Towing capacity...or lack thereof

[Seattledude]

I'm curious if any more of you have towed anything with your Pro. I have an 01 with the 2.0 engine. I've read several threads about it, but am curious if you've had any luck/problems with it.

Obviously, the owner's manual doesn't recommend towing. I've read elsewhere you can safely tow 50% of the car's weight (30% is a safer bet).

I'm looking at potentially towing an 800lb trailer... Heck, I've had 5 adults in the car and trunk loaded with 5+ pieces of luggage that weighed a lot more than that I'm sure!

Any insight?

[90prtege]

buy a truck or suv if you want to tow. you should never tow with a small passenger car. your just asking for trouble. your trans will not like you one bit if you do there alot of rules and regulations that go into shops installing a tow assembly on a small car and they may not even do it on a pro. knowing the plastic bumpers and lack of ANYTHING under them to attach a tow assembly to you may do more damage to your car than you ever thought you would . ive seen people towing with Honda's and ect ect they wonder why their car is junk within 5 years. also on your five passengers and luggage your correct car can handle that cause your in the car you have to look @ tounge weight and stopping effectiveness with a trailer best of luck to you in your quest to tow but doing with a pro would not be advised in my opinion just my 2 cents worth

[XelderX]

I had a hitch installed on my Protege5 the week I bought it. It actually bolted directly to the frame rails of the chassis. I then towed a motorcycle from NC to Mass. and back (28 hour round trip) the first weekend I owned the car with 3 people in the car. 6 years and 4 autocross seasons later I was still on the stock transmission. The BJ transmissions have been able to handle up to 300whp successfully before exploding. I don't think hauling a little load is going to cause any more problems than having 3 fat guys ride with you.

[zerocover]

You can tow things just fine. People in Europe where they dont buy suv's do it all the time. (like everywhere else in the world, notice how only americans have suvs)

You can buy the proper tow assembly, make sure it bolts to the chassis.

I know the 1.6l has a 500lbs towing capacity (rated by mazda europe). Thats with the micro brakes and crap trans, and no tq to speak of. And the people that have towed that much say that its not even noticeable. The 2.0 should be fine with 800.

[progt91]

um i ended up towing a pontiac sunfire on a tow dolly, fathers truck broke and everybody was closed, had the trailer and needed to pick up two cars so i thought i would give it a shot, took it easy and it did go pretty good actually, the sunfire was the first car and the second was an 88 cutlass.

[fastwagon]

I have towed with many small cars and bro with 90 pro

Watch your tongue load and ensure you can stop well and keep your trailer lights working and you'll be fine.
I had a Neon and when I sold it with 158,000 miles on the clock after 15,000 miles of towing up to 1500 pounds the car was running well and shifting great. Keep your rear shocks in good shape and if towing very often you may want to look at stiffer rear springs to help reduce sag.
My brother has been towing with a 1990 protege for years now and the car has over 200k on the odo and the vehicle is still running well. We also towed often with my wife's 4 cylinder Odyssey. That vehicle was basically a heavy Accord and it was rated at 1500 pounds.
My WRX had a 2500 pound tow rating and now they rate the new vehicle at 0 pounds. I believe lawyers and liability people are getting involved in this debate.
Eric

[ArdaPro]

About the towing i am quite sure you can get away with towing small stuff. Yeah they do not recommend this on the manual but as one of the earlier posts said that must have been a work of lawyers. I had a a Japanese Corolla Ceres before coming to states and i towed US spec corolla 100 km's to a different city. It felt heavy but car didnt die or no damage was observed afterwards. About the Pro just couple of weeks age it climbed up to a mountain hauling 5 people and trunk full of bunch of alcohols to a big bear lake, which is around 7000 feet high. It was pulling strong and i was actually passing SUVS who were slowing down for the turns. So 30% of gross weight should be fine good luck

[ivan15]

Towing

I towed over a 1000 pounds with my pro and have never had problems. I do have manuel transmision wich is perfered when towing. If you are planing on towing with an automatic transmition you might have to get a transmision cooler.