I currently tow with a Ford Edge, 3.5 liter, automatic, and it does just
fine locally. I'll be making my first road trip with it in a couple of
weeks going to the dry lake in Nevada and, if there are any short comings,
I'll note them here.

We brought my glider (LAK-17a in a LAK-T5 trailer) back to Moriarty, NM from
Dallas, TX (about 600 miles) using my wife's Subaru Outback, 3.6 liter,
automatic. It's got plenty of power but the trailer wanted to sway a bit.
We also made the round trip to Nevada (1,200 miles round trip) with it last
October and, other than a little swaying at 80 mph, it was fine other than
the reduction in mileage. I suspect a bit more load in the front of the
trailer will take care of that.

Prior, I used a Ford 150 truck with 5 liter and automatic. It was bullet
proof! I changed the ATF every 105,000 miles whether it needed it or not.


"rlovinggood" wrote in message
...
Automatic or Manual?

To me, it doesn't matter, as long as the vehicle is rated to tow the weight
of your loaded trailer. Some have mentioned power, some have mentioned
brakes, but nobody has mentioned maximum tongue weight.

I had to sell my 2000 Accord V6 (automatic) because the Swan trailer,
loaded, far exceeded the max tow capacity and max tongue weight capacity.
Honda listed those as 1,000 lbs and 100 lbs, respectively. After the
trailer had "almost" ripped two different designs of hitches from the rear
of the Honda, I decided to weigh the trailer: 2,040 lbs with a tongue
weight of 180 lbs. There's not much metal in the back of cars these days to
attach a hitch to. It's all "crumple zone" stuff. Made to fold up in event
of a crash.

I searched the interwebs for an affordable vehicle, in both purchase price
and feeding price, to tow the trailer and came up with a Subaru Forester.
Mine has an automatic because that's what I found on the dealer's lot of
used cars. I wasn't going to be too picky. It's rated to tow 2,400 lbs
with a max tongue weight of 200 lbs. I did have a transmission oil cooler
installed. The car does have a "hot transmission oil" light, but I've never
seen it come on, including some towing when the outside temperature was
hitting 101F degrees.

Ray
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA