Towing my rally car: questions!

Howdy. I am looking to get a trailer to tow my 2004 STI rally car around between rallyx events, my house, and the shop, and I need to figure out what kind of trailer to get into.

I want something that isn’t wildly expensive, preferably just a flat trailer I can put the car on, as I will be carrying spare parts/wheels for the subie in the taco.

I’ve never towed anything before so this is all new to me, but here are a few questions:

What do other folks out there use to tow their toys around?
Do I want a 2 wheel or 4 wheel trailer?
How long of a trailer do I want?
Can the taco even handle towing a car that weight?

Any other tips/tricks would be helpful, or steer me in the direction of another thread if this information is out there already. Thanks!

Pic for attention

 

Rent a car trailer from U-Hual for a few days and try towing your car on it and see what you like about it and what you do not.

 

and how squirly the taco will be when towing something of actual weight

 

How much does the car weigh? How long?

We use a 18' PJ for the austin healey. Car weighs 2400, trailer is 1800. Tows really well behind my Nissan. (2007 frontier, 4.0l, 6spd, 3.55 gears)

You'll want to make sure the fenders are low enough to open the doors on the car, or that they're removable. Removing then is kind of a pain in the ass tho.

If you care about the paint on the car, you'll want some sort of rock guard.

And you'll need a trailer brake controller.

 

3500 lbs for trailer axles so you want 2 of em

What's the Sube weigh in at?

 

You'll get mixed responses, but to summarize, you'll be getting bad gas mileage, will be sad with the lack of power (torque) and so on.

WRX itself is 3,263 pounds "curb weight".
A flat trailer will be at least 1,500 lbs.

While that's not at the 6,400lb towing limit, you're going to be pushing that high-revving 3.5L hard on hills to get out of the Bay Area. You probably shouldn't even think that you can go anywhere near the steep streets in SF.

 

You want a fullsize pickup. (end thread)

 

Solid advice! But, I would look at U-Haul's trailer weight, they're usually very heavy, I'm sure they need to be over built to deal with what folks throw at em. Still, the heavy ass U-Haul trailer is a good idea, because it'll give OP worse case scenario, all the extra road gear will add up very very quickly when already towing near max.

 

5000 lbs should be no problem in this situation. If it were an RV it would be a no, but cars tow so much easier due to the aerodynamics.

It really comes down to frequency tho. If he were doing this every day, full size for sure. But a rally car on the weekends, it'll be fine imo.

 

If say something along the lines of https://www.trailerworld.com/2021-aluma-78-x-16-aluminum-open-car-hauler-trailer-CfKi|hm.html

 

I just towed a 6100 lb trailer from British Columbia to Nova Scotia ~5400 km in August with a 2016 TRD sport. the truck spent most of its time with ECT active and in 4th gear, fuel economy was about 1/2 the norm... 24-30 l per 100km... not saying I should have but the ride wasn't too bad. I also had electronic brakes on the covered trailer I was towing which helped on the mountains in BC. While it would have been easier with a full size truck, the taco made it without any issues. I would think the car would be easier to tow than the dual axel trailer... what about the dolly's from u haul, where you just strap the front wheels on, that would make the whole load a lot lighter. I will post a pic when I find one...

 

Very good points! If he can keep the car lower, it'll be easier to load/unload and help with drag.
A few weekends a year, a couple hours away? no big deal to tow max, just leave early with a gas card,,, but if you're planning on nearly every weekend, all over the country,,, probably bought to the wrong truck unfortunately as I see OP just bought a 2020..

 

…so 9.8 mpg.

 

I don't think the WRX would work with a dolly unless it is almost on the ground itself. There's barely any clearance under the WRX as shown in the photo.

 

Yeah the gas milage thing is funny. I averaged 15.5 mpg between tx and iowa pulling that healey, even with crappy ethanol gas. It's more about how you drive it than anything.

 

Let me post a question to OP, @MonsieurHodge - Why not just tow a tiny trailer behind the WRX with your autocross wheelset, some gas cans, and tools?

You'll get better gas mileage, you'll have less to worry about, etc.

 

Also, AWD.

 

I used to tow a 1996 BMW 328 race car with a 2003 Silverado 2500 HD Duramax. it was on an 18" (size of where the payload went, not including the hitch) steel dual axle open trailer with a home made tire rack. it was a heavy pig, but towed fine with the weight distributing hitch.

If you want to tow with your tacoma, I suggest you get an aluminum dual axle open trailer. The weight savings will be significant, but the price will reflect that. Don't forget the trailer brake controller as well! This is key to safety.

if you're thinking enclosed trailer, get a full size truck as stated by others. Towing that brick shaped lump behind you will create so much drag that you won't be happy, regardless of the weight of the set up.

 

Or, my personal favorite to not have to deal with a trailer..