Real life Hybrid towing experiences
Hi folks, Looking for some insight from those who have towed with a mid-size SUV hybrid. DW and I are a single-vehicle household and are hoping to get into a slightly bigger vehicle than our curre...
Forum Discussion
The Explorer is a far superior towing platform. My sister-in-law has the Highlander Hybrid. When they need to tow their Toy Hauler in the snow, my sister's Explorer Sport gets used (primary TV is a 2WD Chevy Express). The difference is tow ratings pretty much shows that. The hitch receiver on the Highlander won't have enough carrying capacity for most camper trailers, with its 350# tongue-weight limit.
That said... if you aren't doing lots of in-town driving, the Explorer 2.3L EcoBoost gets good highway fuel-economy, and still is rated for towing 5,300 pounds.
The main reason the Explorer is a better platform is it's architecture. It's RWD layout get send 100% torque to either front or rear axle. The Highlander uses an electric motor for it's rear axle, and that only produces 80 ft-lbs of toque. And there's no transmission on it, so there's no further gear reduction. It basically adds about as much torque as a large man pushing.
The hybrid systems work completely differently too. The Highlander uses the planetary CVT to blend power sources, where the Explorer basically adds electric-assist to the torque-coneverter, and uses same 10-speed transmission as the F150.
That said... if you aren't doing lots of in-town driving, the Explorer 2.3L EcoBoost gets good highway fuel-economy, and still is rated for towing 5,300 pounds.
The main reason the Explorer is a better platform is it's architecture. It's RWD layout get send 100% torque to either front or rear axle. The Highlander uses an electric motor for it's rear axle, and that only produces 80 ft-lbs of toque. And there's no transmission on it, so there's no further gear reduction. It basically adds about as much torque as a large man pushing.
The hybrid systems work completely differently too. The Highlander uses the planetary CVT to blend power sources, where the Explorer basically adds electric-assist to the torque-coneverter, and uses same 10-speed transmission as the F150.
