On Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 2:09:43 AM UTC+3, wrote:
I have a 2016 honda civic. It’s my only car. Has any one towed their glider and trailer using a small sedan like a civic?
Tow ratings are funny things. What appears to be absolutely the same car can have vastly different tow ratings in different countries.
There would be very few cars (that are allowed to tow at all) with an official rating insufficient to tow a modern single-seater in a modern trailer with brakes.
The Cobra site says they can make trailers with a loaded maximum weight of:
- 750 kg for 15m single seaters (426 kg empty)
- 1000 kg for other single seaters up to 23m, including allowance for accesories
- 1300 kg for open class or two seaters (646 to 850 kg empty, depending on options)
A UK site lists towing for 2017 Civic as:
- 800 kg for 1.0 automatic
- 1000 kg for 1.5 automatic
- 1200 kg for 1.0 manual
- 1400 kg for 1.5 manual
http://www.uktow.com/towing%20capaci...a&model1=Civic
So in theory you could tow a Duo Discus or DG1000 or Grob Twin behind a 1.5 manual Civic.
I don't think I'd try that myself! A 15m single seater should be fine.
Engine power is not really a concern. You've got gears, right?
Transmission cooling is a bigger problem for conventional automatics. Manuals and CVTs aren't generally a problem.
I once towed a Grob Twin Astir in an absolutely awful huge boxy brick wall heavy trailer from Auckland to Wellington behind a 2.5l Subaru Legacy with automatic transmission. I needed to go at least 80 km/h with that load in order for the torque converter to lock up 1:1 (and thus stop churning and heating the oil). But the trailer started to get unstable above 80 km/h. Driving just below 80 km/h for more than half an hour or so made some unhappy hot smells and nervous gear changes. By the end of that trip I was highly skilled at quick jabs on the steering wheel to dampen out oscillations at 90 or 100 km/h.
The same car tows a DG1000 in a modern trailer with no problems whatsoever, locking up the torque converter at maybe 65 km/h.