Car/Truck to pull glider trailer

35 years of towing with a variety of vehicles , now a Nissan 4x4 frontier, best ever all round vehicle

On Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 12:04:01 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Hi All,

I am new to this group and last fall added a glider rating to my ASEL certificate.

I am planning to replace my car this summer and in anticipation of purchasing a glider someday, I would like to purchase a vehicle that would do a good job towing a glider. I also want it to get the best gas mileage that it can while still being a good tow vehicle. I don't want something that is marginal and will make long distance towing a stressful affair, but also don't want a vehicle that is overkill.

What is the typical range o gross weights of a single seat glider plus trailer?

Recommendations on a good tow vehicles?

Thanks for your help

Bill

You don't say where you are, but I can only comment on US anyway. I have a Janus C two-seater in a 3300lb, 35' tube trailer. Towed it with a few different vehicles, and can say that the best was a Jaguar X-type sedan and the worst was an SUV. The big trailer is prone to Von Kármán vortex shedding (look it up) and it just plays wag the dog with an SUV, making for a white knuckle ride.

In the U.S. all the car mfg. dropped their car tow ratings to push you into their more profitable light truck and SUV lines. This is really apparent when you look at European cars that have much higher tow ratings at home vs. the same car in the U.S. The exceptions a while back were Saab, Volvo and Jaguar which didn't have SUVs in their lines. The only option now is Volvo, and I would recommend you look at the S60 if that fits your needs.

The key to towing a long trailer is not the weight of the tow vehicle--it's the distance from the hitch to the rear axle and a low C.G. Also having low profile passenger car as opposed to high profile light truck tires helps control sway.

But as mentioned earlier in this thread, this can make it more difficult to get into a farm field. Personally, I would forego that, and pay the farmer to tow the glider out to the road/driveway with the tractor, and get a vehicle optimized for the road.

On Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 12:04:01 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Hi All,

I am new to this group and last fall added a glider rating to my ASEL certificate.

I am planning to replace my car this summer and in anticipation of purchasing a glider someday, I would like to purchase a vehicle that would do a good job towing a glider. I also want it to get the best gas mileage that it can while still being a good tow vehicle. I don't want something that is marginal and will make long distance towing a stressful affair, but also don't want a vehicle that is overkill.

What is the typical range o gross weights of a single seat glider plus trailer?

Recommendations on a good tow vehicles?

Thanks for your help

Bill

The other thing mentioned was braking, and obviously more is better. You definitely want working surge brakes or better yet electric brakes on your trailer. Naturally trailer brakes will reduce your stopping distance, and that's a good thing. But it will also help keep things straight by applying brakes in the back, which will help keep the trailer from trying to pass the tow car in a panic stop.

As far as the tow car, bigger brakes are better. Many American light trucks and SUVs have relatively small brakes compared to European sedans. As mentioned earlier in this thread, you don't necessarily need a big engine to tow a glider trailer--if you need to slow down on the climbs it won't make a big difference in your travel time (especially if it saves you a refueling stop). But you may need to get the bigger engine to get the bigger brakes. So pay attention to that when picking your vehicle. It's not on the spec sheets, so you need to look at the different models, and if you see bigger front rotors, or rear discs vs. drums, I would take the more expensive model for towing.

A good article about the Euro/ N. American ratings differences he

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ticle23686902/

On Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 1:42:40 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 12:24:01 PM UTC-4, Mike the Strike wrote:
On Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 9:04:01 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Hi All,

I am new to this group and last fall added a glider rating to my ASEL certificate.

I am planning to replace my car this summer and in anticipation of purchasing a glider someday, I would like to purchase a vehicle that would do a good job towing a glider. I also want it to get the best gas mileage that it can while still being a good tow vehicle. I don't want something that is marginal and will make long distance towing a stressful affair, but also don't want a vehicle that is overkill.

What is the typical range o gross weights of a single seat glider plus trailer?

Recommendations on a good tow vehicles?

Thanks for your help

Bill

It might be helpful if you told us what part of the world you are in, how far you are likely to be towing and some idea of your budget.

Here in the USA, gasoline is currently around $2 a gallon (about 50 c a liter) and mileage is not as big a concern as in Europe. My Lexus SUV tow vehicle weighs two tons, has a 5-liter engine, gets 15 mpg (US) and will cruise all day at 80 mph with a glider trailer. I tow thousands of miles a year between states. I wouldn't dream of having such a vehicle in Europe with their narrow roads, high fuel costs and shorter distances.

Mike

Hi Mike,

I live in Rhode Island and fly out of Danielson CT with the Connecticut Soaring Association, a small but fast growing club. I started Aero towing for them 3 years ago and last fall got my glider add on.

I would be towing my glider primarily to destinations in NH, VT, NY, NJ and PA. With perhaps an occasional trip down the East Coast of the US. So by East Coast standards their would be some trips into the mountains. By Western Standards those would just be foot hills.

Thanks for any advice

Bill

Hey bill,

Welcome to soaring dude! I am not sure what kind of price range you're looking in, but like dan morotta said, a subaru seems like a good compromise of alot of factors. I used to have one, and it was great in the snow for northeastern winters. the AWD also helped get in and out of fields. the gas milage was pretty good all things equal, and it did a good job of towing. (I took our club's discus cs to 2 or 3 contests with it every year for about four years).

-Andy

On Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 12:04:01 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Hi All,

I am new to this group and last fall added a glider rating to my ASEL certificate.

I am planning to replace my car this summer and in anticipation of purchasing a glider someday, I would like to purchase a vehicle that would do a good job towing a glider. I also want it to get the best gas mileage that it can while still being a good tow vehicle. I don't want something that is marginal and will make long distance towing a stressful affair, but also don't want a vehicle that is overkill.

What is the typical range o gross weights of a single seat glider plus trailer?

Recommendations on a good tow vehicles?

Thanks for your help

Bill

Bill,
Just stick with your blue Subaru. It will look great pulling a glider trailer and you can put the money towards the glider. Or if you have to get a new car almost all Subaru's newer body styles have grown larger over the last redesigns. I think most any of them would be just fine pulling a single seat glider. So what kind of glider are you getting??? Hurry up I want to fly cross country together. Have you found a replacement tow pilot to fill your empty seat in the Pawnee?

Some information from a post several years ago....
I towed a fairly heavy trailer - Nimbus 3 in a Pfeiffer - with three different cars. Two in southwestern USA, one in Australia.
2000 Subaru Outback 2.5l AWD 5-speed.
1997 Chevy Tahoe 5.7l 4WD automatic.
1996 Holden Commodore 3.0l RWD automatic. Vauxhall design similar to Chevy Malibu.
The Tahoe was great at starts and stops. Bought it before putting brakes on the trailer, previously too much for the Subaru. The Tahoe did not fare well in a crosswind. Needs the horsepower to drag it's own weight around.
The Holden was great on flat roads, but marginal up hills. Too much weight for the power. Overheated when towing a Duo.
The Subaru was great at everything except uphill starts. The most fun to drive without a trailer. Also best build quality. Initially concerned about the passive rear wheel steering, but not a problem at all.
HOWEVER...
Subarus are famous for head gasket problems. Mine blew gaskets twice. First time replaced heads, second the engine. At over 100,000 miles should have scrapped it, but liked the car too much. The car was worth about what the rebuilt engine cost.
Towing a heavy trailer up and down hills (5 to 8000' passes) in the summer will also damage the viscous coupler in the AWD. Found this out with an ASH26E, which otherwise towed perfectly at undisclosed "highway speeds".
Last I spoke with mechanics at Subaru, the manufacturer had not done anything significant to the head gasket design, and the AWD is the same even for the 6-cylinder models. That may have changed in the last few years.
In my opinion an AWD wagon is great for towing gliders. My current search centers around the (unavailable in USA) Audi Allroad 2.0l TDI or Q5 Quattro TDI, (currently unavailable in USA) VW Golf AWD TDI, or more likely MB GLK250 Bluetec AWD. Not cheap, neither was what it'll tow. Need to look at the Mazda CX5 AWD.
Jim
Currently towing with 2008 Toyota RAV4 3.5l FWD. Tows well, personally prefer AWD.

On Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 6:24:01 AM UTC-7, Greg Delp wrote:
Or if you have to get a new car almost all Subaru's newer body styles have grown larger over the last redesigns.

I'm looking for the same type of tow vehicle. The Subaru Impreza, CrossTrek, and Forester all use the same platform, with 1500 lb towing capacity stated in the manuals. Might be good enough for older standard class gliders and trailers, but modern non-SL single seaters in Cobras are (at least in my experience) 1700 to 1900 lb. Outback with the 2.5 engine has stated 2700 lb capacity, 3.6 engine 3000 lb.

On Friday, April 3, 2015 at 5:26:26 AM UTC+13, JS wrote:
The Subaru was great at everything except uphill starts.

I've never had a problem, but then my 2.5l 1997 Grandwagon (Outback) has a ten speed box. (the normal 5 speeds are in as near as dammit to 1 : 1.414 : 2 : 2.828 : 4 ratios, and the 2nd lever splits the gap by dropping the ratio by about 20%.

The most fun to drive without a trailer. Also best build quality. Initially concerned about the passive rear wheel steering, but not a problem at all.
HOWEVER...
Subarus are famous for head gasket problems. Mine blew gaskets twice. First time replaced heads, second the engine.

The 90's ones definitely had weak head gaskets from the factory. They *all* blow eventually. It's not all that expensive to change them (~$1k) if you do it before you damage something else. When buying used, just factor that into the price. It's the *only* real weakness in the car.

In my experience, once they're fixed (they use WRX gaskets here) they stay fixed.

On Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 7:11:04 PM UTC-4, Bruce Hoult wrote:
On Friday, April 3, 2015 at 5:26:26 AM UTC+13, JS wrote:
The Subaru was great at everything except uphill starts.

I've never had a problem, but then my 2.5l 1997 Grandwagon (Outback) has a ten speed box. (the normal 5 speeds are in as near as dammit to 1 : 1.414 : 2 : 2.828 : 4 ratios, and the 2nd lever splits the gap by dropping the ratio by about 20%.

The most fun to drive without a trailer. Also best build quality. Initially concerned about the passive rear wheel steering, but not a problem at all.
HOWEVER...
Subarus are famous for head gasket problems. Mine blew gaskets twice. First time replaced heads, second the engine.

The 90's ones definitely had weak head gaskets from the factory. They *all* blow eventually. It's not all that expensive to change them (~$1k) if you do it before you damage something else. When buying used, just factor that into the price. It's the *only* real weakness in the car.

In my experience, once they're fixed (they use WRX gaskets here) they stay fixed.

All Forrester's and Outbacks up to model year 2010 have gasket problem except turbo models and 3.6L engines. I agree that it is the only weakness of Subaru but the cost to fix at reputable shop will run you more like $2k provided no additional damage. The newest models seem to have this problem fixed as the block was redesigned.