I stated I need to tow 2500lbs so I don't see how your statement is relevant.
Nice Sedans that can Tow?
- Thread starter Hardwrkr13
- Start date
I stated I need to tow 2500lbs so I don't see how your statement is relevant.
RednBlax
Well-known member
Not a sedan, nor good on gas, but a manual 3rd gen Toyota 4runner would fit the bill nicely.
Rated for 5,000lbs towing, but realistically if there are any hills involved, 4,000 would be a wiser weight.
Only Achilles hill is the pink milkshake (just get a new radiator) and sticky calipers (tundra brakes), and the thing will go 600,000km+.
Bonus is that you can build a platform and sleep inside if you're less than 6' tall.
Rated for 5,000lbs towing, but realistically if there are any hills involved, 4,000 would be a wiser weight.
Only Achilles hill is the pink milkshake (just get a new radiator) and sticky calipers (tundra brakes), and the thing will go 600,000km+.
Bonus is that you can build a platform and sleep inside if you're less than 6' tall.
I strongly considered one during my last car purchase in 2013. You could pick one up in the US for ~20K. The ones with idrive are apparently easy to get into canada, the ones without iDrive are much more expensive (IIRC iDrive lets you convert the speedo to km/h, otherwise BMW wants something like $800 to do it).
Anything BMW scares me off in maintenance. Going to test drive a '14 and '16 300S later this week.
Yeah, I'd never buy a BMW. Coworker has one and complains about her $300 oil changes and one thing after another not working or needing service. Not for me.
I think you'll like the 300. The S model has a little HP bump vs the standard 300 which won't hurt in the towing department, but you avoid the gas guzzler 300C v8. My wife has a v6 300 and I have a v8 Magnum and I can tell you first hand there's a significant difference in power and performance, but also a significant difference in fuel consumption, particularly around town.
As mentioned I've towed in the 2500-3000# range (2 large jetskis on a tandem trailer) with our 300 (v6) and was pleasantly surprised at how easily it handled it.
Yep looking at the 6cyl, non-awd models. Trying both years because the '15 interior update might be worth the $.
I was really impressed with a 2016 Charger AWD I rented last year in Newfoundland. Powertrain seems really buttoned down.
Now saying that, you're going to run into the same issue as a lot of mid-large sedans. The corp only rates them for 1000 lbs towing. Will it do more? Sure. But, then you can look at other vehicles that have the same 1000 rating.
The Chry is RWD and a decent V6 base engine.
Now saying that, you're going to run into the same issue as a lot of mid-large sedans. The corp only rates them for 1000 lbs towing. Will it do more? Sure. But, then you can look at other vehicles that have the same 1000 rating.
The Chry is RWD and a decent V6 base engine.
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What's the rated towing capacity of the 300?
This thread sent me down a mental tangent. Is the GVWR actually a legal limit in Ontario? If so, where does it appear in the HTA?
blackcamaro
Well-known member
It has to be somewhere because you can play around with the weights a little bit when registering a pick up. Less weight cheaper yearly sticker.
More importantly to me, I would not want to be making an insurance claim and I was over the gvwr. That could get ugly pretty quick.
edit. You got me curious now, I can't find anything in the HTA that has to do with the manufacturers gvwr being enforced. Can't see how that is possible but I would like to know the answer.
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This topic came up during the 21 hour drive to JenningsGP this past weekend (btw we just got back, 3 of the 4 of us had an awesome time and the 4th wrote off his bike and is on crutches but I digresss ...)
Vehicle is not mine. 2012 Ram 1500 4x4 Hemi crew cab pickup, curb weight something like 2360 kg (ish), registered personal to 3000 kg GVWR to save $ on registration. Means he has 640 (ish) kg to play with. 2 bikes in the bed, 3 people in the cab. Oops. It's over the registered GVWR. And it's towing a 5x10 enclosed with two more bikes inside. Trailer probably weighs 500 - 600 kg empty plus bikes and toolboxes - likely 1200 kg total. It's well within the truck's rated tow capacity and pulling the trailer wasn't an issue at all. But a nitpicky inspector could make a fuss ... if they found out. I don't think there is any easy way to spot a situation like this without checking the paperwork. If there's an accident then there's a problem because the paperwork is gonna get checked. Don't crash the truck.
I can't find anything in the HTA that explicitly says "thou shalt not operate a vehicle above its rated / licensed GVWR" but there is this:
[h=4]Operating within permitted weight[/h] 121. (1) No vehicle or combination of vehicles having a permit issued in accordance with section 7 of this Act, the fee for which is based upon gross vehicle weight, shall be operated on any highway where the gross vehicle weight exceeds that for which the permit was issued. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 121 (1); 1996, c. 9, s. 26.
There is a regulation concerning vehicle weights and dimensions but there is nothing in it concerning light-duty vehicles: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/050413
They can probably apply HTA s. 82 "unsafe vehicle" if something is over its rated capacity.
I've been pulled over once in my car (VW diesel) towing two bikes on an open trailer and sent over the scale to check axle weights (many years ago). The trailer was below 2000 lbs which is the limit of the hitch that I had and it was below the capacity of the tires (printed on sidewall). All of that checked out and I was sent on my way.
Vehicle is not mine. 2012 Ram 1500 4x4 Hemi crew cab pickup, curb weight something like 2360 kg (ish), registered personal to 3000 kg GVWR to save $ on registration. Means he has 640 (ish) kg to play with. 2 bikes in the bed, 3 people in the cab. Oops. It's over the registered GVWR. And it's towing a 5x10 enclosed with two more bikes inside. Trailer probably weighs 500 - 600 kg empty plus bikes and toolboxes - likely 1200 kg total. It's well within the truck's rated tow capacity and pulling the trailer wasn't an issue at all. But a nitpicky inspector could make a fuss ... if they found out. I don't think there is any easy way to spot a situation like this without checking the paperwork. If there's an accident then there's a problem because the paperwork is gonna get checked. Don't crash the truck.
I can't find anything in the HTA that explicitly says "thou shalt not operate a vehicle above its rated / licensed GVWR" but there is this:
[h=4]Operating within permitted weight[/h] 121. (1) No vehicle or combination of vehicles having a permit issued in accordance with section 7 of this Act, the fee for which is based upon gross vehicle weight, shall be operated on any highway where the gross vehicle weight exceeds that for which the permit was issued. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 121 (1); 1996, c. 9, s. 26.
There is a regulation concerning vehicle weights and dimensions but there is nothing in it concerning light-duty vehicles: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/050413
They can probably apply HTA s. 82 "unsafe vehicle" if something is over its rated capacity.
I've been pulled over once in my car (VW diesel) towing two bikes on an open trailer and sent over the scale to check axle weights (many years ago). The trailer was below 2000 lbs which is the limit of the hitch that I had and it was below the capacity of the tires (printed on sidewall). All of that checked out and I was sent on my way.
No, and most passenger cars do not carry a declared GVWR, only pickups and larger, nor can the registered gross weight of a passenger (blue) plated car be changed, only commercial (black) plated pickup trucks or larger.
Gross REGISTERED weight (GRVW, not to be confused with manufacturer placarded GVWR or Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) CAN be changed simply by visiting an MTO office and paying extra for your plate sticker. My old pickup truck (since sold) was registered for 30,000# as that's about what I weighed with the truck and horse trailer with 4 draft horses in it.
What is NOT negotiable so far as the letter of the law is axle (GAWR), tire, and rim ratings, or the GVWR in the case of pickup trucks. You can register a pickup for 1/2 ton grocery getter pickup truck for 100,000# if you wanted, but as soon as you overload either the axle, the rims, or the tires beyond their stated capacities (or exceeding the GVWR as a whole), you're no longer legal. The same goes for a car so far as axle, rims, and tires (since GVWR is often not stated), so the number of passengers, junk in the trunk, and tongue weight on a trailer matters a lot.
If the trailer has brakes, as well, they MUST be functional, otherwise again, not legal.
In order for an insurance company to deny a claim based on overloading a vehicle beyond it's tow limits they'd have to be able to demonstrate that you were grossly negligent - IE, trying to tow a 30' 13,000# travel trailer with the 300, or towing a trailer that grossly overloaded the axle GAWR to the point of catastrophic failure. Towing a 2500# trailer on a vehicle rated in NA for 1000 (or more depending on configuration, it can vary a lot) would be very difficult for then to prove that, especially when any lawyer worth his salt would quickly introduce into evidence that in Europe many of the identical vehicles are rated to tow 3 to 5 times as much weight as they are rated for here in NA - some 300's over there are rated in the 3000#+ capacity range for example. Those differences are mainly due to poorer driver training in NA vs Europe, and more difficult and challenging terrain here vs there.
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mbroyda
Well-known member
I tow my track bike with a GTI, most ive towed with it was 2 bikes on a Uhaul trailer (heavy ****er) so roughly 2000ish lbs, and ut felt sketchy at best so i wont be doing that again, but it tows 1 bike on the same trailer without any issues.
