Those of us sitting in the back seat while Gus is driving can attest to this:
'. . . er Gus, you wanna slow down a bit? . . .'
Tom :-)
----- Original Message -----
From: Gus Stewart
To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 9:52 AM
Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Family Tow Car
I have to throw in my 2 cents for the Subaru option.
I have a subie Impreza which unfortunately doesn't have quite the official
towing capacity needed for a heavy trailer (max 900kg), athough in reality it
tows quite well. When I tow glider trailers I usually do it in a Subie
Forester, which tows brilliantly. I had a very similar situation to Glen, where
I had one of the tyres on the trailer shredded and lock up... I felt the bang,
and the extra drag, but there was no swerving and the combination continued in
a straight line until I could bring it to a stop. The Forester also has plenty
of room in the back for tow kits / luggage / spares / anything, and does not
chew up a lot of fuel :-)
Plus on the whole Subarus are a dream to drive... without the trailer on the
back you can really enjoy the low C of G and the AWD around the corners :-)
Gus
On 9/11/07, Dave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi All,
Mark,
News flash, Europeans do not tow long distances in strong winds and 40+
degree temps often. Different location=different requirements.
I was born in the UK and lived there for years, in fact my first school
camp
was in Switzerland, and I have returned for holidays twice, so I am well
aware of how small cars are used to tow trailers. The Europeans do not have
1000's of km to travel. I have travelled around Europe in a small car and
it
was cramped and uncomfortable. Not the sort of setup I would want to spend a
long time in with young children.
I do not deny small cars can be effectively used for towing in this country,
Just they are not the best option. Medium to large cars are.
The thread did cover the issue, and this was the pertinent post.
"Whatever you get - and there has been plenty of advice so far - look for a
vehicle with sufficient weight (and this probably means size) to able to
remain the dominant influence in the towing combination. I know of several
road dramas with gliding trailers where the towing car had the horsepower -
but not the weight - to allow the driver to be in totally charge of what
was
happening all of the time, and things went badly wrong when the trailer took
over. There were probably other factors in the instances I recall, but
the common question in those mentioned was a towing vehicle which on
reflection, was probably on the smaller (lighter) side of what perhaps
should have been used."
Such cars as the Outback and Forresters as I recommended are NOT big cars,
they just are not deliberately built light weight small cars. Perhaps being
a boy racer has clouded your assessment of cars for this purpose.
The other factor that families with children would take into consideration
is safety. It is well established and simple physics, in an accident the
heavier car comes off best, as evidenced by a radio interview I heard, the
guests were, Head of the traffic police, Chair of the Road safety council,
and the President of the Crash repair assoc. ALL of them had 2 ton +
Mercedes, and they categorically stated that they had them because of their
crash rsults experience, the heaviest car is the safest, and the
crumple-ability of modern small cars simply meant they were even better
off.
Which car would you rather be driving in a head collision on between a V8
commo and a WRX?
You may feel different when it is your own children whose safety is a
concern.
Is "yeh whatever" as your way of saying of yes you're right?
I knew this was a worms....
Dave
al Message-----
From: Mark Newton [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, 10 September 2007 3:39 PM
To: Dave
Cc: 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.'
Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Family Tow Car
Dave wrote:
> <sigh> Spot the boy racer huh. I gave up worrying about dragging people
20+
> years ago.
> Thing is Mark, the more weight is a good thing for towing bringing a
> definite improvement in stability.
Thing is, Dave, this thread has already covered a bit where it was
pointed out that the Europeans tow their gliders around behind 1.6L
hatchbacks without problems, so maybe the extra weight thing is overrated.
I have some video from some World Championships in Poland in the 1970's
showing an outlanding retrieve behind a VW Beetle. Were they doing
something
wrong?
> Not to mention for a family with children
> as the poster stated, a WRX might lack a little room.
Again, the Europeans don't seem to have a problem with that. A Commodore-
sized vehicle is viewed as an ostentatious luxury over there, and the
French regularly cram four people and all of their luggage into microscopic
Peugeots for their summer holidays. Perhaps you're following ideal gas
laws, and your requirements have expanded to fill their container.
I remember having a conversation with an American farmer who vowed and
declared that he couldn't do his job with anything smaller than his
8 litre, four ton pickup truck. Showing him the utes that aussie farmers
use in way more rugged conditions was an eye opener for him, and he
realized that perhaps his huge-vehicle upbringing and his view of what
everyone else around him was doing had clouded his assessment of his
requirements. Maybe the same is happening for you.
> I am guessing your previous
[ blah blah blah ]
Yeah, whatever.
- mark
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I tried an internal modem, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
but it hurt when I walked. Mark Newton
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