Towing with a Prius: our experience

Did you install the CB yourself? I would like a CB, hitch and a flat four wire harness installed on my Prius C. Any suggestions?

 

Did you install the CB yourself? I would like a CB, hitch and a flat four wire harness installed on my Prius C. Any suggestions?

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I know they make a plug and play wire harness for the prius, but what about the prius C?

 

I trailer two big touring bikes on a 300lb trailer with two people in the car, plus luggage. The bikes are 650lb each. I pin the throttle wide open and refill the tank every two hours. I have done this for years in Florida heat. No problems at 180k miles except I toasted the Cat

 

Thats awesome! What kinda MPG do you get running like that?

 

I've towed a 4x8 Harbor Freight trailer with my 2008 Prius for 5+ years and never had any signs of problems. Of course I'm normally just moving bulky stuff, like camping supplies, mattress sets, a dresser, etc. Large items that I would have to find a truck to move. The trailer weighs less than 300 pounds, and is rated at 1,200 pounds capacity. I doubt I've put more than 500 lbs in there though. (Yesterday I used it to haul a prehung front door from Lowes. Perfect use of the little trailer!)

The Prius easily pulls this little trailer without any struggles under the minimal loads I carry. I forget it is back there many times. MPG is decent as well, high 30's. I got the hitch at Uhaul as well and it just bolted on. I doubt I would tow such a large load as the OP though. That amount of weight seems quite risky.

 

Looking to get a small single rail trailer for possible track day use. I borrowed my father in laws trailer and put track bike on just to get an idea of the feel and mpg. It was slightly noticable on takeoff, similar to going up a hill until I hit about 45mph, then it pulled great. consistant 36-37mpg mostly highway. My bike weighs right at 300 and the trailer is old and heavy, probably 4-500lbs. But it worked for a test. Looking for a used Kendon or similar now!

 

Is this the one? Heavy Duty Utility Trailer - 870 Lb. Capacity

 

in a 2nd gen I got 17.5mpg if I towed and held the throttle wide open the whole time. I'm looking forward to my 3rd gen trailer setup since ithas more power. I'm considering 0w-40 oil so I don't spin a bearing.

 

I have been towing with my Prius regularly without problems. The outfit is shown below.




John

 

Do UK registration papers have towing capacity for Prius? Here it says on the papers that maximum weight of the trailer is 0kg.

 

Just another reason to avoid buying used cars.

 

UK regulations permit towing an non braked trailer up to 750kg over this figure the trailer must have it's own brakes.
There are enforced speed limits of 50 mph on all roads "unless the speed limit on that road is lower" or on motorways 60 mph. All this is providing the loaded trailer is no heavier than the vehicle kerbside weigh "with recommendation that the trailer be no more than 80% of the cars weight".Over the 100% limit speeds are restricted further. The trailor manufacturers design maximum weight rating cannot be exceeded.
Driven sensibly the Prius performs well at the 80% or bellow level. The outfit in the picture returns a remarkable 49 mpg "UK gallons" maintaining the legal speeds in cruise control. This includes the long clime on the M62 motorway over Saddleworth Moore from Manchester a route GC will know well. The UK's highest motorway.
The car pictured has now covered 120,000 miles with the only thing replaced apart from normal "service items" is a passengers side front wheel bearing.
Transmission operating temperatures do rise, " possibly due to our cool climate rarely getting over 22C" but only 10 to 15 degrees. I did initially consider extra cooling but have found it not to be required. If I was towing 100% of the time I probably would fit extra radiator. I have changed the transmission fluid 3 times in the life of the car.

John.

 

Mostly the same system as we have here. We also have the 80km/h (50mph) (including motorway) speed limit with the trailer. And trailers weighing more than 750kg have to have brakes.

But besides those we also have to go by what the car manufacturer considers to be safe weight to tow (with or without the brakes). And unfortunately Toyota considers maximum safe trailer weight for Prius to be 0kg with or without the brakes. So in UK car manufacturer has no say in what can be towed with their vehicle?

 

The manufacturer in the UK does not recommend towing, but according to the DVLA (driver vehicle licensing authority) they have no say in what is towed. The law does not allow overloaded vehicles or trailers. The vehicle identification plates on the UK Prius do not list a towing weight so the only restrictions are those laid down in the regulations basically listed in my post. There are other restrictions regarding trailer dimensions lighting and markings. I beleive it is reasonably clear that Toyota do not recommend towing to reduce the possible risk of damage to the transmission/hybrid system particularly while under guarantee and for no other reason.
I can see that regulations will vary from country to country. The US possibly the most litigious country in the world seems to have no problem with the Prius and towing. In the UK you can tow a trailer legally with a moped or a Reliant 3 wheeler (a plastic bodied 3 wheel car).

John.

 

Interesting read. I should compare if that is the case in the Netherlands too. I have the hitch, wired it up myself but never use it for anything other than a bike-rack in fear of getting a ticket...

Rules for towing a trailer behind a motorcycle are quite strict, like maximum length, width and height (2.5m from rear axle, 2m and 1m from the ground respectively (iirc)) and the weight is limited to 50% of the curbweight of the bike (in my case ~300kg, so 150kg (~325lb) for trailer+load).

The width has only recently been changed from 1m to 2m, so now I can try to find a really light trailer and pull it either with the motorcycle of the Prius


Here's a link to some info in Dutch, not very interesting... but if you scroll down it gives an overview of maximum speeds of trailers behind motorcycles in many European countries. I'd like to highlight two: Germany (where people can drive 200mph legally): 60km/h (~40mph ) on the highway. France on the other hand: 130km/h (~80mph, again...).
One Europe... Yeah, right.

 

From my info you can drive 80 kmh with trailer in Germany, you can drive 100 kmh if you pay for some birocratic test (TUV).

As far as I know towing with Prius is not allowed in entire EU, there is simply 0 kg in COC document. You probably won't get fined for it but in case of accident you may have bigger problems.

 

The 80km/h is true for cars, but for a MOTORCYCLE, I keep encountering the 60km/h number. Which would be insanely dangerous... As even big trucks would be passing you all the time. Probably a relic from the 50's or 60's that hasn't been fixed yet...