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2014 2.5L Subaru Outback versus Aliner Ranger 12
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Greetings,
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I'm hoping someone can offer some sage advice.? I have a 2014 Subaru 2.5L Subaru Outback (low mileage) and am considering buying the Aliner Ranger 12 to tow.? It's dry weight is advertised as 1700 pds.? Does anyone know if this can be towed safely with this engine or is it too heavy a load?? The Outback has a max towing (GTW) rating of 2700 pds, however, I know that would quickly kill this car once I got off a flat highway.? I plan to drive thru the Sierras, Cascades and perhaps the Rockies on some long road trips.
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Thanks for any advice.
-bruce |
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People have used the Outback successfully to tow a mid sized trailer. But there are some serious limitations listed in the owner's manual. You could get in trouble towing in high temps in hilly country. I know the Los Angeles to Vegas run has a 17 mile hill and temps on that route reach 110 degrees frequently in summer. ?
Here are the limitations:
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Just FYI a mid sized trailer loaded for camping typically weighs 2300 to 2700 lbs. That 1700 lb figure doesn't include factory options, batteries, propane tanks, water, or your gear.
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On Thu, Oct 10, 2024 at 02:27 PM, bruce gowdy wrote:
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Just my opinion, but you are right on the edge of what is safe to tow with the Outback and the Aliner. Also to consider is the Outback tongue weight is fairly low; 250 lbs I think so you would really have to watch your weight distribution in the trailer. On Thu, Oct 10, 2024 at 2:27?PM bruce gowdy via <morningdew=[email protected]> wrote:
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I tow regularly in the rockies in Utah & Sierra Nevadas on the nevada side (just got back from crater lake) . Just my opinion but I wouldn't tow with anything less than a 6 cylinder vehicle in the mountains.
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?Formerly i had a Tacoma,? now a 4 runner. I agree with the recommendations in the other replies Happy camping? Dan S
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Thanks to all for your input -- it was as I suspected,? even though the Aliner sales rep tried to convince me the Outback could easily handle that load without any harm.? I suppose it's time to sell my beloved Outback and get something with a bit more horespower and towing capacity!??? Perhaps a hybrid electric vehicle to keep the gas mileage in a respectable range.?? Thanks again! |
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I tow a Chalet Arrowhead with an older v6 Tacoma and average about 17 mpg. The only issue with a hybrid is the cvt transmission and towing capacity. Newer vehicles ok if they are rated to tow at least 5000 lbs.? Steve On Fri, Oct 11, 2024, 8:11?AM bruce gowdy via <morningdew=[email protected]> wrote:
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Be careful with getting a hybrid.? When the hybrid battery has charge, you'll have lots of power.? But when the hybrid battery gets depleted on a long hill, then you have only the gas engine, and that may be very slow.??
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The Rav4 Prime is an interesting hybrid.? It has a big enough battery that it probably can make it up any hill.? It also has a switch you can flip so the vehicle charges the battery as you drive.? So if you know a big hill is coming up, you flip the switch to charging mode before you get there, so you have full charge for the hill and can cruise up at full speed.? But the trick is you have to know the hill is coming. |
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We have towed the Ranger 12 thousands of miles over mountains with our 2014 Outback 2.5L. While it doesn't go uphill very fast, we have had no problems. We treat the car gently: RPM under 4,000. We wouldn't have even tried, except friends had done the same thing for years before we did.?
Scott Ellington |
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We tow a 2016 Aliner Classic very easily over a wide variety of terrain with the RAV4 Prime. It is a really great option for towing this camper. The range (towing nothing) is between 70 and 80 km on electric and my long term average fuel consumption over a year period (mixture of towing and general use) is 3.6 L/100 km. When towing I generally ‘save’ the battery for use going up hills or in urban stop-start traffic and simply choose to use the ICE on the highway (selected with a press of a switch in the central console). The torque from the electric motors (AWD) is quite amazing- you hardly know you have anything behind you going up the steepest hills.
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I would get something with a little more muscle than a Outback to tow thruout the mountainous areas you referenced in your post. Or consider the Scout Lite or a tear drop that doesn't allow standing up. That is if your wanting to tow with your Outback. Even with a Scout Lite you need to be careful with your weights and measures. Scott B
On Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 02:04:16 PM EDT, peterhicklenton via groups.io <peterhicklenton@...> wrote:
We tow a 2016 Aliner Classic very easily over a? wide variety of terrain with the RAV4 Prime. It is a really great option for towing this camper. The range (towing nothing) is between 70 and 80 km on electric and my long term average fuel consumption over a year period (mixture of towing and general use) is 3.6 L/100 km. When towing I generally ‘save’ the battery for use going up hills or in urban stop-start traffic and simply choose to use the ICE on the highway (selected with a press of a switch in the central console). The torque from the electric motors (AWD) is quite amazing- you hardly know you have anything behind you going up the steepest hills. |
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Once again, thanks to all who have replied with helpful feedback.?? I've decided to sell my 2014 2.5L Outback and buy a 2024/25 Outback Onyx Edition XT.? This engine is a turbo and produces 260 hp with a torque of 277 lb-ft, max towing capacity of 3500 pds.? My current Outback has 186 hp, 175 lb-ft torque and max towing of 2700 pds.?? The Outback Onyx XT should have more than enough power to pull the Aliner Ranger 12 through the mountains, from what I can see.?? The only downside is the gas mileage isn't as good as the non-turbo engine, but not too much less and far better than a pickup truck or large SUV.?? I looked at hyrbrids from Toyota and Honda, but non fit the bill unless one wants to spend nearly $50k, far outside of my budget and they tend to look like large SUV's, something I would like to avoid.
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Cheers!
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According to fuelly.com, which records actual mileage, the most commonly reported mpg of the turbo outback was 25, and the most commonly reported mpg of the non turbo outback was 26, and the non turbo results were real close between 25 and 26.? You're not going to notice the difference, unless you're a leadfoot.? |
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I'm pretty sure my 2020 Ford Escape, 2.0 turbo has a CVT.? I just have the transmission fluid changed a 30K miles as suggested for towing, as opposed to the 100K miles for normal driving. -- Don DeRyke Sunrise, Florida 2009 Classic, 2020 Ford Escape, 2.0 liter EcoBoost, AWD.? Previous TV 2015 Ford Escape 1.6 liter EcoBoost engine. |
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开云体育I have a 2015 Honda CRV with CVT 90,000 mi. now. Pulled my 2008 Classic across the country, up into Canada, south to Fla. and no issues. What is the issue with CVT??Hap? On Oct 15, 2024, at 7:50?AM, Dave - Webmaster via groups.io <dhmwebmaster@...> wrote:
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开云体育CVT transmissions attempt to deliver a nearly infinite range of engine to differential gear ratios as needed depending on a number of factors. They deliver the infinite range by controlling the lateral position of a belt riding on two opposed conical shivs arranged side-by-side so that the small diameter end of one is across from the large diameter end of the other.? The belt is positioned around both cones so that the driven cone turns slower than the drive cone (like a lower gear) when the belt is positioned at one end of the conical pair, and the driven cone turns faster that the drive cone (like a higher gear) when the belt is positioned at the other end of the pair. The belt position is managed? by a processor that reacts to engine and road speed, load, throttle position, etc to control a belt positioning lever which changes the resulting engine to road wheel output ratio. Problems can occur when towing a camper, because many CVT equipped cars have difficulty positioning the belt because of the weight of the trailer, so the belt tends to hunt along the cones, searching for the correct ratio to use to tow the camper along changing road conditions. This can result in erratic operation and early belt and positioning lever failure. That said, one should never mess with success - if your CVT TV is working well with your camper, your driving method and touring terrain with no unusual maintenance issues, then there's no reason to make changes. Dave? ..........?? What is the issue with CVT?? |
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Sheaves not shivs- a shiv is a switchblade type knife, I believe, while a sheave is a type of pulley.? On Wed, Oct 16, 2024 at 8:16 AM Dave - Webmaster via <dhmwebmaster=[email protected]> wrote:
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开云体育Hi Gang: This destination came up when my instructor taught shop in the Iowa State Penitentiary. One of the Inmates was boasting in the prison yard that he had made a dozen sheaves in the shop. A guard overheard and took him aside. The upshot of this the teacher instructed all his students that they made pulleys from now on, not shivs. Carl.? |
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开云体育Good ol ' spell check.............
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Don DeRyke
Carl
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