Review - 3,800 miles and 13.5 days of towing 5,600 lbs

Seeing a thread of someone towing a Lexus GS F with his 3rd gen Tacoma at maximum capacity (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/towed-at-maximum-capacity-yesterday-question.592526/) and that had me concerned about the trip I planned for so long, but very glad I did it.

I embarked on the bucket-list Circuit Tours using my own Tacoma to tow my Corvette to road courses. 13.5 days of towing my car to three bucket list tracks.

The setup:
2016 3rd gen Tacoma TRD Off-Road DCSB Manual - all OEM stock with only TRD CAI (58,500 miles as of today)
U-Haul Auto Transport trailer type J (2,100 lbs)
2020 Chevy C8 Corvette (3500 lbs - with ~2 gallons of gas in tank)

Mods: Remove rear seats, bed mats, floor liners (about 60 lbs. weight saving)

Cargo: Spare set of wheels with Michelin PS4S tires (220 lbs.); luggage, tools and spare parts for track days (150 lbs.); tonneau cover (50 lbs.); driver (150 lbs.)

Calculated Gross Combined Weight: 10,800 lbs. (about 500 lbs. under GCWR) / Calculated Gross Vehicle Weight: 5550 lbs. (about 50 lbs. under GVWR, assuming 600 lbs. tongue weight) / Trailer Weight (5,600 lbs.)

Route: Chicago, IL > Marion, IL > Texarkana, TX > Circuit of the Americas - Austin, TX > Columbus, TX > Biloxi, MS > Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL > Reidsville, NC > Virginia International Speedway - Alton, VA > Princeton, WV > Chicago, IL



Total towing distance: 3,780 miles

Average towing gas mileage: 16.3 MPG (Yes, I was expecting 10 MPG when I budgeted the trip, but this blew my mind! Keeping at 55 MPH max. I got about 18.2 MPG average from one of the tanks as well.)

My biggest concern was from Alton, VA through West Virginian mountains where the grade was as high as 8% and sustained climbing from 500 ft to 3,200 ft, then downhill. The truck and trailer handled the uphill and downhill superbly. I'm surprised at how well the engine brake in 2nd gear really worked with all the weights - with minimal brake application. Someone gave me a tip to engage 4L to start from hill or tight reverse, which did help.

Start of the trip - picking up U-Haul trailer and loading the car (backward due to mid-engine and tongue weight)



Circuit of the Americas





Hot lap video at COTA: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgs-LhHAvLx/

Daytona International Speedway





Hot lap video at Daytona: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg3WbxpgseH/

Virginia International Raceway





Hot lap video at VIR: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg_5sqzAmOY/

Home sweet home...



I'm totally impressed with how this has been towing - especially as this was my first time towing. It towed the whole way like a champ - maintaining the coolant temp at 190-195F the whole way, even going up and down the Texas plains in 105F heatwave the whole trip, and climbing the WV mountains. No signs of letting up or overheating at all. I won't question what a small Toyota truck can do. I can't believe the trip is over, and I thought I was going to sell the truck after this trip -- Nope, I'm keeping the truck for next year's another Grand Circuit Tours.

 

What an amazing trip! Beautiful car too.

 

Well done. Love the C8. Thanks for posting real world scenario feedback with MT. I tow a few thousand each summer as well. Travel trailer at 4000 lb, and have considered getting a vehicle tow trailer for going to the trails and take a small truck or jeep as my cargo. But my napkin calcs for weight always made me nervous approaching 6 000 lbs.

If there was a way to get weight distribution hitch set up with those U haul trailers you would enjoy it even more. It makes a world of difference. If you're doing the tours alot, I would suggest finding a trailer that allows for that.

Enjoy the ride (s)!

 

I wish there is a way to get the WD hitch to work with U-Haul trailer too. (Although I thought of jerry-rig something with longer arms, but I decided against it.) I'm not in a position to own my own trailer as I don't have storage for it in downtown city-dweller lifestyle. The truck has about 2-inch squat, but I don't really feel any unnerving feeling on steering wheel. There were torrential downpour along the towing route, but I only slowed it down to general traffic speed of 40 anyway. I think MT does make a world of difference there. (Rented an AT Tacoma from Denver airport to go up and down I-70 once, and I hated it so much.)

 

Beautiful car and a trip of a lifetime

One thing for readers to keep in mind here, towing a car is much different than towing an equal weight travel coach.

A car, especially an aerodynamic beauty like the C8, offers much less profile to fight the wind than an 8+ foot high coach -- that is where you really need the WDH.

 

Great post, nice to know its capable of towing near its capacity for extended periods of time.

Curious how fast you go this up to on either front or back straightaway? Never ridden the course but have plans one day, Motogp/formula one is fun to watch at Cota..

 

Are the muscles on you clutch leg noticeably larger after the trip? In all seriousness though I was lead to believe towing that close to max weight would make the truck explode, nice to see it can handle. Looks like it can handle it quite well given those MPGs.

 

Very impressive! I might have to tow my Trans Am (~3,900lbs) from Michigan to North Carolina sometime in the next couple years. Driving through West Virginia and Virginia will sound like fun when the time comes lol. I'll make sure to follow your advice because not a whole lot of people out here tow this much weight with their tacos

 

Did you ever turn the C8 around on the trailer and move the engine weight ?

 

At COTA, I went up to 148 on the back straightaway - dragging on to 5th gear because it would have reached the 200 mark brake zone anyway, and 130 on the front straightaway. And I didn't expect to hit 166 at Daytona Rolex 24 Road Course

 

Haha, surprisingly, the clutch engagement from standing start was pretty good, and I didn't even have to break the sweat of the engine at all. Changed up at 4,000 rpm only. Although, it was a bit challenging when I had to do a few hill start in West Virginia.

I did not try loading the C8 forward as I heard people reporting sway when loaded forward on Uhaul trailer. The center of balance would have landed about a foot behind the trailer axle. I figured it would have been safer to just have a bit more tongue weight.

 

Driving all that way and the destination is to drive some more. You really like driving.

 

Looks like your steering was pretty light with all the trailer weight. Good trip and interesting write up.

 

You are my fucking hero! This is so bad ass I don't know where to begin. One thing I do know is that this post has me missing my C6 Vette.

Bravo Zulu brother!

 

Indeed the only moment I didn't like about the whole towing experience was through the torrential downpours in FL. For the most part, I could still feel what the steering wheel and front tires were telling through my hands, and the steering response was still fine. But adding lots of water I started feeling very numb through my hands.

 

Great trip and good to see the truck can handle this. I too have a TRD Offroad manual transmission and while I have towed similar weights short distances would never have chosen the Tacoma for such a trip. Kudos to you.