe a manual would be better if you choose an underpowered tow vehicle (=> Subaru <=)

[twilightprotege]

The same

Since when did a Falcon have AWD, a raised ride height and less rear overhang which is better for towing

i was referring to the fact that the territory has the falcon chassis and engine. awd isnt of THAT much benefit for towing, a raised ride height is again not that much benefit for towing (if you have the trailer correctly weight distributed, after all the tow ball is the same height) and less rear overhang makes no difference at all - and being a car with the same chassis, i wouldnt be supprised if it's the same distance, it just looks shorter because the car is higher? i see no point in the territory other than a vehicle for soccer mom's

[Dreama]

What's the fuel economy like with the Suby H6 normally and when towing?

[Morcs]

We have a my 05 xt forester auto we recently drove across oz towing a trailer we had a fair bit of gear in it (we were moving state) had a lot of tools,motor bike etc must weighed around the 1000kg +
Carried over 100l of extra fuel
Plus other things in the car.

We averaged around the 14l/100km sitting on 114km (110km on gps) on the speedo

We have also added the trans cooler and do the log book services.

It pulled the trailer extremely well up hill and passing manoeuvre's

We left the Central Coast drove to Melbourne then on to Esperance.

Only thing that i think that we thought could of been better is the lights at night

I ended up putting spotlights on it for better night visability

[Dreama]

Im thinking of getting a Caravan soonish, and currently we have an Xtrail, but will be replacing it this time next year, so want something that can tow a van about 14-16 foot in size, which I'm guessing would weigh in about 1500-1600 kgs when fully loaded (feel free to correct me on this).

i love Subarus, and would love to get a 2nd hand Liberty wagon, but the 4cyl have 1400kg towing capacity and the 6cyl have 1800kg towing - whats peoples thoughts on towing a half decent size van with the Liberty 4cyl or 6 cyl ?? Or Forester Turbo as well (they also have 1800kg towing?)