EVO X Pulling A Quad / Waverunner
if you ever towed anything..even utility trailers, you know the truck/car doesn't go as fast as with just cargo in the bed or three other knuckleheads riding with you.
aero drag, rolling resistance of the tires which also increases with speed just like the aero and the weight..which is probably more than 3 guys, typically.
trythis sometime..next time you are a passenger and at the supermarket, grab a shopping cart with your arm and tell your friend to drive 5 mph and tell me how light it is.
how much rolling resistance do you think a jet ski and trailer have?
i know i can pull mine around by hand not alot of resistance there
anways im sure the evo can handle it someone just needs to try it out dont run in 5th gear
i also didnt say it was great for the car my boat ramp is about 2 miles from my house if i didnt have a truck i would put reese hitch on the evo, the incline at the ramp would be the killer though
and i have towed a few things, guess thats what my class a cdl is for
i know i can pull mine around by hand not alot of resistance there
anways im sure the evo can handle it someone just needs to try it out dont run in 5th gear
i also didnt say it was great for the car my boat ramp is about 2 miles from my house if i didnt have a truck i would put reese hitch on the evo, the incline at the ramp would be the killer though
and i have towed a few things, guess thats what my class a cdl is for
Last edited by localtoys73; Jan 3, 2010 at 08:47 PM. Reason: e
how much rolling resistance do you think a jet ski and trailer have?
i know i can pull mine around by hand not alot of resistance there
anways im sure the evo can handle it someone just needs to try it out dont run in 5th gear
i also didnt say it was great for the car my boat ramp is about 2 miles from my house if i didnt have a truck i would put reese hitch on the evo, the incline at the ramp would be the killer though
and i have towed a few things, guess thats what my class a cdl is for
i know i can pull mine around by hand not alot of resistance there
anways im sure the evo can handle it someone just needs to try it out dont run in 5th gear
i also didnt say it was great for the car my boat ramp is about 2 miles from my house if i didnt have a truck i would put reese hitch on the evo, the incline at the ramp would be the killer though
and i have towed a few things, guess thats what my class a cdl is for
Hey, I saw a freaking CRX towing a small vw powered sand car to the desert, but that doesn't mean I'd do it. In reality, a couple of miles at 40 mph would probably not really hurt the car..the speed really is where the heat builds. A close friend of mine put an oil temp gauge on a manual transmission on an old ford fairlane he towed with (it had a 351) and every 10 mph faster just jacked the temp exponentially.
The Evo can easily handle a class I set up which is 200lbs tongue weight and 2,000lbs hauling capabilities. If I remember right in the manual it says do not tow because the braking system may not be able to handle it...pretty sure the brakes on my 2008 Evo are a lot better than that on my 2009 Tahoe which can haul the Gnx which is 3,500lbs in a covered car trailor which is about 3,000lbs) and has no issues with the brakes. Also note that the Tahoe only makes 395hp ahah so the Evo defiantly has the power advantage as well.
Trust me I use to tow 2 quads, camping gear and 2-3 people with a Pontiac sunfire (granted it was making over 400whp but that’s besides the fact) and I never once had an issue with the tranny or the brakes. I am pretty sure if a car like that can do it then an Evo would have no problem. If you search hard on here there is a guy who built a completely hidden set up for his Evo X which only required cutting a 2"x2" hole behind your license plate where the hitch would poke out and everything else was bolt on (the plate would sit flush still when you didn't have anything hooked up). This is exactly what I am going to do so I can get back to towing a quad or my R6 and not needing to take the truck everywhere.
So bottom line there is no reason what so ever why an Evo could not handle a class I hitch. Also to anyone who cannot find the writte up/for sale ad on here from the guy who did this, PM and I will send you the dimensions and materials needed to do this. It would not be hard for anyone to mark it all up and have a machine shop make the 4 welds needed to bolt it up. And like said above “IF” something did happen to your tranny and you take it in for warranty just unbolt the 4 bolts that hold it on and take it in. it’s going to be the same thing if you had a tune on your car and you take it off when you bring it in for servicing. Sure they might think you were running a tune but it’s going to be extremely hard for them to prove it.
*Edit*
I would suggest running at minimum a fan on your tranny cooler if you are doing this on an MR (which is what I have) and a front mount tranny cooler such as SSP's would be even better.
Trust me I use to tow 2 quads, camping gear and 2-3 people with a Pontiac sunfire (granted it was making over 400whp but that’s besides the fact) and I never once had an issue with the tranny or the brakes. I am pretty sure if a car like that can do it then an Evo would have no problem. If you search hard on here there is a guy who built a completely hidden set up for his Evo X which only required cutting a 2"x2" hole behind your license plate where the hitch would poke out and everything else was bolt on (the plate would sit flush still when you didn't have anything hooked up). This is exactly what I am going to do so I can get back to towing a quad or my R6 and not needing to take the truck everywhere.
So bottom line there is no reason what so ever why an Evo could not handle a class I hitch. Also to anyone who cannot find the writte up/for sale ad on here from the guy who did this, PM and I will send you the dimensions and materials needed to do this. It would not be hard for anyone to mark it all up and have a machine shop make the 4 welds needed to bolt it up. And like said above “IF” something did happen to your tranny and you take it in for warranty just unbolt the 4 bolts that hold it on and take it in. it’s going to be the same thing if you had a tune on your car and you take it off when you bring it in for servicing. Sure they might think you were running a tune but it’s going to be extremely hard for them to prove it.
*Edit*
I would suggest running at minimum a fan on your tranny cooler if you are doing this on an MR (which is what I have) and a front mount tranny cooler such as SSP's would be even better.
Last edited by Freebs; Jan 6, 2010 at 12:21 AM.
Let's think about this. Let's say you have 5 people in your X. At an average of 150 pounds per person, that's 750 pounds. Most quads weigh less than that. Add in the weight of the trailer, and you're approaching the weight of 5 people. I'm pretty sure that even though the manual states you can't tow with it, if it's done properly, this will not harm the car. Even if you are pulling 1000 pounds. The key is to make sure the trailer is balanced and doesn't have a high tongue weight.
Think of the kind of cars that are equipped with a Class I hitch... this ranges from Cavaliers/Sunfires, Neons, Civics, Kia Rio's etc.... A class I hitch as I said above can haul 200lbs tongue weight and a total of 2,000lbs. So 1,200-1,500lbs is well within the limits of a class I hitch and an Evo would have no issues with this.
I don't think this is a can/can not issue, it is a should/should not issue.
Can the car tow a moderate amount of weight? Absolutely.
Should you? There must be a reason the mfg said no. It has nothing to do with the HP. Maybe the way the rear part of the frame is made won't support it. Maybe it screws with the AWD system (which is a lot different than AWD systems on trucks). Maybe dunking the rear end in salt water is not a great idea.
Buy a beater and tow with that. why have to worry about taking off the hitch and re-doing the wiring if you have to take your car in for service.
Also, the 3 fatasses that you have in the car with you are between the wheels, not being dragged behind the car. As far as vehicle dynamics go, that makes all the difference in the world. The weight of the trailer pushes the car (and the hitch, towbar etc) when stopping. Anyone that has ever towed anything will tell you the same (or they just weren't paying attention when they were driving).
Can the car tow a moderate amount of weight? Absolutely.
Should you? There must be a reason the mfg said no. It has nothing to do with the HP. Maybe the way the rear part of the frame is made won't support it. Maybe it screws with the AWD system (which is a lot different than AWD systems on trucks). Maybe dunking the rear end in salt water is not a great idea.
Buy a beater and tow with that. why have to worry about taking off the hitch and re-doing the wiring if you have to take your car in for service.
Also, the 3 fatasses that you have in the car with you are between the wheels, not being dragged behind the car. As far as vehicle dynamics go, that makes all the difference in the world. The weight of the trailer pushes the car (and the hitch, towbar etc) when stopping. Anyone that has ever towed anything will tell you the same (or they just weren't paying attention when they were driving).
I wouldn't tow anything with the evo, but then again I have been towing a 4000lb boat with the lightning for the last 5 years with no issues. I would say he is going to be ok with the jet ski.



