Review Of Subaru Ascent As A Tow Vehicle

I just got back from my first weekend towing Tipitina (550 Ultra) with our new Subaru Ascent. It was 142 miles of towing roundtrip from Baltimore to Greenbrier State Park in western Maryland. My main reference for comparison is our 2011 Subaru Outback 4 cylinder (2.7L?). I had towed the trailer ~ 6500 with our Outback and I think that trailering that much took it's toll on the Outback. We had a radiator go out followed by a blown head gasket (which thankfully Subaru covered as it happened just after the radiator repair).

Towing with the Ascent (which I've tentatively named "Big Mighty") is a very different experience. In terms of acceleration and stopping, you barely notice the effect of the trailer. Going up long grades (for the East coast anyway), it did not rev up very high. I was able to keep the adaptive cruise control on 70 for the ride out and never thought it was pushing the engine too much. The engine by the way is a 4 cylinder 2.4L Turbo which produces 277 lb/ft of torque with a continuous variable transmission. I do notice a good bit of rattling when I go over bumps. I will be looking for some method to dampen the rattle.

Some of the new safety/convenience features make it a much better driving experience than our older Outback. The adaptive cruise control with "Eyesight" is a really nice feature. I like to just set the speed around the speed limit and let the computer speed up or slow down depending on the car in front. I also like the lane keep assist. It is like an extra hand gently guiding you to the middle of the lane if you get careless or distracted. That said it is no where near an "autonomous car". I've experimented several times going around curves and seeing if it would basically steer for me - it doesn't do that much at all. For those with older tow vehicles, having Apple Carplay (or Android Auto) is really nice as well. Google maps now works with Apple Play and it's nice having an 8 inch screen to work with. Blind spot detection is also really nice to have. The reverse brake assist feature is annoying when trailering but can be disabled fairly easily.

On the trip back, there was non-stop heavy rain, so I went slower (5-10 mph below limit) and felt that the vehicle handled the conditions very safely. The ascent is several inches wider than the Outback which has one unfortunate effect of throwing much more water up the sides of the trailer. I am glad that I knew of this potential problem and checked to see how much water came up through the door vent. It was substantial! I removed the mattress and mopped it up with a towel. I'd guess between 1-2 quarts of water found their way into the cabin. I've left the vent fan running for the next day or so to try to really dry things out. I'm not sure what's the best solution here - I think I will install OEM mudflaps first. In retrospect, I should have taped the vents shut but didn't think to do it at the time. I'm trying to recall what others have done (Wax ear plugs?)

There is quite a bit more storage space in the back compared to the Outback. I was able to place our clam travel tent behind the second row. I also was able to haul nearly all of our gear in the back of the ascent whereas much of that would have gone in the teardrop before. I loaded up most of the gear last night before the rains hit so that I could just pull down the Kelty 16 tarp and put it in a contractor bag and hit the road this morning.

For mileage, I got 20 mpg on the way out and 21 on the way back (going slower). The car is too new to me to report non-towing mileage but has EPA estimate of 26 highway.

Although it's only been on one outing, I'm very happy with the Ascent as a tow vehicle.

 

Good stuff, thank you

 

Thanks for the review. I'm thinking of getting one. I currently have a 2017 3.6R Outback Touring.

 

Thanks for the write-up. We also have the 2017 3.6 Outback, and as a TV, it is great. The only area I am a bit underwhelmed with is the cargo area. It is smaller than we expected given the overall dimensions of the outback. I might also point out that our actual MPG is closer to what you are experiencing with the Ascent vs. what is advertised for the Outback. #leadfoot

 

I just took my second trip with the teardrop. I'll say that there isn't much discernible difference in braking or acceleration towing versus not towing. That's not a big surprise though given that it's rated to tow 5000 pounds and my trailer is right around 1000. I do notice the rattling of the receiver while towing over bumps. I just installed an anti-rattle device which I'll link below. I haven't towed yet with it but can confirm that it does indeed fit and I'm optimistic that it will work well.

In terms of what it can haul, it's definitely much more capacious than our outback. Our dog (see pic above) gets the entire second row. I put in a seat cover for her to protect the leather from all the stuff she tracks in. I'll link that as well below. Even taking the second row out of commission for hauling gear, it still has a lot of space in the back. One nice thing about the second row is that it adjusts forward and backward and you can lock it right up near the back of the front seats. This is what I do with Bailey in the back seat since she doesn't need the "leg room". I've been real happy with the ability to haul more without pushing the limits of the vehicle.

One downside of the ascent with regard to the camp-inn is that with it being wider it throws much more water up the sides of the camper. With the outback, the vehicle and trailer were roughly equivalent in width. I never had water get into the trailer while towing. The ascent is several inches wider. On the first weekend, I drove back in a driving rain and knew to look for water when I got back to the garage. It's deceiving to just look below the window as that was relatively dry but when pulling up the mattress I could see that there was a lot of water. I pulled the mattress out and sopped up a quart or more of water on the floor of the camper. True to form, Cary was very quick to respond to my email about the issue. I've got several options to address this 1) mudflaps/rock tamer. 2) electric tape on the condensation holes at the bottom of the windows when driving through wet weather - btw, no intervention needed for the vent above the window. 3) swap out the condensation drains at the bottom of the windows. For the time being I plan to use the electrical tape and see how that goes.

Rattle tamer:
Amazon.com: Hitch Clamp Cross Clamp 2” Heavy Duty – Anti-Rattle hitch coupling clamp/Hitch Tightener: Automotive
Dog seat protector for second row:
Amazon.com : Dog Car Seat Cover Hammock Style and Cargo Liner for Cars, Trucks and Suv's. The Original Design You Can See Your Pet & Your Pet Sees You with The Clearview Window-Keeps Your Pet Calm (Regular) : Pet Supplies

 

My 3rd outing with the Ascent was this past weekend. I towed ~314 miles round trip. I can confirm that the rattle tamer referenced above works very well. It makes for a much quieter and less bumpy towing experience. On the drive from Baltimore down to Pocomoke State Park, I was able to achieve 24 MPG while towing. The trip back was around 22 MPG as I was going faster to keep up with the stream of traffic headed back on Sunday afternoon (as opposed to minimal traffic on Thursday afternoon heading down).

It is a much less stressful driving experience compared to our 4 cylinder outback as I hardly notice any change in acceleration or braking and having blind spot monitors and adaptive cruise control makes it so easy. For anyone who has driven back from the Eastern Shore on a Sunday afternoon, you'll relate to the stop and go nature between Easton and the Bay Bridge. Having the adaptive cruise doing the braking and gentle acceleration and just having to keep the vehicle in lane is so much less tiresome. I was able to tune in to the Ravens game and not get worked up about being stuck in the middle of the throngs of folks headed back home.

 

Did you have to mention the Rams/Seahawk game? One more first down and we would have won.

I’m surprised at the gas mileage. That is better than I do with my 3.6ROutback.

 

How could you tell if you worked up about the traffic, considering the outcome of the game?

 

Great question! Only because I arrived at half time.

 

We have an Ascent as well. Do you think the hitch clamp helped with gas mileage? Also, will the hitch clamp have to be removed every time you take off the hitch, for example, when moving a bike carrier from the back of the raindrop to the back of the Ascent. Thanks.

 

I haven't thought about gas mileage improvement with the hitch. I guess it might help a bit by causing less wobble but probably this would be negligible. The main advantage is that it is smoother and much quieter. I also put a generous smear of grease on the ball itself which reduces noise and wear as well. You really will want a hitch cover though to keep the grease off of your shins. My wife wasn't real happy with me the first time that happened to her.

Yes, the hitch clamp will need to be removed to take out the hitch. Once tightened down it really holds things tight but it's pretty simple if you have a socket handy - just 2 nuts to remove. It would certainly be handy with the biker carrier as well - those things often make lots of racket.

 

The Eastern Shore of Maryland is really flat so this helped a lot with that run; but that mileage was over 157 miles of measurement.

 

This weekend I did an overnighter out in Western Maryland (Green Ridge State Forest) and got to put the Ascent through its paces. First off, it's interstate most of the way from Baltimore out to the area. Setting the adaptive cruise control at 70 going through the mountains yielded much worse mileage (around 18 mpg) than going slower on flatter land (got 24 mpg going to the Eastern Shore). Once in the forest, I had to traverse some pretty rough areas with ruts and holes along the road. The last mile and a half I kept the speed under 10 mph and sometimes had to crawl at 2-3 mph due to the roughness of the road. However, Xmode works great while trailering the teardrop. Some of the really steep declines were much easier to handle just letting the vehicle control the speed. It also did very well when climbing in Xmode. I will say though that the sides and finders were pretty caked in mud by the time I made it to the campsite.

 

What I use is Jeep in towing but also have ascent. So glad to see this thread. Searched about the towing capability of subaru and getting this trailer hitch Subaru Trailer Hitch (Part No: L101SXC004) . Just want to ask what if this hitch is also what you used and (if ever you have other truck you used for towing) is there a major difference or subaru can compete with these trucks?