Towing trailer and glider with a honda civic

I have a 2016 honda civic. It’s my only car. Has any one towed their glider and trailer using a small sedan like a civic?

I've towed with a Civic and with a '69 VW bus. It was slow up the hills but as long as I took it easy, no problems...

Boggs

P.S. Coming down the hills with the bus, we would deploy the air brakes to keep or speed down. (Open both front doors all the way with our legs. It was very effective.)

I tow a 1-26 on an open trailer with a honda fit. Works fine.

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 4:09:43 PM UTC-7, wrote:
I have a 2016 honda civic. It’s my only car. Has any one towed their glider and trailer using a small sedan like a civic?

Years ago (18 to be exact) I used to own a DG100 in a Minden Fab trailer. I picked up the glider in Chattanooga with my 1995 Honda Accord. When I first put the transmission in Drive and released the brake, at idle engine speed it easily began pulling the trailer across the grass field.

The ensuing drive to Chicago was uneventful and I easily reached normal Interstate speeds. The hills of course were not too challenging.

As long as we're reminiscing, I remember the late Dick Johnson towing
his Nimbus 3 with his VW Rabbit diesel. This must have been in the
early or mid 80's. I believe he towed this combination from Texas to
Minden for a contest during this period.

Not the best combination, but it did work.

Bob

On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 16:09:02 -0800 (PST), Jeff Morgan
wrote:

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 4:09:43 PM UTC-7, wrote:
I have a 2016 honda civic. It’s my only car. Has any one towed their glider and trailer using
a small sedan like a civic?

Years ago (18 to be exact) I used to own a DG100 in a Minden Fab trailer. I picked up the
glider in Chattanooga with my 1995 Honda Accord. When I first put the transmission in
Drive and released the brake, at idle engine speed it easily began pulling the trailer
across the grass field.

The ensuing drive to Chicago was uneventful and I easily reached normal Interstate speeds.
The hills of course were not too challenging.

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 6:09:43 PM UTC-5, wrote:
I have a 2016 honda civic. It’s my only car. Has any one towed their glider and trailer using a small sedan like a civic?

I had a Ford Escort station wagon with a Diesel engine and manual transmission, which I used to tow a Schreder trailer and a Libelle in it. The trailer had no surge brake but coming down some of the steep grades in the Appalachian mountains was no problem since I used the engine's awesome braking power by down-shifting.
I would assume your Honda Civic has an automatic transmission which may get loaded above of what it was designed for in hilly terrain. As a minimum, I would install a transmission fluid cooler. Does your trailer have a surge brake?
In general, it is not a question of getting the car and trailer going but much more one of getting them stopped.

Uli
'AS'

The tow vehicle should always weight more than the trailer.
The tow vehicle should weight at least twice as much as the trailer.
I have many stories to share.
Take my suggestion and be happy and safe.
Oh...the trailer should have brakes. Surge or electric. It needs brakes.

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 3:09:43 PM UTC-8, wrote:
I have a 2016 honda civic. It’s my only car. Has any one towed their glider and trailer using a small sedan like a civic?

I could not find towing capacity listed as a spec in the Civic's Owner's Manual. I found a couple of references that say that the Civic is not rated for towing and doing so voids the warranty, such as:

The owners manual clearly states that the Honda Civic is not rated for towing. Put on a trailer hitch and kiss your warranty goodbye.

Go to page 395:

"Your vehicle is not designed to tow a trailer. Attempting to do so can void your warranties."

===========

That said, you can buy tow hitches for the Civic. I recommend contacting your dealer before proceeding.

Tom

The Australian VTi Honda Civic is rated
Towing capacity (kg)
trailer with brakes 800
trailer without brakes 500
ball down force 50

That said, I don't recommend using a small car to tow even if it seems
to tow reasonably well.
When things go wrong the trailer overwhelms the car.
In the mid 80s I had to avoid an oncoming car whose driver was dozing.
I got down to about 40KPH as the other car approached and then the
trailer began to jackknife then straighten then roll the car.
Trailer and car a write off, glider was ok, other car snuck past and
disappeared, I got a compressed vertebra.
Ruff

At 05:34 28 February 2018, 2G wrote:
On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 3:09:43 PM UTC-8,

wrote=
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I have a 2016 honda civic. It=E2=80=99s my only car. Has any one
towed
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eir glider and trailer using a small sedan like a civic?

I could not find towing capacity listed as a spec in the Civic's Owner's
Ma=
nual. I found a couple of references that say that the Civic is not rated
f=
or towing and doing so voids the warranty, such as:

The owners manual clearly states that the Honda Civic is not rated for
towi=
ng. Put on a trailer hitch and kiss your warranty goodbye.

Go to page 395:

"Your vehicle is not designed to tow a trailer. Attempting to do so can
voi=
d your warranties."

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

That said, you can buy tow hitches for the Civic. I recommend
contacting
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ur dealer before proceeding.

Tom

On Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 2:09:43 AM UTC+3, wrote:
I have a 2016 honda civic. It’s my only car. Has any one towed their glider and trailer using a small sedan like a civic?

Tow ratings are funny things. What appears to be absolutely the same car can have vastly different tow ratings in different countries.

There would be very few cars (that are allowed to tow at all) with an official rating insufficient to tow a modern single-seater in a modern trailer with brakes.

The Cobra site says they can make trailers with a loaded maximum weight of:

- 750 kg for 15m single seaters (426 kg empty)

- 1000 kg for other single seaters up to 23m, including allowance for accesories

- 1300 kg for open class or two seaters (646 to 850 kg empty, depending on options)


A UK site lists towing for 2017 Civic as:

- 800 kg for 1.0 automatic
- 1000 kg for 1.5 automatic
- 1200 kg for 1.0 manual
- 1400 kg for 1.5 manual

http://www.uktow.com/towing%20capaci...a&model1=Civic

So in theory you could tow a Duo Discus or DG1000 or Grob Twin behind a 1.5 manual Civic.

I don't think I'd try that myself! A 15m single seater should be fine.

Engine power is not really a concern. You've got gears, right?

Transmission cooling is a bigger problem for conventional automatics. Manuals and CVTs aren't generally a problem.

I once towed a Grob Twin Astir in an absolutely awful huge boxy brick wall heavy trailer from Auckland to Wellington behind a 2.5l Subaru Legacy with automatic transmission. I needed to go at least 80 km/h with that load in order for the torque converter to lock up 1:1 (and thus stop churning and heating the oil). But the trailer started to get unstable above 80 km/h. Driving just below 80 km/h for more than half an hour or so made some unhappy hot smells and nervous gear changes. By the end of that trip I was highly skilled at quick jabs on the steering wheel to dampen out oscillations at 90 or 100 km/h.

The same car tows a DG1000 in a modern trailer with no problems whatsoever, locking up the torque converter at maybe 65 km/h.