Towing a small sports car behind a Class C

then again...my owners manual doesnt have a "recreational towing " section...2004 honda civic...and from reading other parts of the manual I dont think they recccomend it.....but thats the car I have..so I may delve(dont you love words that say exactly what your doing? further with a honda dealer....

Thanks for all the input. Very enlightening.
We may just tow our honda civic on a dolly and forget about the sports car for now.

Now to go shopping for the Class C.

kozanne wrote:
New to the RV world, loving it, but I'm a little concerned about what the right tow vehicle is for my Greyhawk Class C. Hubby drives a stick, I never have.

Is there such a beast with an automatic tranny that can be towed 4 down behind my RV?

There's a lot of them and we think we have the best of all worlds in ours, so do some studying here and pick one out, keeping in mind it's weight and the GCWR of your coach, although you don't have to be too picky over a few pounds or so... Dinghy Guide

New to the RV world, loving it, but I'm a little concerned about what the right tow vehicle is for my Greyhawk Class C. Hubby drives a stick, I never have.

Is there such a beast with an automatic tranny that can be towed 4 down behind my RV?

Healeyman wrote:
I must have missed something, but just when did a CRV or even a smart car become a " 'manual shift' sports car like a boxter, or BMW" about which the OP was asking?

I was being a smart aleck. smart cars DO have a 5-speed manual transmission with a single stage clutch. They don't have a clutch pedal because the computer does the shifting. You can override the computer with the floor shifter or the paddle shifters. If you stomp in the gas and leave the pedal on the floor you can have a head-banging good time from zero to 60 as the tranny bangs through each gear.

You must have missed where I wrote "sporty -ish". :W

I'll say it again about any toad, whether it be a sports car or other. It should also be an every day driver or a toy that you're going to own regardless. I just can't see buying an extra car for towing only. I mean, there's plenty of other ways to throw money away, no matter how much you have of the stuff.
Meanwhile, our OP should have a list of sports cars that will fit the bill by now and hopefully, one of them will be to his liking, so the winner is......:@

You can do something like this with car of your choice. Small single axle trailer. Fits mostly under rear of motorhome for storage.



Smart cars are kinda fun. Handle well, convertible, manual with paddle shifters (sorry no clutch pedal). Lots of high performance stuff avaialable aftermarket from smart madness.

I must have missed something, but just when did a CRV or even a smart car become a " 'manual shift' sports car like a boxter, or BMW" about which the OP was asking?

I guess you could look at some of the other small cars. we have a hyundai and it is working out well. It is an elantra but they do offer a sporty velociter and there are tiburons and others out there if you were wanting used vs new. Looked at versa, requires 500 mile stop and run and is pretty basic. ours just hook and go with a 6 speed manual trans.

Personally, I wouldn't say it's the ONLY way. If the owner's manual says it's safe to tow it, then you know it is. Some manuals either say no, or don't mention it at all. In that case it might be that it is unsafe to tow, but OTOH it may be that the manufacturer didn't want to go to the time and expense to determine if it was or not.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, many people tow Mazda Miatas equipped with a manual transmission. It works well. But the owners manual doesn't state that it's safe to do so. The Miata is a low production "halo" car for Mazda, and they just didn't go to the trouble of testing it and approving it.

The problem comes in determining which cars you can safely tow when the owners manual doesn't tell you. I happen to know that the Miata is safe to tow because a gentleman who has worked on MANY Miata manual transmissions has stated that the transmission in the Miata will lubricate well while being towed in neutral.

But other makes and models won't be so clear. In the end it's your call, and YMMV.