hawk

so, once upon a time, you were fleeing a hurricane and had these three cars: a RX300 (2001), a GS400 (2000), and a 2002 MDX. but you only had two drivers to get them out of town, what would you do???

i post this in the GS forum because the GS is the one with the biggest engine/most power of the three, so i'm particularly curious what you guys think about using it to tow the RX300 (which i think is the lightest of the three vehicles). can the transmission handle it? or do you think the less powerful SUV's are more adept to tow the GS??? neither the RX or MDX have tow packages.

and yeah, i'm considering taking one of the vehicles to the airport parking garage and leaving it high up in there.

as always, you have my thanks in advance for any advice.

-steve

varcity64

iTrader: (2)

many people are gonna tell u not to tow w/the GS b/c its not built for that. BUT desperate times call for desperate measures, right??... idk what to say, but good luck w/EVERYTHING!!! i hope u make it out alright

babyGS3

wow... i would never consider a GS to tow an RX! wow
you have two drivers and someone else to ride along in the towed vehicle? if not, who's going to brake when you brake? otherwise, it will hit your gs.

I would say have one of the SUV's tow the other suv.

hawk

uhh.....babyGS3, i think i'm talking about a more of a sophisticated towing mechanism than what i think you're considering.

i'm talking about a trailer on which you roll up one of the axles of the towed vehicle. and, i mean this respectfully, but i really wasn't planning on hooking up the two cars with rope so that the towed car could plow into the towing car when slowing down. with all due respect, i might be from texas, but i'm not that dumb. (in fact, if i were any bit of a good texan, i'd already have a big enough truck that's usually used only to "haul" groceries but could tow all three of these vehicles at once) i will clarify to say that when i said two drivers, that includes me. and yes, i have seen a GS before with a trailer hitch coming out from under the rear bumper...so i figure it's possible.

i know on the surface it's ridiculous to think of a car towing a SUV, but a) i have no experience in towing, and, b) thus in my position, it's perfectly legit to ask whether the V8 300hp/300torque car should do better than the rx300's v6 ~220hp camry engine at towing.

and for the record, both of these SUVs are not real trucks. the RX is based off of a toyota camry platform. the MDX is based off of the honday odyssey minivan platform. so in reality, none of these three "cars" is a particularly great option for towing.

the questions i have are about the GS' power as well as whether the transmissions of the MDX & RX are better built to withstand the towing capacity (even though both, without towing packages, don't have tranny coolers). and, given that you need a stronger transmission to handle the higher power in the GS, is it possible that it'd be better for the job.

given the situation (hurricane!!!), i make no apologies for asking these questions. but i have one helluva powerful car and two small SUVs which are nothing but jacked up moderately powerful cars. i just don't know enough of the most technical details of these three vehicles to make the most informed decision.

i looked on the model library section on lexus.com to try to find towing stats, but i was unsuccessful. likewise, on this site i could only find tow rating for the current model RX (RX330). and even though (i think) the mdx has a towing capacity of 3500, towing is only recommended on it w/ the towing package (again, don't have it). plus, acura/honda transmissions are notoriously bad lately (ours was replaced w/ a rebuilt one under a recall).

the more i think about this, the more that a parking garage appears to be the best option for the GS. but i still really don't wanna leave it in houston if we get a direct hit by Rita.

jonathancl

That a vehicle was not designed to tow just means it can't do it all the time.

Any vehicle can tow in a pinch. And I've seen a picture of a GS with a trailer hitch beneath.

rgarjr

iTrader: (1)

An alternative is to get a 3rd driver.

Benjamin T

iTrader: (2)

first we had orphaned pets... now we have the potential for orphaned lexus'

if push comes to shove, i would tow using the mdx, since it's already known for tranny problems, might as well thrash it and break it under warranty again.

but if the choice came down to which to leave behind.... well, this IS a lexus message board

PHX ATC

Garage it.

Trust me, I've seen way too many peeps end up with blown engines, trannies, and running gear trying to tow something above their tow ratings. Don't forget, you've got suspension that's not set up for it, your rear differential that will overheat, your axles will bend, your car will sway all over the place, you won't have any control on the steering as the *** end is sitting & scraping the ground from the trailer weight, and let's not forget about your tire ratings...are they rated to handle the extra weight?

That's pretty harsh, but I would hate to see you have all sorts of problems later on with your GS when you had a viable alternative.

I've seen plenty of mishaps and thousands of dollars of damage on our migrations to Havasu, Powell with our boat and plenty more hauling our horse trailer around the state as well. People with teeny trucks/cars that tow waaaaaaaaay more than their vehicle was intended to.

Don't forget about liability, if you exceed your tow rating, have an accident involving somebody else, your insurance just went out the window and you'll be left holding the bag. It's written in the fine print, be careful!!

I will step off my soapbox now and get down to business..........I wish you the best, you, your family, and your belongings in this time.

Let us know when your are safe again.

Toby

bmgs400

Your transmission is the weak link. I'm sure the engine, brakes, and rear diff will be fine, but without the low-end touque the tranny will be working extra hard. I hope you don't have a high stall speed TC upgrade, or I'd swap it out with stock first. Just take it easy on the get going part and avoid any hills if possible. Once you have speed the momentun is in your favor. Make sure you have plenty pads for braking. Brake well ahead of time...pump the brakes to avoid too much heat...and remove the tow hitch when done...looks tacky. Drive slowly. Not sure how the suspension will do, you may be a little low.

chuckb

IF you have to go, I'd just leave your least valued car high and dry somewhere.

They said it'll be around 120mph when/if it hits Texas. that's not too bad. does your area flood?my garage is 12-13 feet above sea level, so my GS stays in there for hurricanes.

good luck, hurricanes have been a major PIA for the last few years. I've lived in FL for 20years and hurricanes never even stressed me out until these last few years, which have been ridiculous.

babyGS3

hahahha... i feel dumb. round my neck of the woods here on Guam, I see people towing cars with ropes and such and so when I heard you be towing a car... that's the first image that popped in my mind... sorry... da islands style kinda got in there... I personally would never tow my car with a rope... I'd call a flatbed...hehehe.... but here on Guam, that's the way they do it...specially down south where I'm from.

Benjamin T

iTrader: (2)

after seeing all the news reports, he may come back to no garage at all and/or a squashed car

GS300Rich

They never bothered me either until last year with the 4 that nailed us. Out of those 3 I would tow the GS with the MDX.

PHX ATC

I meant garage it in the airport parking garage like he was thinking of...I guess I should've been more specific. Sorry about that...I wouldn't leave it at home either.

Benjamin T

iTrader: (2)

oops sorry my bad.

hopefully your airport parking is better than ours... because our airport is on a delta (vancouver international airport), whenever it rains hard the cars in the lower levels start to float away

is it safe and secure to leave it in long-term airport parking under these conditions? i don't mean weather-related, but more of a security issue.