Gernby

iTrader: (1)

Towing is hard on clutches, brakes, and dampers, but doesn't put as much strain on the drivetrain as a day at the track. The forces acting on the tranny, differential, etc. is equal the amount of torque applied by the engine, not the load it is pulling. You would probably want to use manual shift mode though to prevent the tranny from using too high of a gear.

When I posted about towing my boat with my S2000 on the S2000 forum, EVERYONE either called me stupid, or a liar. I posted pictures and a video to prove I wasn't a liar, but it took 2.5 years of towing it without problems to prove I wasn't stupid.

BTW, here is another pic when I was towing my bigger boat.

gsrthomas

iTrader: (1)

Thats cool and thats Smart of you! 90% of the people would just buy a truck to tow 1 boat. Thats good you didnt waste $15k+ on buying a truck just to to a boat a few times a year. I would of done the same as you.

The key is just to be easy on the gas. Everything would be fine.

Koz

You can tow anything with anything, that doesn't mean its safe. I hope that S2000 never experiences an emergency/panic maneuver. You will not see any manufacture making a hitch for a car that the OEM has recommended not to tow with. If there is an accident or an injury to someone with/from a vehicle that was not intended to tow, it will get ugly!

Koz

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

Never say never! LOL Several hitch manufacturers offered class 1 hitches for the S2000 despite Honda's 0 lbs tow rating. I also rented several enclosed Uhaul trailers with my S2000, and toiwed them several hundred miles at a time.

I'm not recommending that everyone tow large loads with the IS (or S2000), but it is doable. If the hitch is designed well for this specific application, then it will do fine. The safety issue has more to do with how it's driven. Any vehicle that is towing a heavy load is unsafe if driven poorly.

menech

You would be suprised at the hitches available for some cars

I had a hitch and trailer for my track tires on my boxster. The hitch was removable and didn't damage the bumper, and the trailer held a set of track wheels+tires and had enough room for some tools/hitch

not my car, but this was the hitch:

Nvalenti20

Thanks for the replies everyone.....picking my car up on thursday. White IS250 AWD with cashmere interior with the luxury package, rear lip spoiler, weathermats and headlight washers....cannot wait. I think i'm going to pass on the towing....let my gf's 2000 Audi A4 take care of that.

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

Since there aren't any hitches available for the 2IS yet, I've been towing my boat with my gf's SUV, so I can understand.

ocdavid

Wow....I can't believe that you would buy a luxury performance car and then tow with it!!! I see the pics of the S2000 and the Porche Boxter and all this talk about towing with an IS and can't believe it. I am in no way trying to say it can't be done, but the car is simply not designed for it. I'm sure it would take a toll on the tranny and the suspension. The brakes are really good and I don't see that being a huge problem. Nevertheless....WHY?!?! You can get an old pickup with a hitch for about $5000-$6000 which is about what you would be paying if the tranny took a dump. So, my advise, tow with a vehicle made for towing....don't ruin your beautiful IS!!!!

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

You make it sound like the IS is too "exotic" to be used for more utilitarian purposes. Who wants to purchase, maintain, and store a POS pickup truck just for occasional trips to the furniture store or lake? I don't care what it's designed for. If it does a fine job towing, then I'm gonna use it for towing.

Besides, there are other uses for a hitch than just towing trailers. I would MUCH rather carry my track tires on a TireTail than cram them in the passenger compartment.

menech

agreed! It was much easier putting the hitch on the boxster and driving off to an auto-x track or track days. The PCA club (Porsche's car club) was very active and between auto-x and track days you could go to an event at least every 3 weeks... having dedicated track tires made things alot easier. And in the case of the boxster or the S2000 its impossible to bring a track set of wheels to events.

For me dragging my girlfriend or some friends to each event so they could haul my gear just wasn't going to happen...maybe once or twice but not every 3-4 weeks for 8-9 months out of the year.

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

It was possible to carry 4 wheels / tires to an event in the S2000, but not easy. I had to put 1 in the trunk, and 3 where the passenger seat USED to be.

MikeFD3S

I really wouldn't recommend towing anything with the IS. If the manufacturer doesn't recommend it, don't do it. If it had the capability to do it reliability, you can bet that they would have mentioned it.

I'm sure you've all seen things being trailered get squirelly on the highway because of a dip or pothole...those type of forces will damage or compromise the chassis if it were to occur on a vehicle not designed for towing. Parts of the subframe are welded and constructed to withstand certain types of forces acting upon them...towing puts stress on the car that it was not designed for.

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

If the car's chassis isn't "designed" for towing, that just makes it more difficult to design a hitch for it. If a hitch manufacturer is going to design a class 1 hitch, they have to find mounting points that can handle 200 lbs static tongue weight and 2000 lbs total trailer weight.

Something else to consider is that the ES 300 and ES 330 actually had class 2 hitches available for them. Does anyone know what Lexus' recommendation was about towing with the ES? Was the ES very different structurally than an IS?

Koz

Towing a tiny trailer with 4 tires is one thing but towing a boat is another. Do yourself a favor and DON"T tow with the IS, you will be making a big mistake. If you have to tow anything take the time to visit http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm and do SOME research.

Koz

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

Jeesh ... I've proven this philosophy wrong at least 50 times over. I've towed trailers of significant weight with my last 5 cars ('91 Integra, '94 Lincoln Mark VIII, '99 Tahoe, '01 Acura TL, '02 S2000), and only the Tahoe was "designed" for towing. The funny thing is that the Tahoe wasn't even very good for towing due to the brakes. It can be a big mistake to tow anything with anything, especially if you don't have much towing experience. Some people just don't understand the physics of towing.