Towing trailer and glider with a honda civic

I wrote off a Subaru Forester pulling a Puchaz. Photos of skid marks at the

scene showed one trailer brake seized across a slab transition lining up
that
wheel behind the hitch - then let go.

The Cobra manual advises that if the combination begins to sway:

1. Hold the wheel straight and brake.

2. Do not accelerate or counter steer.

Not having read the manual at the time, I applied 2.

Towing capacity is generally predicated on a shorter distance between hitch

and trailer axle. The Europeans and Australians often use an anti sway
hitch.

The new fibreglass top trailers do tow better, especially compared to
certain
Flintstone trailers.

Make sure the rear and trailer tires are inflated to the max.

When reading the maximum pressure off the sidewall, check the age of the
tires. Replace if older than five. It will save replacing a fender after
the tire
blows.

On Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 9:32:07 AM UTC-8, Bruce Hoult wrote:
On Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 8:09:16 PM UTC+3, Mike the Strike wrote:
Many years ago, I towed my Jantar 1 in its giant steel and wooden trailer behind a 1.6 liter VW Golf. I did it once!

Lessons I learned:

1) Front-wheel drive vehicles are least suited to towing as they have less rear-end weight and suspension that's not always heavy duty.

2) A tow vehicle that's at least as heavy as the trailer

3) Preferably rear-wheel or all-wheel drive

When I started gliding, most people in NZ seemed to be using Ford Falcons or Holden Commodores (whether sedan, station wagon, or ute) for glider towing.

Sometime in the late 90s to early 2000s it suddenly seemed that a lot of people switched to using Subaru Legacy or Outback, or even Impreza/WRX. These cars tow well and stably on the highway, but also are pretty good at getting in and out of various places that people land out. All while using 2/3 the fuel of the Aussie six cylinder cars.

Towing a Nimbus 3/25.5 in a Pfeiffer trailer, have used Subaru Outback, Holden Commodore, Chevy Tahoe and Toyota Rav4 (FWD only).
The Subaru was probably the best, followed by the Rav4.
The Chevy needed the V8 just to lug it's own weight around. It did not behave as well in various wind conditions as the others.
Jim

My wife's 3.6 liter (6-cylinder) outback will tow a glider trailer up
the steepest mountains in the US and pass everyone along the way.Â* It
still gets great mileage, though you do notice the difference towing.Â*
As long as weight is properly distributed, it's rock solid.

On 2/28/2018 10:32 AM, Bruce Hoult wrote:
On Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 8:09:16 PM UTC+3, Mike the Strike wrote:
Many years ago, I towed my Jantar 1 in its giant steel and wooden trailer behind a 1.6 liter VW Golf. I did it once!

Lessons I learned:

1) Front-wheel drive vehicles are least suited to towing as they have less rear-end weight and suspension that's not always heavy duty.

2) A tow vehicle that's at least as heavy as the trailer

3) Preferably rear-wheel or all-wheel drive
When I started gliding, most people in NZ seemed to be using Ford Falcons or Holden Commodores (whether sedan, station wagon, or ute) for glider towing.

Sometime in the late 90s to early 2000s it suddenly seemed that a lot of people switched to using Subaru Legacy or Outback, or even Impreza/WRX. These cars tow well and stably on the highway, but also are pretty good at getting in and out of various places that people land out. All while using 2/3 the fuel of the Aussie six cylinder cars.

--
Dan, 5J

I towed with a diesel Jetta. No problem at all.

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 6:09:43 PM UTC-5, 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?

It isn't clear what kind of trailer you will be towing. It can vary from no big deal to don't do it.
A couple suggestions that will help:
1- Use the hitch with the shortest overhang you can get. Distance from the rear axle to the hitch pivot point has a meaningful affect on stability.
2- Inflate tires to the highest level allowed. Stiffer helps stability.
3- Reduce the crap you take to keep trailer lighter and do not over load the front. Tongue weight affects car balance adversely.
4 Put heavy stuff, as much as possible, in the car between the axles. Batteries, chargers, tool box, etc.
5. Keep the speed down and look was ahead. The biggest problem for stability is down hill, off throttle, getting passed by a truck.
Good luck

Le mardi 27 février 2018 18:09:43 UTC-5, a écritÂ*:
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?

Hi
I drove from Montreal to Seminole and back four time with a Toyota Camry 4 cyl. 2.5l.
No problem on those trips the car was new but the automatic transmission, no oil cooler, broke before the rest of the car needed to go to the scrap yard.
Gilles

Le mardi 27 février 2018 18:09:43 UTC-5, a écritÂ*:
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?

Forgaot to say I was towing a Cobra with a LS6 and a lot of bagage.
Gilles

I've towed an open cirrus and an LS4 with a VW TDI, had to be careful on the interstate so as not to get into a PIO with the trailer moving around a lot. The VW seemed to handle it OK, however several years later I did have to replace the transmission(auto), so maybe this was really too much load for the TDI, in spite of the nice torque it had.

Been towing a tube trailer with Std Austria, and after, an Avionic AVG 15 with SZD-55, behind a 2006 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed manual. Many towing miles, Colorado and down to PA (hilly) with no transmission problems. Boringly reliable...

On Thursday, March 1, 2018 at 4:30:13 PM UTC-8, Dan Daly wrote:
Been towing a tube trailer with Std Austria, and after, an Avionic AVG 15 with SZD-55, behind a 2006 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed manual. Many towing miles, Colorado and down to PA (hilly) with no transmission problems. Boringly reliable...

Working for Roger Frank many years ago we put a trailer hitch on his Ferarri 308 GT4 and towed the ASW-20 in a Komet trailer to the local contest. The Ferarri took it like a champ and was rock solid. Made quire a splash on arrival. Pretty hard to camp in it though..

Craig