Hey there, Keen on getting a wagon for the summer, been debating which wagon to get for the past 6 months and have come down to 2 choices. However I'm not too sure which one out of these two would be able to tow a 4m boat better. (Unsure of weight sorry) The cars are (Both manual and fwd):
1996 1.8 Suzuki Cultus or 1998 1.6 Toyota Carib
Yes I know the Cultus has 200cc more. Cheers
mugenb20b,
Oct 31, 9:04am
None of those.
mugenb20b,
Oct 31, 9:14am
You need a 2 litre car at least, with a good strong manual or auto box (with an auxilliary oil cooler). I would recommend at least a 2.2 litre, manual Toyota Camry (not the V6).
franc123,
Oct 31, 9:44am
You need to be finding out first how much the boat and trailer weighs.Both those vehicles are lightweight toys that are up to towing dinghys but not much else.Bear in mind also that FWD is useless on slippery boat ramps.If you are still keen on something with a puny engine perhaps a Suzuki Escudo or Vitara would be a better choice for what you want to do.
heywillhay1,
Oct 31, 9:46am
Yeah I realised fwd is not the best on boat ramps but figured I can mount a 1500lb winch to the towbar and block the wheels to pull the trailer to the car.
heywillhay1,
Oct 31, 9:48am
sorry that should be 1.5 tonne not 1500lbs haha oops
ralphdog1,
Oct 31, 9:54am
Just what we all need on the boat ramp, someone stuffing around winching the boat and trailer up the ramp to their car, generally taking up loads of ramp time. A 4WD Carib might be a better option, but it is still not a very good option at that.
heywillhay1,
Oct 31, 9:58am
I'd rather have someone doing that than the guys who drop the arse of their cars in the water flooding the exhaust/rear interior and have to wait for a tractor to pull them out. Or the people who sink their tyres into the sand launching at the low water mark then rev the shit out of it
johnf_456,
Oct 31, 10:00am
Easy up, that time of the month!
franc123,
Oct 31, 10:05am
You will be saying more than oops when the spot welds in the back of a Cultus start pinging and the 400kg towbar that you've got your 1500kg winch attached to slingshots itself into your boat.Seriously you need to be looking at more suitable options.
ralphdog1,
Oct 31, 10:07am
Bit rich from you Johno
heywillhay1,
Oct 31, 10:13am
I'm only referring to this set-up as this is currently the way we retrieve our boat behind my friends camry wagon. Which is 2.0l fwd I think
johnf_456,
Oct 31, 10:14am
Not at all and my name isn't Johno, please don't make up names. Its honestly not worth worrying about things like how long it takes someone to launch a boat.
heywillhay1,
Oct 31, 10:19am
Honestly I'm not looking for hostility, I just want my own wagon to tow, launch, and retrieve my boat rather than depending on my friend. I like to think that at least we are out there giving it a go and enjoying boating rather than sitting inside all day, which is all too easy to do being students. Hence the <2.0l wagon thoughts.
chris_051,
Oct 31, 10:44am
Why does it have to be under 2000cc! The amount of coin these over prced over rated economy unsafe jappas demand, buggered if I know. Pick up an EB/D/F/L Falcon or VP/R/S Commodore wagon for under 1500 bux, and if you're going to loose sleep over 3l/100km the savings in purchase price alone will make up for it, and ya wont be holding up the traffic as you would in a 1.6 jappa busting its balls towing soemthing it shouldn't.
ralphdog1,
Oct 31, 10:47am
Hey Will, did not intend to come across as hostile, having boated most of my life with mostly less than shiny brand new kit so I say good on you for getting out there and having some fun. You will always look back on these times as good ones. The point I was trying to make (all be it not very diplomatically) is that often when returning to the ramp people for various reasons may want out as quickly as possible (weather is about to turn to crap, seasick child, lots of fish to gut, wedding to go to, promised wife would be home two hours ago, boat about to sink, etc etc) To have to wait whilst you do what you do will not always excite others. I have thought for a long time that an afternoon on a deckchair with a beer in hand at a busy ramp is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment known to modern man :-) Don't be the comedy turn of the day.
solarboy,
Oct 31, 11:44am
I'd go with the 1.6 Carib engine being a bit small and 2 litres plus probably more economical when towing but aren't Caribs ALL 4WD !
horses7,
Oct 31, 10:30pm
We have done thousands of kays towing a 4 metre boat with a 2 litre hond accord auto with trans cooler fitted.So long as not too heavy on towbar fwd is fine for towing and in some cases was better on ramps thanrwd,our wheels were on concrete while they were back in sand,we launched off steep concrete and sand ramps no problem 1800cc would handle it fine.
girlracer2005,
Oct 31, 10:47pm
you need to ask your self if you going to be using just one boat ramp or a few what type of boat ramp or are you going off the beach all play a good part on what you need to buy.
and i have pulled a few big boats out of the water with a 1.8 toyota fwd with no prblems but never try doing it on a beach again a good 4wd or rwd would be your best bet
Which is exactly the reason why you should get a proper 4WD, like franc123 said, a Suzuki Vitara would be ideal.
sin01,
Nov 1, 8:50am
Hi a clipon extention to the trailer drawbar keeps your tow vehicl out of the waterRegardsJOHN
heywillhay1,
Nov 2, 8:34am
Hey guys firstly want to say thank you for your comments/advice. Today me and 3 others pitched in for a vl commie sedan with the rb20 to tow the boat. Paid $1500 for it so was a pretty good deal 3 ways. Was a bit of a split decision but this enables me to still get a wagon myself as that's what I want for other purposed eg: so I can fold the seats down and sleep in the back, put the surfboards in etc. However I need some more advise on wagons, should I start a new thread or post in here!
heywillhay1,
Nov 2, 8:35am
Also in regard to what ramps we launch from, it's pretty much only 3 ramps that I have quite a good knowledge of in Auckland, all quite wide concrete ramps
ginga4lyfe,
Nov 2, 10:15am
I like My toyota Caldina, plenty of room, though i wouldnt pick the 1.8 like i did again, Id only got for the 2 liter models, a small boat like that will easily be pulled around by one of them, and caldina's do come in awd, and turbo options too, Id love a Caldina Gt-t.
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