914njckd

Is it feasable to tow either a 17' boston whaler or a 1800 lb. Pop up camper with an rx350 ? Looking to replace our grand cherokee

NateJG

If you have the tow package, you're comfortably in the middle of the weight rating.

I won't tow something without trailer brakes (unless it's just around town) - and Lexus didn't make that an easy proposition unless your boat trailer has surge brakes; and I haven't seen many pop-up campers with them.

F250

Feasible? Yes.

Ideal? No.

I spent a Sunday afternoon pulling a lightly loaded 5'x8' Uhaul with our '10 RX450h for about 200 miles. It pulled OK. Maintained speed OK. Mileage took a real hit, though. Overall, I'd prefer to not do it again and stick with my F250 diesel for all my towing needs.

ColAngus

Pulling a covered motorcycle trailer weighing only around 1300 pounds cut my fuel mileage in half. In half!
This vehicle was too expensive and has too complex of a delicate drivetrain to stress it like that, iMO.

lexus114

Agreed ^^^^^

Htony

If towing vehicle and trailer are properly equipped, there won't be any problem. Number one issue is safety. I would not care about gas mileage. Tow vehicle's job is pulling,
not carrying the weight of the trailer. (hitch tongue weight, load balancing, etc.)

F250

Agreed. That's why I prefer to leave the towing to my F250, which is certainly "properly equipped" to "do the job safely", and I surely "do not care about fuel economy" when towing with my 7.3L diesel.

NateJG

Ditto that!

SteveCraig

Have to chime in here !
I tow a boat with my F150 4X4 & I'm approaching 7000 lbs. Truck is rigged correctly & I have no worries.
Few years ago I had an F250 4X4 pulling a 31' travel trailer. Truck rigged correctly & had no concerns, except one.
Towed the trailer 3-4 times a year getting about 7 MPG with the V10 gas engine.
Work truck the rest of the time & you guessed it.........7 MPG.
I was some glad to get rid of that truck & back into a 1/2 ton. I paid someone else to move the trailer when needed.

F250

Yeah... I had the V10 in our first 2003 Excursion, and there was NO WAY to ever get better than 8.5 mpg when keeping it at 70 on the interstate. Now, the diesel, though, I've gotten as high as 18 on the interstate (unloaded), and about 14 with a moderate load of about 6000 lbs. I can get about 14.5-15 around town, but normally average about 12 right now because I'm only driving 4 miles each way to work and back and the 3 miles through our neighborhood is extremely hilly. The V10 runs and tows well, but you just can't coax any kind of decent mileage out of it.

Forgive the sidetrack and rabbit trails... back to our regularly scheduled program!

tus

Looking at the manual for my '13 RX, officially it can tow 2000lbs, with the capacity going up to 3500lbs if you add the tow package. For anything over 1000lbs trailer brakes are "required".

Personally, I'm of the belief that as long as you stay within the specs, don't worry about it. While a RX is far from an ideal tow vehicle, it'll be fine as long as you don't ask it to do something it's not supposed to be doing.

ColAngus

What condition and speed do you think leads to 11.8mpg? Now, run that speed at that throttle position for 200 miles, straight. Then, fill its tank and do it again, the next day. It's bagging the living shat out of it.
But, no. It's much worse dragging the trailer because it's jerking the vehicle back and forth violently after every subtle bump or brake transition to throttle.

F250

Slow down by 5 mph? 5 MPH? ARE YOU SERIOUS?? Don't you know that slowing down 5 mph (from 70 to 65) over a 200 mile trip amounts to an EXTRA 13 minutes... 13 MINUTES!! I think my head is going to explode!!



Seriously... it's often hard to remember that those 5 mph can certainly make a positive impact, and sometimes significantly so, at the cost of only a few more minutes of driving. It's hard for me, at least, but I can't argue with the logic.

riredale

Wow, I never realized my 2010 RX450h was such a delicate little snowflake.

There is pragmatic engineering behind every vehicle sold today, and Lexus is probably better-engineered than most. There is absolutely nothing wrong with towing a ton of trailer behind a vehicle rated for it. Nothing is going to explode. Because of the additional weight but also because of the horrible air drag your mileage will be much worse. But as long as the temperature gauge sits in the middle of the scale, the mechanicals are happy. Don't expect 200,000 miles of life before overhaul, but the car will do just fine meanwhile.

Htony

Hitching is only the first step of towing. Setting it up properly is more important. What was the tongue weight of the trailer? Surge brake or electric control brake?
What class hitch?., etc.