How to kill your Prius mileage (and your Prius?)

I could see towing the very smallest of the uhaul trailers


but a 5x10 (or is it a 6x12?) is way too big...

 

That's insane! Around here, the U-Haul dealers have a chart of what they allow for towing their trailers.

There is no effing way I'd risk +$4,000 of inverter/converter and cvt to save a few bucks towing a trailer! I'd rent a pickup, eat the one way charge, and be done with it

 

That looks like a Pennsylvania tag on the trailer. I hope they are going eastern half (Philly) area rather than the western side (Pittsburgh). If going to the west the hills through WV are going to crush that poor little Prius if it isn't in enough pain already.

Hopefully, the owner of this insanity is a PriusChat member and will report back but I HIGHLY doubt it. I think if they were this probably wouldn't be going on right now, LOL.

Chris

 

I'd love to see what's in the U-haul

 

His SUV.

Tom

 

You have got to send this to failblog.

 

Whoa - conceivably on flat roads if the guy is really careful they could pull that trailer at low speeds, but I see a number of things wrong:

1. Hitch/trailer is totally not set up right. Easy to see that the hitch is way too low (even accounting for the sag).
2. Loaded WAY too much weight in the front of the trailer. There should be just slightly more weight on the front of the trailer. If the vehicle towing sags significantly, you've either loaded too much weight in the front or too much weight total.
3. Following WAY too close to the vehicle in front (assuming 65mph). That's a marginal follow distance for an empty Prius (probably about 1 second). With the amount of weight that appears to be in that trailer, they should be following at least 2-3 times farther behind.
4. 65mph is WAY too fast even without considering all the above. Should keep the speeds to 55mph max.

This pic kinda reminds me of that picture of the Jetta overloaded with plywood and concrete so badly it was scraping in the back. Now this isn't quite that bad, but it's getting close!

 

A picture of a Honda, I believe it was, made the rounds of the 'net a few years ago, It was roof-laoded with lumber and was sitting belly-down on the pavement - the struts had come through the fender tops!

 

LOL. Uhaul won't rent you a trailer if you have a Ford Explorer (because they got sued once), but they will rent a two axle trailer to a Prius owner. :madgrin:

Uhaul is Stupidâ„¢.

 

Madness!

 

All good points to remember. Is this the picture you were thinking about?


In addition to the lumber on the roof, he had 10 80-pound bags of concrete on the back seat and a passenger!

 

People have towed reasonably substantial trailers with Priuses
in the past, and even documented it here. Why does anyone think
it's that much more stress on the HSD under steady-state running
that the owner is likely to "blow up" a transaxle? Unless the
trailer has its own brakes I'd be more worried about stopping
that rig, not going, and thus agree about the following distance,
but what's happening there is certainly not mechanically infeasible
or as unwise as you're making out.
.
Torque can be manufactured, you just don't go as fast. Ask yourself
if any loaded semi chuggin' up a mountainside in WV is about
to blow its engine...
.
_H*

 

Would have been a better idea to hire a ute and get a friend to drive the prius to where ever the person is moving.

 

another motor...

 

I'm going with the drivers brains.

Even empty, that trailer has got to be 1,200# to 1,500#. I had a 5X10, single axle, open trailer with 2 foot high sheet metal walls on the sides and front; its empty weight was about 1,000#. --TK

 

Another Prius.