facelvega

Floods washed us out of our place with lots of garage space, so for the next few years we are in a downtown place with a tiny little garage (no street parking). 3000# GT3 plus 800# Trailex plus 400# tools and spare wheels means my minimum tow is 4200#. The smallest I have found is the Audi Q3, 176"x72", 228hp, pulls 4400#. Next up are the Macan and the Audi Q5 at 184"x76", 350hp, pulls 4400#. Nothing bigger will fit in the stall. Everything else I see is over 190", so no go.

Anyone else fought this battle, have any other suggestions?

EDIT: Just towing from Houston to Austin, DFW, LA, OK, so no mountains or even big hills, just flat, easy tow...

Thanks, hive mind!

lcrain

Towing close to 100% of the towing capacity is probably not something I personally would recommend. I'd look into renting a truck when you need it. That or buy a beater truck and store it somewhere with your trailer.

Mozella55

Yeah, an older truck parked on the street or outside (cheap) at some storage facility would be my choice too. Then keep your nice (non-tow) daily driver in the garage where you live.

lowside67

How about a Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel? Phenomenal towing power between the diesel and 8spd transmission - we have really liked it in our Ram EcoDiesel. As a bonus, it's only 189.8" long!

-Mark

993944S2

I used to manage my Trailex, 944 and tools with a 2014 Acura MDX. It's slightly longer than 190. The 944 was 600 lbs less than your GT3. I think it's manageable. I would lean towards the Macan. There are good quality aftermarket hitch systems.

Quadcammer

I tow a 1200lb aluma with my 2600lb boxster and maybe 250lbs of crap and I don't think I'd want to go much smaller than my 958 Cayenne S.

I know its done more in europe, but gosh, I can't imagine a 228hp Q3 being super safe with that load.

Also, I think you are really quoting minimum weights there. Depending on what GT3 it is, the wet weight is likely higher and the trailex is probably closer to 900. So if you give yourself some margin, you are looking at roughly 4500lbs.

If you aren't tracking often, I fully agree with the rent a truck for events idea.

Kein_Ersatz

Space at a premium - Enterprise rentals may be the best option w/o compromise or worries.

facelvega

Thanks for the input, latest news:

Did a test drive on the Q3, and just could not see it as a possibility. At 228hp, anemic just pulling itself around, can't imagine pulling a trailer.

Test drove the Macan S (350hp), felt pretty good, so the new short list (pun intended) is Macan S, Macan GTS, and Audi SQ5 (also 350hp). I had never driven an Audi before I test drove the Q3, and except for the low power, seemed nice. The specs for the SQ5 versus the Q5 I had reviewed before are much better and include air suspension. I will try to get out to test drive the Macan GTS and SQ5 next week.

Rental is a good fallback, but I would really like to have my own vehicles, which I can get to know and modify as needed. Right now I have a Tesla for moderately fun DD and grocery getter, and Ford Transit 250 high top (9'2" tall) as a tow vehicle. If I can get something reasonably fun for DD, carry crap for weekend chores, and trailer the track car once a month, I can reduce one vehicle for maintenance, insurance, parking, etc...

jfpell

You also need to be mindful that even if you have a vehicle with the towing rating, you need to also consider the effects of a short wheelbase tow vehicle. If not really well balanced, you will get a hobby-horse effect and you don't want to be in a situation where you don't have good front wheel engagement with the road.

I tow a 996 race car (3000lbs) on a Trailex open trailer (1000lbs) with a Chevy Colorado diesel pickup with a 7700lb tow rating. I wouldn't consider towing anything less than this in both tow rating as well as wheelbase. My brother has a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 7000lb tow rating and the difference in the wheelbase is noticeable.

Just my $0.02.

txhokie4life

How big is the cayenne -- My CTT with the air suspension has 7700# towing capacity -- great breaks -- and I'm towing a 24' aluminum enclosed --- Sucks for MPG -- but it'll rip the wheels of the trailer if I'm not mindful of the accelerator :-)

my 2008 Porsche Cayenne/Length
188.8 to 188.9″ -- be tight -- but fits the bill

okie981

BMW X5 with the turbo 6 or move up to the V8 for more fun. The 2020 turbo 6 model is rated for 8,000 tow and can be purchased with a factory receiver hitch socket and trailer light connectors. Or, go crazy and get the M version.

tgibrit

unless I mistaken the tow rating of the 2020 x5 is 7,200. the new Land Rover defender is better at 8,200.

okie981

You are correct, the 2020 X5 with 3.0L turbo six has towing capacity of 7,209 lbs (with a braked trailer), 1,653 lbs for a trailer without brakes, per owner's manual.

MarcD147

Does it have the stopping power? When it rains?
Can it handle side winds?

Both are things that impact you only once a year; are you willing to write off your rig and track car that day?

Frank 993 C4S

Engine hp alone is the least you should worry about.
- what about tongue weight, which should be about 10 -15% of your gross trailer weight?
- air suspension is always a bonus
- transmission cooling in summer stop and go traffic?
- wind gusts in a thunderstorm with semis passing
- an emergency braking situation
Every once in a while the easiest flat tow can become a total nightmare so you want some margin of safety