V10 and towing

My 2001 Ranger is somewhat under that (fairly plain regular cab). When I pull out the street I live on, I immediately climb a short 9% grade. The V10 gets to 20 mph and shifts to second gear, holding that speed to the top. Not towing, it might accelerate to 25, so the extra 20-30% weight does make a difference.

Is this something "really bad?" I don't think so. 14,000 to 20,000 pound vehicle combinations with at best 300 HP aren't going to accelerate and climb grades like 3000-4000 pound mid-size sedans or SUVs with 160-250 HP.

At 3500-4000 RPM, your V-10 is less than 3/4 away from peak HP, so you are working with 200-240 for climbing grades. To get max power you need to be in the 4500-5000 range, but likely you don't have enough gears to get there. These speeds are normal for climbing and accelerating with this engine family, it is a modern high-speed gas engine. You could run 4000 rpm all day, if you found a 6% grade to last all day long.

Performance expectations? You get what you are going to get, it is a heavy vehicle and it does not have power-to-weight to behave like a passenger car. Even a 90-120 HP subcompact has more power available for climbing, relative to the weight it is pulling, but might be cranking 5000-6000 rpm to do it.

On those long grades, you are better off than those 80,000 pound rigs pulling the grade with only 450-550 HP. You'll be passing those, if you don't get stuck behind them, but you might get in the way of the folks who have pedal to the floor on their V-6 Camry and want to go up the hill at 70 mph.

Back to towing the Ranger, if you think the Winnebago is doggy, with the tow behind it, expect about 35-25% doggier.

Things I have learned since towing my CR-V the last two months. I defintely know it is back there. It has slowed me down both as a concientious driver and certainly from a weight/stopping distance point of view. The Brake Buddy rarely engages which surprised me as well. I am always by myself with a lot of "full-time" cargo. I no longer exceed a steady speed over 70, nor do I want to. It is a good tow at 65-70. However, I am disappointed when I am 'crawling' up the steeper inclines but let the engine do it's thing. The adjustment to all that is relative to having a toad has been good.

rvten wrote:
We have a Flex at 4200# have pulled it out west.
The V10 handled it just fine.
Just do not use the cruse control. Going up grade.

I have to concur about the cruise.

I had a frightening experience climbing the east side of Black Mountain in NC. I was driving a pickup pulling a car on a dolly in the rain. The rear tires broke traction and I ended up going down I-40 sideways. Somehow I kept sense of mind and did not jam the brakes. I simply tapped the brakes to shut off the cruise and steered into the skid. Miraculously, I recovered and did not go off the road despite a massive fishtail by the towed car. I only had to change my shorts.

The loss of traction was caused by the cruise applying too much throttle in slick conditions. If I had not been using the cruise, I may have still lost traction, but I would not have nearly spun out as the throttle would have been closed much sooner.

rk