EclipseAWD

I decided to tow around my Honda CBR954RR. Looked into towing with my '06 ES330. And just towing in general. Went ahead and DIY-ed it all and drove ~1000 miles in a week. Car has ~115K. I tried searching on the ES330 as a viable tow machine but found nothing on the matter; hence this write-up.

Hard to find any info on the max tow capacity but I found two sources (one link below) that say MAX Tow Capacity for ES330 is 2000lbs. My motorbike trailer and bike combo should be half of that.
www.edmunds.com/lexus/es-330/2006/features-specs.html

I'm new to towing but from what I understand, factors vehicle-side include engine torque (preferably low end), transmission gearing, transmission/engine "toughness", ATF overheating, chassis rigidity/strength, rear suspension durability, braking power/fade resistance.

The only one I could realistically upgrade on the quick/cheap was the brake pads, I changed the OEM fronts to POWER STOP 16-906 Full Ceramic Pads. Afaik, the OE material is also ceramic so I don't know if this really counts as an "upgrade".

ES330 specs for reference
GVWR 4540lb
GAWR Front 2670lb Rear 2280lb
Max Cargo 900lbs
MAX Tow Capacity 2000lbs
Torque: 240 ft-lbs. @ 3600 rpm
Horsepower: 225 hp @ 5600 rpm

Tow bar purchased from www.etrailer.com. Excellent experience. Very efficient/capable staff/company.

Draw-Tite Trailer Hitch Receiver - Part # 36336 -------> ~$160 shipped (no tax for IL)
Reese Towpower 21900 Class II Ball Mount --------------> $19.99 (Walmart)
1 7/8" Ball -------------------------------------------> ~$10 (Walmart)


I haven't got around to trailer lights. Harness that's needed is T-One #118308 for ~$30.

I'm in college so a major goal was to do everything on the cheapest possible.Entire Setup was BOLT-ON. NO drilling whatsoever! For tow bar install instructions. refer to etrailer.com youtube install vid. Or find online pdf manual for Draw-Tite #36336.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LdDK4gUJ9s
Installation Issues
5th ES330-specific bolt on tow bar was 1mm off vehicle-frame. I left it uninstalled, as I'm sure the four other bolts will be enough to hold load. My exhaust hanger bracket which is supposed to be sandwiched between tow bar and frame had an indentation that had to be shaved off so it could be put back on.

Trailer/Bike Specs
My trailer specs --> beefy all steel, single-axle, full size (leaf spring?) suspension, full size 235/75R15 tires, No brakes. Guesstimated weight ~600lbs.
Bike/Trailer Payload ----> ~400lbs

Thoughts
Trailer-ing experience was great. I was very apprehensive towing with a sedan NOT "built" for towing (a Lexus no less!). I did not feel the weight much. Offcourse acceleration was lower, and I was being *very* gentle on the throttle. At no point did RPMs go above 3000 on acceleration. Car moved on its own with trans at "D" with no throttle. I had absolutely ZERO stability issues as far as loss of handling/control. There was zero wobble or fishtail (credit for that probably goes to my trailer). Driving was 95% on highway and 65-75mph speeds. minimal elevation change. I was testing at 90mph for quite a while and everything was as smooth as ever. Hard braking with the PowerStop felt great. All in all, I intend to rarely ever do this out of Lexus love so yeah. The V6 at 240ft-lbs and 225hp was quite up to the task.

My biggest concern was damaging car. Towing obviously puts a lot of stress on everything. I think the engine'll hold up with a ~1000lbs tow. ATF should hold up fine with 95% highway driving. I'm told (unverified) that once clutch is in lock-up ATF flows less (?) and stress on system is much lower. I don't know how much tongue weight was but not more than ~120lbs. Bike was placed so most weight was on trailer axle Rear suspension def sat lowered. I bumped rear tire pressure to 37psi. Cargo inside vehicle was 150lbs driver, and roughly 200lbs of weight on rear seats and in trunk. Tow bar weighs ~40lbs.

In hindsight, my ball mount was only at a 2" rise. Tow bar says I should have a 3.25" rise (I don't know what they're basing that off of). With a 2" rise my trailer bed was not level. But offcourse that depends on your trailer. Mine has very tall full-size 235/75/15 tires. One major variable I'm assuming is the weight of my trailer. I really need to have that measured exactly.

Fuel Consumption Test
Started from full tank in Champaign, IL (750ft elevation) and filled up 2.995 gallons to full tank after 77 miles at Effingham, IL (500ft elevation). 25.7mpg on regular 87 Octane. Speed was kept at 65-70mph manually (no cruise-control) on a 100% highway drive.

This is my first post here. Pls post your questions/insights!

umbro7267

here is a question for you, how did you hook up the trailer lights? in PA they love busting people for that stuff; and seeing as how i am in the market for a small boat(around same weight as your trailer and bike) i would like to learn if this es330 can handle the stress, but mainly the lighting issue

EclipseAWD

I actually haven't hooked up the trailer lights. But the harness that seems to be needed is "T-One #118308". You can look up that part # on etrailer.com or google. Seems like it takes a signal off of the tail light connector in the trunk. Should work fine (I'd open up the tail lights & make sure the male/female connectors are compatible just to be sure).

For my area, I was told (unverified) that as long as the towing vehicle's brake/tail lights are visible...I'm in the clear. With my bike the ES330 tail lights are clearly visible. Nonetheless I try and do the towing during the daytime.

Another ghetto option might be to buy battery powered LED lights for the trailer and just manually switch em on/off. Offcourse there's no brake lighting up feature but they might get you by as I assume you (like me) will be doing occasional towing. As I write this though, it seems just buying that $30 harness is really the way to go.