Do any of you have experience towing with the rx350, in my case 2017 with the tow package and 2 wd? I have a boat that weighs 2500 and 250lbs on the tongue, no trailer brakes and wondering how well the rx can handle this. I believe the vehicle is rated for 3500 but I’m used to towing with my Yukon rated at 8500 so loads of cushion and feel a little less comfortable towing with the rx. It doesn’t seem like I ever see people towing with the rx, at least in my parts.

anyone with experience towing 2000-3500?

 

An RX 350 FWD is rated for 2000 lbs without the "TO" Tow Prep Package and
for 3500 lbs with. TO consists of the Engine oil cooler, Trans oil cooler, HD radiator
and HD fan and coupling.

Standard loading rules apply - RX has a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of about 5600 lbs.
and a curb weight of about 4200 lbs. Payload is thus 1400 lbs. Fill the 19 gallon tank
with 6.1 lb per gallon fuel = 115 lbs and your 250 lbs tongue weight and you have about
1000 left for passengers and luggage. Are you traveling with a couple of passengers or
with all five seats filled?

 

My concern would be braking ability without any trailer brakes. I have a little trailer (without brakes) for use with a motorcycle and loaded it weighs a tick under 1000 lbs, but I can notice a difference in braking behind the RX. Retrofitting a trailer to surge brakes isn’t cheap but it would help immensely.

Note that I also have a giant diesel pickup which I have towed 10,000 lbs with for a lot of miles, but it weighs a whole lot more, has a whole lot more wheelbase and the trailers of that weight have electric brakes. But I have towed non-braked loads up to 4500 lbs with it, yet even with that big truck stopping without trailer brakes can be an adventure.

 

I tow a '19 v6 bowrider with my '17 AWD RX with tow package pretty sure, not regularly just to the lake at start of season and back end of season, about 700km (440miles) a season. Trailer brakes would definitely be nice but it still feels "ok" you just need to look ahead at all times and stay focused, you don't want to be caught in a late braking situation since thats a good amount of weight. She gets thirsty towing that much weight.

The Highlander is rated for 5000lb and I don't think they have bigger brakes, although I would not tow a boat thats over 3000lb not counting the trailer without brakes even if its rated for it.

With all the talk that the next RX is going 4-cyl this might be my last RX, can't tow something like that with a 4-cyl turbo.

 

I have a 16 AWD with tow package.
i tow a loaded pop-up trailer with 4 people, or great for 2 weeks, bikes etc. No trailer brakes. No issues.

 

fords twin turbo 4 cyl is in the explorer and rated to tow 5300 so they are able to get get tow figures out of the 4 bangers

 

Highlander Hybrid with a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder is rated for 3500 lb.

Based on that i don't think maintaining the 3500lb tow rating on a 4 cylinder RX would be an issue.

 

I never said the 4 cyl won't keep the tow rating but it will be way harder on the motor. I know how it feels towing this much weight on hilly highways and doing it with a 4 cyl would be less than ideal. It will have to maintain a much higher RPM and be in constant boost. On a flat highway I can barely keep it from downshifting into lower gear, any incline/hump and it has to drop couple gears or lose a lot of speed.

 

Agreed. Unfortunately i cars currently with a 6 cylinder will not be offered with a 6 anymore.

1

 

Yes it will be rated at 3500lbs, but at what speed and what will the acceleration be?
Never a problem where there is no traffic.

 

Subaru Ascent with a turbo 2.4 is rated at 5000lb so maybe doing 3500 with won't be as crazy. I guess if the motor internals are rock solid to withstand boosted operation under heavy load for hours at a time it might be ok. Would still take more cylinders for towing heavy stuff but its sounding like that will not be happening on the next gen RX.

 

Todays turbos don’t need RPMs to make boost. What turbos like is load on the engine.

 

my rx450 has no issues at all, tows great in the mountains, I travel usually 10-17 hour days and it works well. Now, my trailer is under 500, and bikes are say 1k together. then the back is loaded with tons of stuff.
not sure how well it works with another 1k lbs . plus the 450 brakes work differently than the 350

 

Good to know, I don’t have a trailer, but do have three bikes, any of which could need towing at any given time. I have an FJR1300, Kawasaki Ninja 1000 and Honda CBR1000rr.