I have no room for an extra vehicle or trailer. But I'd love to be able to trailer my rallycross Mazda 3.
Currently scenario-ing what SWMBO would think of replacing one of our daily drivers with a used VW diesel Touareg. Then add a tow dolly which I believe would fit in the garage with the Mazda if I reorganized a bit.
The Touareg is the target mostly because of size. It's not much larger than our current 2019 Hyundai Sante Fe but has a decent towing capacity.
What could go wrong?
Since you're wanting her to approve of it I'm sure you aren't talking about the v10 tdi but I really hope you are.
You really don't want the V10 TDI.
Pretty much every repair starts out with "First remove the engine..."
You definitely don't want the V10 TDI, those are maintenance nightmares. The newer V6 TDI is a great motor and has the same 7700lb tow rating. I have the Porsche cousin, the cayenne diesel and it's been great.
Replace Mercury Milan with similar but lighter Mazda 3
My wife's Grand Caravan along with pictures of others doing the same.
Tourag would work too. Actually, many SUV/vans should be able to tow dolly a Mazda3.
A uhaul dolly is just $50 per 24hr day. Is that cheaper than buying a good dolly for $1k and then having it in your way most all the time? If that would work for you, just be sure to fake up a reservation on Uhaul to be sure that they allow the combination to be towed with your intended vehicle. They did allow for my Mopar van.
The internet tells me that your Santa Fe is rated for towing 5,000 lbs.
A Mazda3 likely weighs 3,000 lbs and a Uhaul tow dolly weighs a hefty 750lbs but that is still just 3,750 lbs. A Uhaul full trailer costs $65 per 24hr day and comes in a bulky 2,000 lbs but with 3,000lb car that puts you right at 5,000 lbs.
I support the Touareg idea, but I prefer a trailer
I only know what I see on my Friend's Toureg and online videos about cheap Touregs, but I think they are one of the most awesome vehicles ever made.
A cheaper alternative is to put a tow bar on the Mazda3, as long as it can be towed in neutral. Would need some engineering for the attachment points.
That's what I did to partially tow my Cherokee to a Gambler 500.
Magnet tow lights on top.
Easy enough to store.
Serious question that hopefully won't derail the thread- are you sure you want to tow the rallycross car? To me one of the great things about rallycrossing something that's street drivable is throwing your tools and tires in the back and going instead of having to deal with a trailer.
Touareg will do it, just be prepared for the ownership experience. Nice thing is that most of the fixed Touaregs/Q7's/Cayennes should be under the extended diesel gate warranty.
https://www.vwdiesellookup.com/pdf/VWCourtSettlement_Emissions_Disclosure_3L_Gen1_SubGen2_Final.pdf
Here is mine doing all kinds of cool Touareg stuff
Got ^20mpg on that trip.
And sometimes it works the other way.
We call ours "Tow Pig".
We drive it on long trips for the space, comfort, and MPG (20ish towing 30ish unladen).
Ours mostly just tows German things on a trailer, but I guess it could work with a Mazda on a dolly if it had to.
In reply to John Welsh :
Wow! Uhaul dolly is cheaper than I thought.
Unfortunately my Sante Fe is the 2.4 liter. A measley 2000 lbs towing capacity.
In reply to NoBrakesRacing :
Good idea, but part of the reason for towing is in case I break the car. I figure with the tow dolly I'm at least covered as long as the rear wheels still turn. Mostly likely to break an axle, so would still be able to tow.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Yeah I definitely feel that way about the Susquehanna site which is under 30 miles from home. But I would definitely go to more DC events if I could tow. Not to mention nationals this year.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:Serious question that hopefully won't derail the thread- are you sure you want to tow the rallycross car? To me one of the great things about rallycrossing something that's street drivable is throwing your tools and tires in the back and going instead of having to deal with a trailer.
This is how I rallycross. Lots of people tow theirs but I can arrive late, leave earlier and still be competitive (if I could drive better anyway).
You'll need to log in to post.
