What do you tow with

Tornado Alive:

That is one HELL of a truck. I use a 2000 Ford Explorer XLT. Got 22 mpg coming back from Fla when I picked up Mystere 4.3. Get about 15-16 around town.

Doug Snell

Someone asked what kind of mileage I get from my V-8 explorer, in town I manage about 16 or 17 with the trailor but on long trips I get around 25mpg. Granted I rarely drive over 70mph with the trailor and take it pretty easy.

2000 Explorer Sport Trac 4x4. It seats five and has a 4 foot bed. The bed is plastic so I can throw salty gear in it and not worry about the bottom rotting out.

'89 Dodge Mini-Ram van converted to an electrical service van. Company had built in shelving and 6 drawers under a sub-floor, 10' conduit slot up the middle (under floor) great for tiller extension, tie down stuff. Sub floor a great bed for the inflatible mattress on those late night arrivals or when the ground is too wet to set up the tent. Ladder rack on top was used to carry a trailer when delivering the sold 18 to the regatta and double stacked the 16 to race. Really nice to have all the storage space for every sailing and camping thing we'd ever possibly need and leave it the van and out of site to boot. Got us through 4 to 5K miles of regatta adventures this summer.

The drawback? 12 mpg pulling a boat, 14 when not. It's got a 3-litre Mitsubishi V6 that is a total POS. Chasing fuel and ECM problems all summer.

The wish list? Honda Oddessy, 245 hp <img src=

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02 Tacoma V6 4X4. pulls I-20 no problem, and 4 wheel drive is great for pulling off beaches. Mileage is OK but goes downhill fast over about 65.

Good choice for your wish list, John. I will have to say that with the fold down rear seats, I was able to stow all of my sailing gear (clothing, pfd, harnesses, etc.), weekend apparrel (for me, wife and kid), all the child accoutrements (stroller, crib, highchair, bath, etc. etc. etc.) and still have the front and middle (reclining) seats clear for the kid, dog, spouse, etc.

The fact that the sliding doors have windows that go up and down (on both sides) is an added bonus..

Yes, I guess I am a closet mini-van convert... That, and they're $5,000 (USD) cheaper than the similar (cargo room) sized Expedition.

$5,000 is almost 1/3 of the cost for a new N20, so the savings is definitely something to consider....

2001 1.8T VW Passat, 5 sp manual, 135K miles. I've been towing my cats since I bought it. Great milage without the roof rack and trailer. I get about 20 towing the TheMightyHobie18. I have loaded her up with a weeks worth of car camping gear, two bikes, two sea kayaks, and all of my tools to repair the boat. I can't seem to go over 90 mph when I do that. It does look funny towing a boat that is bigger than your car.

1986 BMW 325e - approx. 25mpg on the highway with the boat. A great 6 cyl. with a fair bit of grunt.

Happily tows the F18 on a trailer at highway speeds.

and gets 38mpg around town.

Is that a Peugot ( spelling )? It is obvious that the US loves big gas guzzlers. I think that car would fit in my truck bed.

My

little

SUV gets 12mpg. Worse towing. Even worse towing fast. The price you pay for AWD and gobs of torque.

1998 Dodge Ram 1500, 5.2 V8, 5 spd manual, K&N filter w/ cat back exhaust. The things got 210,000 miles on and gets 16-17 mpg whether its pulling a cat or not. Wish I had a new 4dr Jeep Wrangler. Kids are so expensive.

'05 Nissan Armada--9000+lb towing capacity, so I guess I could tow a whole F16 fleet with it...in the background on the photo...

Yeh its a Peugeot 206. note its petrol (gas) not diesel.

Surprisingly, the Tacoma only gets about 17 mpg when towing. <img src=

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97 Toyota 4Runner (on loan from my crew/girlfriend) because I'm not cool enough to have a hitch on my car.

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Happily tows the F18 on a trailer at highway speeds.

and gets 38mpg around town.

You win. I guess you would need a pretty large cat box on the trailer.

Currently a 98 Dodge Intrepid, 225k miles on it 22mpg over the life of the car. the back seat folds down and can hold sails, booms, etc in the trunk and back seat.

It tows great, and I even forget I've got a boat on the back.

Anybody want to buy it? Its got the hitch, and its probably only worth $2000. I'm in the market for next car/truck. Now that gas is less than $2.25/gal, Im leaning towards the Toyota FJ

Bill

another cool pic - doublestack - HT regatta 2 years ago in VA Beach.

Bill

Anybody tow with a sports car?
Any 2 seater/ragtops?

I have seen an MG B pulling an H16 down the highway. I wish I had my camera then.

Guess I win the low mpg award.

2000 Chevy 2500HD 4x4, Crew cab, short bed, gas burner. 12 mpg with or w/o a boat at any speed below 80. I didn't buy it for the boat, I bought it for my three horse goose neck trailer to tow the two Thoroughbreds and Trakehner 😉

Next truck? '06 or '07 Chevy 2500HD LT3 4x4 Duramax.

The real problem is that I don't even own a boat right now.... 🙁 First time in my life since I was 11 that this has happened! It's ok though, shopping for a J24 or I20

I use this, '92 Dodge Stealth, Twin Turbo, All Wheel Drive, All Wheel Steering, I have NO trouble passing when I want to. <img src=

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Wait a minute here... shopping for a J24 or I20???

this should be a no brainer - I20

why work so hard to go so slow and then have the risk of broaching and sinking. I know they have good class racing, but ouch... and the worst part is you aren't even gaining any accomodations for losing all that speed.

Sorry, had to do my part to try to grow the I20 fleet...

Well, my problem is that as the son of a boat dealer, I've always had a variety of toys to play with. Dad has a J80 that I've been trying to wrestle from him, but he won't budge, so... gotta have something, but I want more than one thing.

Since moving from S. AL to UT last year, I have not had a boat. I couldn't bring it b/c I had to move the horses, but it's the first time since I was 11 that I don't have a boat with my name on it.

I'm not looking for something and am using these thoughts.

I20 - would rather have. Don't have crew, nobody out here sails like we did in FL. Wife WON'T ever sail with me again. 6.0 killed her for sailing... anyway, I'd have to crew for her as she's not big enough. It's also not a boat to teach noobs on. Not to mention I will only sail skipper +1.

J24 - Faster than a J22. I spent a LOT of time on J's of all shapes and sizes before cats and still love the 22 and the 80. I can teach a group of my UT friends to crew and go out and terrorize the local fleet ;-). Also, it's cheaper than the other toys I want (Slipstream 7.15). Since dad is a North dealer, i can ge sails cheaper.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE cats and since converting in college always will, however... there is a LOT that can be learned from them and I attribute a huge chunk of my ability to my sunfish, my Star and other stuff I had/raced pre-cats. Sadly, I just think out here in UT if I want to race it's going to have to be a leaner.

When I move back to AL or FL, I'll be back on a cat full time.

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Happily tows the F18 on a trailer at highway speeds.

and gets 38mpg around town.

Scarecrow, what kind of car is that?

I wouldn't exactly call it a

sports car

, but it is a coupe:

1999 Volvo C70
150K miles, tows the double stack without too many complaints, but the gas mileage sucks - 15 mpg towing and only 24 without the boat(s). Mileage goes down drastically above 65 mph.

The best part is the Dolby Surround system that'll make your ears bleed if you're not careful.

We can tow a cat with our little 1990 Honda Civic hatchback, but the problem with towing with a little car like that is more that the boat is wider than the car, and the wind keeps catching the bows and making the boat waggle back and forth -- sort of feels like the boat is trying to steer the car, if you know what I mean. <img src=

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Mary:

Back when I started in 79 I use to tow my Hobie 16 with a Toyota Tercel. Can't get much less power than that. Engine is about the size of a sewing machine. Uphill was FUN!! went all over the state of Texas. But it got us there and started a GREAT hobby and way of life. 3 boats now and more to come.

Doug and Ashleigh Snell

I have a Honda Odyssey (minivan, with automatic transmission). It gets 29-30 mpg on the highway with no trailer.

Every year I end up pulling a trailer loaded with boats from Key Largo to Ohio, over the mountains. With two Hobie Waves double-stacked (and a couple sets of beach wheels) the mileage goes down to about 23 mpg.

This past spring on my trip north I had THREE Waves on the trailer, kind of nested, so they were still like two high. But that extra weight brought the mileage down to about 19-20 mpg, and the transmission seemed to be really struggling, even on flat road with slight rises.

So I met up with Rick in South Carolina after he finished covering the Tybee 500, and we let the motorhome tow the boats the rest of the way to Ohio, because I didn't think the Odyssey would make it over the mountains with that load.

SO, my questions are:
(1) When towing, is it easier on your vehicle if you have manual transmission or automatic?

(2) What causes the decrease in mpg when you are towing? Is it the actual amount of weight on the trailer? I would think that once inertia kicks in at steady highway speeds on flat roads, the trailer would be irrelevant (but apparently NOT).

(3) Or is it the windage (drag) of the trailer and boats that brings down the mpg?

(4) Or does it have something to do with the size of the trailer wheels vis-a-vis the size of the vehicle wheels?