2015 Subaru Forester 2.5i boat towing

[Snoll]

Hi Guys,

Just bought a 2019 Lund 1600 Fury SS. I see that the boat/motor/trailer come in at 1,172 lbs. My max towing is 1,500 lbs. With gear and 6 gallons of fuel I feel I should be okay. Does anyone have any experience towing with a Subaru Forester 2.5i ?This is not the turbo. Should I be concerned pulling out of the water or anything else?

Thanks

 

[MTboatguy]

If it is the AWD model, I don't see that it would be a problem, you will be under max tow capacity.

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard.

keep in mind the 1172# is without fuel and without gear (dry weight)

6 gallons of fuel is about 50#, assume 300# of gear and your at your limit.

 

[bigdee]

I would not be concerned at all. Being close to the threshold doesn't mean bad things are going to happen if you exceed it a little. More important is the type of roads you will be traveling on.....mountain/extreme grade would be a concern. Driving skill and being aware of the load behind you is just as important.

 

[NYBo]

Welcome to iBoats! :welcome:

If you want an extra margin of safety, consider installing brakes on the trailer.

 

[H20Rat]

If it is the AWD model, I don't see that it would be a problem, you will be under max tow capacity.

Subaru doesn't make a non-awd car... (the one rebadged toyota doesn't count as a subaru)

Anyway, OP, you will be fine. I have the exact same vehicle with a fairly heavy class III hitch on it. It will handle WAY more than #1500 pounds. The rating for countries that have useful driver training (aka, anywhere but the US) is #4500.

 

[MTboatguy]

Well they used to, we had a 2wd Subaru, now we have an Outback and we tow our 14 aluminum behind it.

 

[Sprig]

You need to not exceed the towing capacity and you need to stay below the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating). The gvwr includes the weight of the vehicle, passengers, equipment, tongue weight of the trailer and all else in the vehicle. It doesn’t take much to exceed the gvwr.
Bottom line 4 cylinders are not made or meant to tow. You can do so as long as you stay under manufacture max tow weight and gvwr but even then it’s a significant stress and strain on the drive train, suspension, brakes and tires. Towing close to or at capacity or gvwr and especially in severe conditions like hot weather, mountain or hilly terrain, long grades, long distances, you are much more likely to experience catastrophic failure of some part of your drive train or suspension. Often it will be your auto transmission due to over heating of the tranny. You may want to get scan gauge to monitor your tranny temps.
Yes you can tow your boat with your vehicle but it is far from ideal. You would be much better off with a 6 or 8 cylinder and a higher tow capacity and gvwr.

 

[BTL]

I use my 2011 Forester to tow a 16' Lowe with a 25hp engine and a 16' Tracker V-hull with a 40hp. Both are always loaded with fuel and gear, and it has no problem pulling either of them out of the water. Surprisingly good tow vehicle!

 

[bigdee]

Unless you plan on mountain roads 1500 lbs would be a cake walk for most any vehicle. I pulled that amount with a 4 cylinder S-10 and could hardly tell it was behind me.

 

[roscoe]

From what I just read in the owners manual, looks like the 1500# tow limit applies to trailers WITH brakes.

 

[bigdee]

AU specs for Forester AWD is 3300 lbs w/brakes and 1650 lbs without brakes and warranty stands behind it. So this should prove the vehicle is mechanically capable.

 

[H20Rat]

Bottom line 4 cylinders are not made or meant to tow.
....
Yes you can tow your boat with your vehicle but it is far from ideal. You would be much better off with a 6 or 8 cylinder and a higher tow capacity and gvwr.

Not to be rude, but this is the typical iboats response to towing. You just recommended a v8 to tow a 1100 pound tinny. Safe towing is 95% driver, 5% vehicle. An experienced driver will have zero issues towing that safely. An inexperienced driver is a danger to everyone on the road with a full size truck and a tinny behind. Granted, there are far more trucks towing things, but you generally see far more trailer accidents with trucks attached, possibly overconfident and again, inexperience.

I've towed probably 50,000 miles with various 4 cylinder Subarus in the past 10 years. Loads up to around 3000 pounds give or take, with either a 2002 WRX, 2015 WRX, or 2014 Forrester. I sold my previous WRX at around 200,000 miles, still had stock transmission, clutch, differentials, actually didn't replace anything other than maintenance items in that entire time. Keep in mind this is a high strung turbocharged 4 cylinder that was putting out around 300 hp and 320 ft/lb torque at the wheels on E85. Longest single roadtrip in this particular vehicle was around 350 miles, with about 2200 pounds of boat/trailer behind it. Turbo engines can be very, very thirsty when running on boost for extended times!


First question in any towing thread shouldn't be what vehicle, it should be what experience does the driver have.

 

[82rude]

I think the op will be fine .Would be nice to have a picture of your rig ,im jealous ,a 2019 ,nice.

 

[MTboatguy]

I think a lot of people way over think this question...set up properly you would be amazed at how much weight a vehicle can tow, if you have the experience.. The only way to get the experience is do it and get practice...

 

[Sprig]

Not to be rude, but this is the typical iboats response to towing. You just recommended a v8 to tow a 1100 pound tinny. Safe towing is 95% driver, 5% vehicle. An experienced driver will have zero issues towing that safely. An inexperienced driver is a danger to everyone on the road with a full size truck and a tinny behind. Granted, there are far more trucks towing things, but you generally see far more trailer accidents with trucks attached, possibly overconfident and again, inexperience.

I've towed probably 50,000 miles with various 4 cylinder Subarus in the past 10 years. Loads up to around 3000 pounds give or take, with either a 2002 WRX, 2015 WRX, or 2014 Forrester. I sold my previous WRX at around 200,000 miles, still had stock transmission, clutch, differentials, actually didn't replace anything other than maintenance items in that entire time. Keep in mind this is a high strung turbocharged 4 cylinder that was putting out around 300 hp and 320 ft/lb torque at the wheels on E85. Longest single roadtrip in this particular vehicle was around 350 miles, with about 2200 pounds of boat/trailer behind it. Turbo engines can be very, very thirsty when running on boost for extended times!


First question in any towing thread shouldn't be what vehicle, it should be what experience does the driver have.

Not to be rude but I think you missed the point. Yes you can tow with a 4 cylinder. Heck as long as you stay within manufacturers specifications you are good to go. But I repeat 4 cylinders are not meant to or designed for towing. The torque and power to tow anything is marginal. The drive train, suspension and brakes are not designed for towing. They are weak components for towing. Yes per manufacture specs you can tow light weight loads. Emphasis on light weight. Towing anything you are always better off with more tow capacity than less, both from the ability to tow without stressing the vehicle components and also from a safety standpoint. I did not recommend the op get a 6 or 8 cylinder , I said he would be better off with a 6 or 8, that is just a fact. Towing experience is important , I agree 100% but from my 50 plus years of towing everything imaginable I think tow vehicle is equally important.

 

[MTboatguy]

Well all I can say is, there are a heck of a lot of 4 cyl vehicles around the world towing various things and those things keep on going. Subarus are a world car, they exist on every single continent in the world and because of DOT regulations are rated much lower here in the US than they are elsewhere.