How Large a vehicle do I really need

Well Jenny and I are finally set on getting a 560, but now have to decide on a tow vehicle. My thoughts on towing weight is that the vehicle must have a rating of 2000 lbs. I have read that many of you have vehicles that are rated at 1500 lbs towing and don't have any problems, 2000 lbs rating for me is just a personal choice.
My real question here is how large a vehicle do I really need. Dodge Minivan has a tow rating of 3500 lbs, which is by far enough, and enough room where you could almost fit a 560 inside the vehicle, but do I need that much room? So you folks with smaller tow vehicles, do you have enough room between the CI and your vehicle to bring all that you need to camp comfortably?
BTW, Jenny and I currently tent camp, and I can fit all I need or want into my PT Cruiser, but the car is absolutely packed full.
Also, does anybody two with a Ford Escape, Edge, or Flex?

 

i have towed with a Jeep Comander and a Dodge Ram pick up truck. The pick up was great for bringing everything but the Jeep pulled smoother. I'm sure any of the Fords you mentioned would be strong enough to tow but after packing all the stuff we bring along we are going with a Ford Explorer this spring.

 

Awesome, you will love it. I tow my 560 with a GMC Sierra 5.3L V8. However, that is because I have a 20' Ski boat I need to tow during the summer. I also have dirt bikes that I bring when I am camping, etc. With a V8, you don't even feel the 560 behind you at all. So, it is way overkill in terms of power for towing.

There is a guy near me that tows his 560 with a 4 Cyl. Tacoma. They have a tow capacity of about 3500lbs, the 6 cyl versions can tow 6500lbs. Now, he did say he can feel it when chugging up hills, but it still does fine.

So, it really depends on what all you need to bring with you. I try to follow the general rule of 2x the weight of your load. I think the 560 is around 1300lbs dry and 1600lbs loaded. Therefore, anything with a tow capacity of 3500lbs or higher should be fine for towing.

The 560 does tow really nice and does not bounce all over the place. The torsion suspension really does help. My boat is way heavier but has the leaf spring suspension and bounces way more than my 560.

Some things to keep in mind, moving from tent camping to a 560, you won't need quite as much stuff. You don't need a camp stove anymore. All your cookware, silverware, food, cooler, etc. all fit in the galley. Your bedding is already in the trailer and ready. So, stuff you may want to bring that is not already in the trailer is camp chairs, canopy, clothes (which can ride in the trailer), toys (canoe, bikes or whatever), lanterns/lights, some firewood and a BBQ. What else would you need to bring?

 

Some fine liquors perhaps?

 

Or lickers? Something in a terrier perhaps?

 

I had assumed the booze was in the cooler but I could be mistaken.

Yep, got to have the dog too.

 

We tow our current teardrop (and of course our CampInn when finished next month) with a Toyota Rav4 V6 with tow package. It has 270 HP with 250 lb. of torque and a rating of 3500 lbs. It tows a teardrop beautifully.

 

You would probably do just with your current car..

 

Thanks for the input. One thing about the tow vehicle we are looking for is that it also gets good gas mileage. In my mind, that pretty much includes any vehicle that normally gets at least 27 MPG on the freeway, although I can be flexible.
Again thanks to all that responded.
Tim

 

Those are not easy to find combinations. Anything with a good tow capacity tends to not get great mileage. If towing a smaller trailer like the 550 is a lot easier because you can shave off hundreds of lbs. your choice of tow vehicles greatly increases. However you also give up interior space.

One option is to get a turbo diesel. Good torque for towing, good mileage as well and the engines last a long time. Fuel,is more expensive as are the cars but it is a great blend of power, torque, tow capacity, mileage and comfort.

Now, being in the 3500lbs range for tow capacity, you still have a lot of options. 27mpg might be hard to reach but 24-25 is cetainly doable. I would suggest you start with V6 based cars. You could drop down to the 2klbs tow vehicles but I think you are cutting it way too close. Remember, it's not just the weight of your load, but also the weight of the passengers in the car, the fuel, the stuff in the car, etc. the combined weight is what you are hauling, not just the loaded trailer.

 

I think from my first post what I was trying to say was that I really didn't want a minivan even though it seems to present the best option in combined towing capacity and carrying space even though the mpg might be a little on the low side. I've read where folks are happy with the Subaru Outback, which also get pretty good gas mileage. I am also considering the Ford Edge, which has the same mpg as my current car but with a V6. But now that you mention Turbo Diesel, that does maybe open a few more options. Decisions, decisions>

 

Yep...I really like the Audi Q5 TDI. Great mileage at 24/31 with plenty of torgue but it is also $40K new. I keep watching for used models to show up but they seem hard to find.

BMW makes a really nice TDI as well.

Seems the only place to find a good TDI is in the European cars. I wish US and Asia would bring TDI motors to the mainstream market. We Americans love our HP too much to ever adopt a TDI motor even though it is a better technology. More reliable, better economy, more torque, clean burning...Diesel has come a long way. The fuel costs could be driven down if more people adopted the technology.

But I digress.

 

I don't think you can get 27 mpg towing any camper, unless you are in Florida, maybe.

If you are willing, the Mercedes GLK 250 Bluetec is a diesel, and that will get well over 27 mpg, plus great mpg when not towing, which is a huge plus for me. And you'd have enough capacity for camping.

I'm also in favor of as small as possible, but that is mostly because of mpg and because I want to drive a smallish wagon/SUV when I am not towing.

The new Volvos will get great mpg, and will tow a TD, no problem. But I am waiting to hear how people like towing with the new Volvo power setup. It could be awesome.

If I had to buy tomorrow, I'd look hard at the GLK.

Maybe if Chevy made a model along the lines of the Cadillac SRX....(but there goes the mpg)

I am very curious how the hybrids do for towing. Would love to see an article about it.

 

There are a few diesels we see towing our campers. The older Jeep Liberties do a great job for example. I know of one customer towing with a new BMW diesel but have not seen any mileage returns on this combo yet.

The most common one we see are the VW Jetta Sportwagens. We see a good number of customers that use these. Dave K who is a regular here on the forum posted a great thread on performance towing with his. Do a search for that. Realistically most Jetta diesel owners seem to be getting 32mpg plus when towing our campers.

Hybrids. We do see some hybrids. Alot of them do not have a towing capacity so it is a short list of viable options. The Lexus 400 series and the Toyota Hylander hybrids are the two we have seen a few times. If I recall correct there are mileage returns in the 27ish range towing our campers with these. One of the people on the forum Jim H. has a Hylander. Maybe he could pop in and give a report on this.

Cary

 

Cary,

Do you think that Jetta Sport wagon with a 4Cyl TDI motor can handle pulling a 560 fully loaded?

It looks like it has pretty good torque. It is certainly more reasonably priced than the Audi, BMW, Mercedes lines.

I know VW has a 6 cyl SUV model but reviews seem to be all over the place for that model.

 

Jay,

If I understand it right you would be able to stay within the tow capacity of the car with the 560. Probably with all the gear in it you would be right at it. All of the customers I know towing with the TDI Jettas are towing 550s.

One note, with the TDI Jettas, to have a usable towing capacity you need to have the manual transmission version I am told.

I am hoping Dave K will pop in here and enlighten us a bit more on this subject, hint hint.

Cary

 

we've got 8k+ miles and 48 nights since March using a 2012 Jetta tdi wagon to tow our 550. This includes a nice trip all over Newfoundland in August as well as trips to the Smokies and Shenandoahs.

The tdi has done a great job. Cary's right about the mileage - low 30s. He's also right about it needing to have a manual transmission. VW sez no towing allowed at all with their dsg tranny.

My VW manual also sez that 1000 lbs is the weight limit, with a 200 lb tongue weight. I've read on tdi forums of folks towing a lot more than that but that's what the manual states.

Don't know that I'd buy a tdi wagon to tow a 560 but if I already had one, who knows. Electric brakes are a must have.

If you decide to go that route, be aware that the wiring can be a bit tricky. I did mine myself and it worked great, but it took me a while.

It's really nice to be able to tow the 'drop with a car that's fun to drive and really fuel-efficient.

 

BMW is bringing in diesel versions of their cars more and more (at least we are seeing it more out here, which it am thrilled about...America needs to get on board with diesel, especially with the cleaner burning engines they are producing). I used to tow our 560 with my 325 XI Sportwagon. It was not diesel and did not have a tow rating (none of the cars do, only the X5 at the time of our last research). The car was a complete lemon from the time of pick up (I had 3 other BMWs before that and they were great, so we got a dud and learned a valuable lesson) and we got rid of it. When it wasn't in the shop it pulled the trailer great, I got good gas milage for a petrol car (right between 21-23 mpg, with a diesel you would be up there near 30 easy), and it was a decent size for the gear at that time (we also used a roof box for extra storage). Not sure how the prices compare with the Jetta, but it was a similar, more efficient car.

 

"If you decide to go that route, be aware that the wiring can be a bit tricky."

Robert (RDickson) is completely correct about this. This is actually pretty true on most vehicles of European manufacture.

Cary

 

Had a 2012 VW Sportwagen TDI an thought it was a wonderful vehicle in all respects. However there was a pending Recall, and voluntary stop sale from VW on the TDI's due to the high pressure fuel pump failing ($7,500) plus a known defect in the #2 injector fuel line. Sold mine before any problems surfaced.

Second Cary's comment on German wiring, as work arounds are being researched for our 2014 Porsche Cayenne GTS with factory tow package rated @ 7,700 lbs max tow. So far I have found the the tow controller module will, change transmission shift patterns, disable back-up camera, disable hatch opening interior button, provide trailer/vehicle alarm thru 7 way plug, extend lane departure warning, & the one that gives the dreaded Lamp Out Message (!) & LED hyper-flash.