Best Towing Cars - Us New & World Article

It should be pointed out that seemingly all of these vehicles provide more than twice the tow capacity needed to pull a 550. Thus there are many more options for most teardrop owners - less expensive vehicles with lower costs of ownership.

The vehicles in the article would be what is needed to tow a small travel trailer, like an RPod, A-Liner or other 2,000+ lb trailer (particularly those with a wind profile larger than that of the tow vehicle). There are vehicles with significantly less horsepower and a better torque profile that would actually outperform some of these vehicles when towing a 550.
 
I'm happy with my Subaru Outback pulling my 560. There is more than just towing capacity to consider, like expected gas mileage times fuel tank capacity. The Outback has one of the longest ranges out there.
 
I am very very happy with my forester, manual transmission, never had a problem with my camp inn, towing boat and pulling in and out of the water never a problem either and thats over 1000 lbs as well
 
Has anyone taken a look at the Rav4 Adventure trim, new for 2018? Standard is auxiliary engine and transmission coolers / tow prep package, and advertised 3,500 pound towing capacity.

- Nancy
 
Valerie and I just bought the MDX and installed a tow hitch on it yesterday. It's rated at 5Klbs towing capacity. I haven't towed the 560 yet with it but I think it should be fine. The torque profile could be better at 267ft/lbs when compared to my truck at 383ft/lbs but it's a different car altogether designed for luxury, not work. I'm hoping that it won't feel too sluggish when towing through hills. We will find out soon enough though as we have a camping trip in a couple of weeks.
 
Jay & Valerie said:
Valerie and I just bought the MDX and installed a tow hitch on it yesterday. It's rated at 5Klbs towing capacity. I haven't towed the 560 yet with it but I think it should be fine. The torque profile could be better at 267ft/lbs when compared to my truck at 383ft/lbs but it's a different car altogether designed for luxury, not work. I'm hoping that it won't feel too sluggish when towing through hills. We will find out soon enough though as we have a camping trip in a couple of weeks.
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I wouldn’t expect you to have any problems towing with the MDX. People tow with far less.
 
I'm thinking so as well. I have a transmission cooler ordered and will be installing it shortly just to make sure the tranny doesn't get too hot.
 
I thought it would be a good idea to share our experience thus far with our 2016 Outback. So far 21 nights camping and around 3000 miles traveled. The Outback does fine starting, stopping (have the brake controller), and going up hills (Maine to Florida). Fuel economy is where you take the hit - depends on how much lead is in your foot. The 2.5l Outback gets 34 mpg at 55 mph, 30 at 70, 28 at 75 - when hills are not involved. Heading North from Florida always results in lower numbers - slight elevation increase traveling North, not including mountains - and higher numbers going South back to Florida. You can figure - in our experience - a 11 mpg drop while towing the 560 Ultra SUV model. That is 22 to 23 mpg at 55 mph and 17 to 18 mpg at 75 mph! Mountains will affect these numbers, but we don’t go as fast so it is more depending on how you use your foot going up hills. YMMV, but that is what we have experienced thus far. Also, towing has not resulted in any oil consumption. It is all wind resistance versus the engine torque of course. Unless you have a diesel Colorado most engines with a lot more torque won’t get that good fuel economy when not towing. I have thought about an airfoil mounted to the rear rack to try and force more air to the top of the 560 but have not got around to that yet. All spare weekends are camping!

Bob
 
Our Outback does okay, but not great in the Rocky Mountains. It's the CVT transmission that worries me. I don't really want to wear that car out, so I'm looking at a new tow vehicle. Does anyone tow with the Honda Ridgeline? It's essentially a Pilot with a bed. Looks like a very nice tow vehicle, especially since it has a regular automatic tranny, and has a V6
 
StewUtah said:
Our Outback does okay, but not great in the Rocky Mountains. It's the CVT transmission that worries me. I don't really want to wear that car out, so I'm looking at a new tow vehicle. Does anyone tow with the Honda Ridgeline? It's essentially a Pilot with a bed. Looks like a very nice tow vehicle, especially since it has a regular automatic tranny, and has a V6
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That's why I traded in my 4 cyl. for a new 6 cyl. Outback. It does a lot better and is way nicer to drive with or without the trailer. I have an old 2004 Pilot that I tow with also. I added a transmission oil cooler to it though, because I heard the transmissions on the older ones were the weak link. 160K on it and going strong.
 
StewUtah said:
Our Outback does okay, but not great in the Rocky Mountains. It's the CVT transmission that worries me. I don't really want to wear that car out, so I'm looking at a new tow vehicle. Does anyone tow with the Honda Ridgeline? It's essentially a Pilot with a bed. Looks like a very nice tow vehicle, especially since it has a regular automatic tranny, and has a V6
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There is a fairly recent thread reviewing the honda pilot as a tow vehicle. The owners were pleased with it:
Honda Pilot Tow Vehicle

You might also consider the Subaru Ascent if you want like Subarus. I am happy with mine. It tows so much better than my wife's 2012 4 cylinder outback. BTW we blew the gasket on hers after a 2000 mile trip towing. I suspect the towing had something to do with it.
 
The new Honda Passport looks good. It’s a little smaller than the Pilot but has the same V6 engine and platform as the Pilot and Ridgeline.
 
I recently moved from a Nissan Frontier pickup truck TV to a 2015 Toyota Highlander. I was ready for a more car-like driving experience in my day-to-day commuting, after 10+ years in pickups.

Haven't towed a long trip yet. The Highlander has a 5k lb towing capacity, with transmission cooler and a heavy duty alternator (is? is not? a smart alternator? TBD).

Different folks will feel differently about pulling a Camp-Inn with a TV of this capacity. I also sometimes pull a heavier boat. And used to rent cargo trailers regularly. I once had a panic stop at freeway speeds avoiding a semi-trailer that decided my lane was better; we had overlap at the start of this. Scary. I was towing about 2000 or 2200 lbs in an older Frontier, and went from 60mph to stopped extremely quickly. My 1st Frontier (there were 2) saved our bacon, though my heart about burst out of my chest!

So, for me, the "downgrade" from 6,500 to 5,000 towing cap. is about all I'd want to do! Love the BIG DISK BRAKES ON ALL FOUR WHEELS!

I arrived at the Highlander through doing a lot of research, including Consumer Reports. They like the Ascent even better; the two of them are in about the same class of TVs, but, I was buying pre-owned, and the Ascent is too new for there to be much available on the used market. The Kia Sorento is in the same neighborhood at lower cost.

OTOH, what Toyo provides does *not* give you any head-start on wiring for a 7-way connector with power and brake controller!
 
We looked at Highlander’s last year as a possible Outback replacement before we picked up the 560 in September. Very nice vehicle! However, as mentioned, Toyota does not provide 7 pin wiring so you will have to “figure it out”. The Outback was outfitted with the factory hitch which comes with a really nice 4 pin trailer connector on an especially nice bracket. I modified a 7 pin mounting bracket to attach quite nicely to the Outback factory bracket - only takes about 4 hours of your time and proper use of grinding tools. We have the brake controller provided by CampInn that mounts inside the right galley top storage compartment. This unit avoids the issue of interfacing the controller to your tow vehicle and works quite nicely. All you need is the 7 pin with a good 12 volt feed from the battery and a good ground return. What I did was to run 2 - 10 gauge teflon insulated stranded wires through some split ribbed wiring protector from the battery - 12 volt positive through a waterproof 40 amp circuit breaker - through the firewall back to the 7 pin. You will learn all about how to take apart your vehicle to hide this wiring..... The next vehicle I get will have factory wiring - I think! That being said it came out beautifully and professional, however, that is 16 hours of my life that I won’t be getting back!
The 2020 Outback is getting the Ascent turbo engine to replace the 6 cylinder option - better fuel economy than the 6 - 23 city and 30 highway. No word yet from Subaru if they will provide 7 pin factory wiring. This one might be a nice balance of power versus fuel economy. The new Honda Passport does have factory wiring available - in typical Honda fashion the kit has to be added afterwards but at least there is a factory solution. Fuel economy is nowhere near what the Outback gets - 19 city and 24 highway for the AWD version but it would do a fine job of towing. Another nice option is the new Nissan Pathfinder. Have not driven one but looking at them while driving around one can see they come with a 7 pin connector!
These OEM’s need to “wake up” and understand the need for a 7 pin connect to make our lives easier.....
 
We have the hitch and 7-pin installed, and I just took a half-hour road test. The Highlander has been so comfortable, stable, and easy to drive; and it works just the same with the CI 550 in-tow. Good side-view mirror visibility...

The back-up proximity alarm really doesn’t like how close the trailer is. That would bug some people... perhaps I can turn it off.

Very happy in the Highlander so far!
 
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