In a couple weeks we will be camping in the Smokey's and will have a more extensive towing review. It's a 2.5-3 hour drive from Charlotte to the Smokey Mountains and it is a route we have taken with our two previous tow vehicles. It is also a good mix of with some city, highway and interstate along with a combination of flat, hills and mountains.
Today, in preparation I a little 20 mile loop from the camper storage to downtown York (rural suburb of Charlotte). The route is 45-55 mph with a couple stop lights and gentle hills with a small section in the city at the half way turn around point.
We have a Hitch 17BHS that is 7' wide and weighs 3300 lb / 425 lb on the tongue. With some of the gear we are likely closer to 3500-3600 lb. We have a weight distribution hitch, but debating if the additional weight and effort is worth the trouble. With a standard hitch, the Land Cruiser felt pretty stable, though I did not have any jacked up pickups / big rigs blasting by me.
The first run I did without the camper, and in the standard drive mode. It took me 26 minutes to complete the 20 mile route and I averaged 27.3 mpg while using the cruise control.
The second run I enabled the towing mode. It took a few minutes to figure out how to setup the brake controller (vehicle setting that you access with the steering wheel controls). It took only 24 minutes to complete the course while averaging only 12.2 mpg. I was hoping for something a little bit better, but there was no lack of torque and in towing mode the gear selection was spot on. The integrated brake controller was wonderful (I had gain at 7.0) and so much smoother than the previous aftermarket controller that plugged into the Honda. When the 7 pin connector is plugged in (not sure if this applies to the 4 pin) the cruise control is disabled. The engine also does not shut off, even at the stop light. I also noticed that at low speeds the electric motor was less inclined to engage.
The third run I had the camper and disabled towing mode (using the standard drive mode) in hopes I could use cruise control and get betting mpg with the engine shutting off. The brake controller still functions like in towing mode though the cruise control still does not work. In this run it took 24 minutes with 11.4 mpg. While the engine shuts off at the stop lights, and down some of the hills to save fuel, the Toyota opted for turbo boost instead of downshifting which on several hills it struggled to maintain speed.
A couple final thoughts on the initial towing test.
1 - When connecting and disconnecting the camper I disabled the towing mode. The engine would shut off, the a/c would still run while lining up and performing all the house keeping when going in / out of storage.
2 - If you manually use the brake controller, there is a message that appears in the center of the dash which is really nice to perform a brake test.
Today, in preparation I a little 20 mile loop from the camper storage to downtown York (rural suburb of Charlotte). The route is 45-55 mph with a couple stop lights and gentle hills with a small section in the city at the half way turn around point.
We have a Hitch 17BHS that is 7' wide and weighs 3300 lb / 425 lb on the tongue. With some of the gear we are likely closer to 3500-3600 lb. We have a weight distribution hitch, but debating if the additional weight and effort is worth the trouble. With a standard hitch, the Land Cruiser felt pretty stable, though I did not have any jacked up pickups / big rigs blasting by me.
The first run I did without the camper, and in the standard drive mode. It took me 26 minutes to complete the 20 mile route and I averaged 27.3 mpg while using the cruise control.
The second run I enabled the towing mode. It took a few minutes to figure out how to setup the brake controller (vehicle setting that you access with the steering wheel controls). It took only 24 minutes to complete the course while averaging only 12.2 mpg. I was hoping for something a little bit better, but there was no lack of torque and in towing mode the gear selection was spot on. The integrated brake controller was wonderful (I had gain at 7.0) and so much smoother than the previous aftermarket controller that plugged into the Honda. When the 7 pin connector is plugged in (not sure if this applies to the 4 pin) the cruise control is disabled. The engine also does not shut off, even at the stop light. I also noticed that at low speeds the electric motor was less inclined to engage.
The third run I had the camper and disabled towing mode (using the standard drive mode) in hopes I could use cruise control and get betting mpg with the engine shutting off. The brake controller still functions like in towing mode though the cruise control still does not work. In this run it took 24 minutes with 11.4 mpg. While the engine shuts off at the stop lights, and down some of the hills to save fuel, the Toyota opted for turbo boost instead of downshifting which on several hills it struggled to maintain speed.
A couple final thoughts on the initial towing test.
1 - When connecting and disconnecting the camper I disabled the towing mode. The engine would shut off, the a/c would still run while lining up and performing all the house keeping when going in / out of storage.
2 - If you manually use the brake controller, there is a message that appears in the center of the dash which is really nice to perform a brake test.
