Towing w/ 4-Cylinder Turbo

[Nick1994]

My aunt has been on the lookout for a replacement vehicle for a while now, something that can tow her 2023 NuCamp Tab400 camper. She’s pretty set on the new Lexus GX550 but who knows when it’ll be available.

With the new 4Runner that was just released, that could be a great option. However, it’s a 4 cylinder turbo. Has quite a bit more power than the V6 it replaces but I’m worried towing would stress out the turbo long term. For comparison she has a 2014 Grand Cherokee 3.6L and it’s pretty stressed. It isn’t just the weight, it’s mostly the camper being a giant parachute going down the road.

Would a small turbo be glowing-red towing a lot?

 

[cptbarkey]

Take a look at the current Tundra and Tacoma owners manuals for towing and the technical capability answers are probably there. Personally i'm not a fan of the new turbo engine lineup either, but it is what it is.

 

[Bailes1992]

I tow our caravan which weighs a good 100kgs more than that with a little 1.5 diesel engine in my Dacia Duster. It'll be fine!

 

[Thermo1223]

You would have to be pulling in the Rockies up quite a steep grade for a loong time to be heating a turbo that much. I wouldn't worry about it, run the right oil and keep the cooling system in check.

 

[KrisZ]

The trick to towing is slow down. The air drag increase is squared vs the linear speed increase.

 

[dumkid]

I tow our caravan which weighs a good 100kgs more than that with a little 1.5 diesel engine in my Dacia Duster. It'll be fine!
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At 120+ kph? (72+mph) You can tow with a 3cyl geo metro if you only want to go 20 mph

Lots of American interstates have a 75mph speed limit and most people go at or over the limit

 

[supton]

Most turbos have some sort of cooling to them. I'd be more worried about the exhaust manifold (which it might not have? sometimes they integrate it into the head).

 

[dumkid]

Turbo engines get hot easier (high egts, high intake temps) something n/a will do better for reliability even if it doesn't have as much power/torque

 

[KrisZ]

At 120+ kph? (72+mph) You can tow with a 3cyl geo metro if you only want to go 20 mph

Lots of American interstates have a 75mph speed limit and most people go at or over the limit

Why would you want to tow at the same speeds unloaded cars travel at? Even if your vehicle can handle it, it’s stupid. Any emergency maneuver and the trailer will control your vehicle, not you.

Slow the f down, nobody will “run you off the road” as many seem to imagine.

 

[JavierH19]

Gearing is the reason why the new 4 runner can tow a lot. Though the turbo is going to be in boost for almost all of it given the high engine load. I don't think it'll be close to glowing.

 

[dumkid]

Why would you want to tow at the same speeds unloaded cars travel at? Even if your vehicle can handle it, it’s stupid. Any emergency maneuver and the trailer will control your vehicle, not you.

Slow the f down, nobody will “run you off the road” as many seem to imagine.

Most people tow at traffic speed. Most people tow with a truck though, and leave extra following distance.

If you putter along nobody will run you off the road but you'll have 3 miles of cars tailgating you, and be continuously passed by everything except the fleet semi trucks

 

[KrisZ]

Most people tow at traffic speed. Most people tow with a truck though, and leave extra following distance.

If you putter along nobody will run you off the road but you'll have 3 miles of cars tailgating you, and be continuously passed by everything except the fleet semi trucks

So because others are doing it. That’s your argument?

Most people have no clue about emergency maneuvers, kinetic energy, momentum, weight balance, center of gravity etc. Heck, most of them don’t even have properly inflated tires. And you want to follow their lead?

As far as others being angry at me for going 10-15mph slower than them, I could not care less.

 

[dumkid]

So because others are doing it. That’s your argument?

Most people have no clue about emergency maneuvers, kinetic energy, momentum, weight balance, center of gravity etc. Heck, most of them don’t even have properly inflated tires. And you want to follow their lead?

I'm not following their lead, I'm too busy passing them

 

[tcp71]

I tow 8000lbs trailer (14k lbs GVW) with a 3.5 twin turbo through the Rockies every summer since 2017. The turbo 2.4 will be fine for an aerodynamic trailer like the TAB. A couple of things to remember:
- most trailer tires are rated to 65mph (some newer ones are rated to 75mph, but not too many).
- set up your brake controller that the trailer brakes slow the trailer and the car brakes slow the car. Set the gain so it feels like normal (non-trailer) brake behavior with the trailer attached. Slowing is far more important than acceleration.
- Don't lug a turbo - transmission behavior will always try to push a high gear which creates heat you don't want. Lock out higher gears and manually downshift before/on hills. A turbo 4 can spin like a non-turbo 4 and move a lot more air through the system...keeping things cool.
- enjoy your travels!

 

[IndyIan]

Most people tow at traffic speed. Most people tow with a truck though, and leave extra following distance.

If you putter along nobody will run you off the road but you'll have 3 miles of cars tailgating you, and be continuously passed by everything except the fleet semi trucks

All the semi trucks here are limited to 65mph and its fine, they stay in the right line, and other vehicles pass on the left and there's no problems.
If not having a 600hp diesel dually truck is keeping you from towing anything, then I guess that's your business, but the rest of the world tows single axle small travel trailers with Accords and Camrys at 60mph on much more challenging roads than an interstate and it works out fine.

 

[dumkid]

All the semi trucks here are limited to 65mph and its fine, they stay in the right line, and other vehicles pass on the left and there's no problems.
If not having a 600hp diesel dually truck is keeping you from towing anything, then I guess that's your business, but the rest of the world tows single axle small travel trailers with Accords and Camrys at 60mph on much more challenging roads than an interstate and it works out fine.

Some of the semi trucks are limited here, about half of them aren't. And about 10% of the semi trucks speed (75+ in a 65)

 

[4WD]

Why would you want to tow at the same speeds unloaded cars travel at? Even if your vehicle can handle it, it’s stupid. Any emergency maneuver and the trailer will control your vehicle, not you.

Slow the f down, nobody will “run you off the road” as many seem to imagine.

Agree - I have a self imposed 70 mph limit in my Jeep - the only ones not passing me are the RV guys - they have lots of money tied up - understand the physics - and often travel with family …

 

[barryh]

The trick to towing is slow down. The air drag increase is squared vs the linear speed increase.

While it's correct to say drag is proportional to the square of the speed, the power required to overcome that drag is proportional to the cube of the speed and it's power that we are concerned with. So even more important to slow down.

 

[Cujet]

The GM 4 cylinder 2.7L makes plenty of towing power. I don’t see any downside to engine lifespan or turbo longevity if synthetic oil is used.

 

[RAR]

It will likely be fine, and I’m certain the owner’s manual will specify what conditions need to be present to ensure trouble free use.

I would recommend far more frequent oil changes than the manual might state, just as insurance.

Like it or not, turbocharged engines are becoming the norm in internal combustion engines these days.