I have a 1998 2.2 ohv 2 door 5 speed coupe. I would like to tow a trailer, a 5x8 enclosed about 800lbs and my hd sportster roughly 600-700lbs. Anybody tow with their cavalier? How does it do? I had a 90 2.2 tbi that I use to tow a two place snowmobile trailer with and it did ok. The 5x8 has a little more wind resistance. Thanks ric
You'll be fine, slow as hell, but fine
Check this thread...
http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=47&i=50027&t=50027
To reiterate 2 points: Go easy on the clutch; also if you are on stock sized brakes, give lots of extra room for braking.
You are towing over the recommended capacity (per GM... ignoring the "don't tow with the manual" part). If I were you, I'd get a small flatbed trailer (ie. Harbor Frieght) and tow your HD on that. It will cut down the tow weight significantly
This is just me , but aren't 4 cylinders primarily light duty engines, and also if your going to be doing towing and such wouldn't a V6 or even a small V8 be better for that. Don't misunderstand i'm just asking because i always thought if you towed with a 4 cylinder engine you were in a sense almost maxing the engine out, maybe not maybe you can tow with a 4 cylinder i don't know we had a ford pickup years ago was a 4 cylinder and we used to tow with that and it always seemed like the engine was under a ton of strain.
Bill wrote:This is just me , but aren't 4 cylinders primarily light duty engines, and also if your going to be doing towing and such wouldn't a V6 or even a small V8 be better for that. Don't misunderstand i'm just asking because i always thought if you towed with a 4 cylinder engine you were in a sense almost maxing the engine out, maybe not maybe you can tow with a 4 cylinder i don't know we had a ford pickup years ago was a 4 cylinder and we used to tow with that and it always seemed like the engine was under a ton of strain.
Oh, I know it'll be some strain, but the trailer I was referring to is only about 600lbs. I can match that weight with myself and a couple of my friends.
Bill wrote:This is just me , but aren't 4 cylinders primarily light duty engines, and also if your going to be doing towing and such wouldn't a V6 or even a small V8 be better for that. Don't misunderstand i'm just asking because i always thought if you towed with a 4 cylinder engine you were in a sense almost maxing the engine out, maybe not maybe you can tow with a 4 cylinder i don't know we had a ford pickup years ago was a 4 cylinder and we used to tow with that and it always seemed like the engine was under a ton of strain.
That really honestly has nothing to do with it.
A 91 Ford Ranger will have a higher towing capacity, even when equipped with the 2.3L engine which has less HP. It's more about the rest of the vehicle, gearing and such.
This is the exact reason I have my 98 dakota with a 6er in it and a 5dpd, so I don't have to put a hitch on the fire. Plus, how much gear can you really haul in a somewhat compact car vs a pickup, not alot. I may only get 15 mpg with my truck but I tell ya it's so much easier pulling a trailer when I need to with it.
I have two choices. I have my 04 cavalier 5spd or my wife's 03 Malibu 3100 auto. Both have the same towing capacities "by the book" but I can get a Class 2 hitch for the Malibu. It's just a matter of which I can deal with money wise.
in my opinion and this is just me , i would probably go with the malibu because of the fact that it is a 6 and thus a little bit bigger engine.
It's not so much the bigger engine here now. The Malibu being an Auto runs into the problem of overheating on hilly roads with the extra weight, from up and downshifting. Whereas with the Cavy I can just drop gears if needed. Of course, towing / toting anything....people, weight, trailers is going to kill mileage. I'm thinking the cav will still do better, simply because of better gearing.
Well, I can tell you after next weekend how the 3400 pulls
might do better because of the gearing etc, but wouldn't a 4 cylinder run a little warmer than a V6.
Actually, both engines run at about the same temp as far as I've seen on Chevy's temp Indicator. And I can tell you for fact that the Malibu with the 3100 and auto bogs like hell with the AC on. It wants to shift too early and just won't accelerate without a good push of the go pedal. Unless you keep the revs high, in which case..toss the gas mileage idea out the window now xD
well whichever engine you go with if you use the ac while towing your mileage is going to drop like a rocket, i mean it would drop without the ac but probably even more so if you use ac.
^^The rear doesn't really sit that low, I'm parked on a little bump on that side. I can feel a little hesitation w/ that trailer (since it weighs 800 lbs), but not too bad.
Kardain, you said you felt a little hesitation with that trailer because it weighed 800 lbs could you have gone any higher than 800 lbs with that car or is 800 about the max.
Bill wrote:Kardain, you said you felt a little hesitation with that trailer because it weighed 800 lbs could you have gone any higher than 800 lbs with that car or is 800 about the max.
By the book, max is 1000lbs and tongue weight is what...90-100?
^^ What he said... I only have a class 1, so I'm close to the max tongue weight.
Hesitation as in the engine noticed a little bit that it was there, but still could get to freeway speed before the uphill on-ramp ended (70mph)
Kardain wrote:^^ What he said... I only have a class 1, so I'm close to the max tongue weight.
Hesitation as in the engine noticed a little bit that it was there, but still could get to freeway speed before the uphill on-ramp ended (70mph)
How was your fuel consumption?
kardain what do i spy in the backround of that pic
