Scion xB Towing to Laughlin, NV Trip **IN-DEPTH STATUS REPORT**
07-25-2010, 06:27 PM
#1
Scion xB Towing to Laughlin, NV Trip **IN-DEPTH STATUS REPORT**
So Monday is the big day. Me, the towster, and the jet ski are heading from SD to Laughlin. 6 Hour drive in scorching heat. I got a radiator flush and oil change yesterday and I am ready for the trek. Jet ski weighs about 600LBS incl. trailer so its not terribly heavy. Just worried about the temperatures and the inclines. Interstate 40 has very long, gradual inclines that can put a toll on the car. I am quite excited to experiment and see how it goes, but I am definitely expecting the worse.
Todays temps
Barstow, CA High 104 degrees
Newberry Springs, CA High 111 degrees
Ludlow, CA High 108 degrees
Needles, CA High 114 degrees
Laughlin, NV High 112 degrees
I will be traveling during the hottest part of the day and Ill let you guys know how the box handles. I will have a second car caravaning with me in case the infamous overheat does occur. Standby!
****UPDATE*****
So the trip is completed! Box handled shockingly well. Maintained speeds of 65MPH easily, and could accelerate up to 80 w/o problem on flat road. The long inclines were somewhat of an issue. When towing I learned to use gear '3.5', as like to call it (It's actually gear 4, but with the torque converter unlocked). For us automatic drivers, we have a 3.5 gear which is only used at highway speeds. Its in between 3rd gear and 4th and is quite useful. Press the gas pedal hard enough and you will hear a slight increase in RPMs (approx 200RPMs more than gear 4). Don't press it too hard or you will be locked into 3rd until the car's computer wants it to go back into 4th. Gear 3.5 maxes out at about 55MPH before the car auto shifts into 3rd. I rarely had to use 3rd gear during the trip but when I did, I slowed to 45MPH (3000RPM) as not to overheat and consume excessive gas.
Speaking of gears, I learned that you can sometimes override the car's auto shift from 4th to 3rd by pressing the O/D off button for a few seconds and the pressing again. Sometimes toggling it will put you back into 4th depending on the car's mood. Also, using gear 3.5 to accelerate from 65 to, say, 80 is no where near as effective as using gear 4 from 65 to 80. Especially if you have aftermarket headers. Those headers really kick in above 3000RPM in 4th gear. Anyway, quitting my blabbering about gears and such.
For those living in so cal, you know how treacherous Cajon Pass is on I-15. Box handled fine, had to go to 3rd toward the top (~47MPH) but managed to clear w/o issue. I liked being in the truck lane. Felt special and what not with the solid white line to my left. It was like royalty.
As for the heat: it was hot as posted above. When idling at lights you could immediately hear the fan turn on (I used A/C as well). I dont know during highway use if the fan was on or not, but I assumed it wasn't. Great news was there were NO OVERHEATS! Not once did the box complain of the heat while driving even using A/C on the long steady inclines. I dont have a temp guage, just the stock warning lights and luckily the only warning light I got was the cold engine light!
Here are the MPGs that I earned during the trip! Check it boi! BTW, I mostly drove between 70MPH and 75MPH for the majority of flat/decline road driving. http://www.fuelly.com/driver/ajcadoo/xb
San Diego to Barstow 183 miles and Barstow to Laughlin 166 miles.
One way: 349 miles. Round trip ~700 miles.
Anyway, hope this encourages fellow xBers to go out and tow. Sheesh and stop complaining that it dain't work cuz it does shawtay manes.
Todays temps
Barstow, CA High 104 degrees
Newberry Springs, CA High 111 degrees
Ludlow, CA High 108 degrees
Needles, CA High 114 degrees
Laughlin, NV High 112 degrees
I will be traveling during the hottest part of the day and Ill let you guys know how the box handles. I will have a second car caravaning with me in case the infamous overheat does occur. Standby!
****UPDATE*****
So the trip is completed! Box handled shockingly well. Maintained speeds of 65MPH easily, and could accelerate up to 80 w/o problem on flat road. The long inclines were somewhat of an issue. When towing I learned to use gear '3.5', as like to call it (It's actually gear 4, but with the torque converter unlocked). For us automatic drivers, we have a 3.5 gear which is only used at highway speeds. Its in between 3rd gear and 4th and is quite useful. Press the gas pedal hard enough and you will hear a slight increase in RPMs (approx 200RPMs more than gear 4). Don't press it too hard or you will be locked into 3rd until the car's computer wants it to go back into 4th. Gear 3.5 maxes out at about 55MPH before the car auto shifts into 3rd. I rarely had to use 3rd gear during the trip but when I did, I slowed to 45MPH (3000RPM) as not to overheat and consume excessive gas.
Speaking of gears, I learned that you can sometimes override the car's auto shift from 4th to 3rd by pressing the O/D off button for a few seconds and the pressing again. Sometimes toggling it will put you back into 4th depending on the car's mood. Also, using gear 3.5 to accelerate from 65 to, say, 80 is no where near as effective as using gear 4 from 65 to 80. Especially if you have aftermarket headers. Those headers really kick in above 3000RPM in 4th gear. Anyway, quitting my blabbering about gears and such.
For those living in so cal, you know how treacherous Cajon Pass is on I-15. Box handled fine, had to go to 3rd toward the top (~47MPH) but managed to clear w/o issue. I liked being in the truck lane. Felt special and what not with the solid white line to my left. It was like royalty.
As for the heat: it was hot as posted above. When idling at lights you could immediately hear the fan turn on (I used A/C as well). I dont know during highway use if the fan was on or not, but I assumed it wasn't. Great news was there were NO OVERHEATS! Not once did the box complain of the heat while driving even using A/C on the long steady inclines. I dont have a temp guage, just the stock warning lights and luckily the only warning light I got was the cold engine light!
Here are the MPGs that I earned during the trip! Check it boi! BTW, I mostly drove between 70MPH and 75MPH for the majority of flat/decline road driving. http://www.fuelly.com/driver/ajcadoo/xb
San Diego to Barstow 183 miles and Barstow to Laughlin 166 miles.
One way: 349 miles. Round trip ~700 miles.
Anyway, hope this encourages fellow xBers to go out and tow. Sheesh and stop complaining that it dain't work cuz it does shawtay manes.
Last edited by ajcadoo; 07-31-2010 at 01:19 AM.
07-27-2010, 06:15 PM
#2
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Annapolis, MD
Posts: 1,023
Good to see more Scion owners towing trailers! A trailer hitch was the first real addition to my xD... put it on less that two weeks after I bought the car. I figure that I have towed more than 4,000 miles of the 39,000 miles on the car. I have never gotten less than 30 MPG, even with a trailer in tow for the whole tank.
By the way, I often use a ScanGaugeII, which gives me a real display of the coolant temp. Towing a trailer doesn't tend to make the engine run hotter in my experience. Stopping and idling at a traffic light on a hot day will make it run hotter. We have had quite a few 100+ degree days this year, and I have towed during many of them. I towed a 900 pound Coke machine on a 500 pound trailer for about 150 miles on one of those 100 degree days. With two people in the car, AC blasting, and running 65 MPH on I95, the cooling fan rarely even came on, and it kicks in at 205F. There weren't many hills on that trip, but I've towed on some decent hills in PA and western MD. No problems, except for occasionally having to shift down to 4th to maintain speed. The engine actually runs cooler in 4th, too.
As you can see in my sig, I run synthetic oil in the engine and synthetic trans fluid as well. I highly recommend both when towing... especially with small engines.
By the way, I often use a ScanGaugeII, which gives me a real display of the coolant temp. Towing a trailer doesn't tend to make the engine run hotter in my experience. Stopping and idling at a traffic light on a hot day will make it run hotter. We have had quite a few 100+ degree days this year, and I have towed during many of them. I towed a 900 pound Coke machine on a 500 pound trailer for about 150 miles on one of those 100 degree days. With two people in the car, AC blasting, and running 65 MPH on I95, the cooling fan rarely even came on, and it kicks in at 205F. There weren't many hills on that trip, but I've towed on some decent hills in PA and western MD. No problems, except for occasionally having to shift down to 4th to maintain speed. The engine actually runs cooler in 4th, too.
As you can see in my sig, I run synthetic oil in the engine and synthetic trans fluid as well. I highly recommend both when towing... especially with small engines.
07-30-2010, 04:14 PM
#4
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Mesa, AZ
Posts: 417
Gear 3.5 as you call it is really 4th gear with the torque converter unlocked. It's not good for the transmission. The trans fluid can overheat very quickly.
And the fans are always running with the AC on.
However I am impressed with the speeds you were able to achieve while towing.
And the fans are always running with the AC on.
However I am impressed with the speeds you were able to achieve while towing.
07-31-2010, 01:17 AM
#6
Gear 3.5 as you call it is really 4th gear with the torque converter unlocked. It's not good for the transmission. The trans fluid can overheat very quickly.
And the fans are always running with the AC on.
However I am impressed with the speeds you were able to achieve while towing.
And the fans are always running with the AC on.
However I am impressed with the speeds you were able to achieve while towing.
07-31-2010, 01:18 AM
#7
08-02-2010, 05:57 AM
#9
Well, I wont be doing any towing till next summer. I rarely tow, maybe once or twice a year. No need to invest in something I will not use much. Anything over 3000RPM for more than a few seconds consumes WAAAY too much fuel. I blame my excessive 6000RPM accelerating for my all time average 26MPG.
08-04-2010, 03:23 AM
#11
08-05-2010, 04:31 AM
#12
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SL Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,192
i wouldnt sweat the weight you were towing. shoot i see pictures of some pretty heavy folks packed into these things. three 200lb+ passengers in the car and thats nearly the same as you alone and the jet ski. thank you for the write-up and sharing how she towed. good to know for the future as i really want to tow my bike to trackdays.
im cracking up how huge the jet ski looks behind the box lolz
im cracking up how huge the jet ski looks behind the box lolz
08-05-2010, 04:09 PM
#15
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,735
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...o/P1030381.jpg
According to ShoreLand'r specs, a trailer similar to yours weighs about 265 lbs with little 4.80x12 tires, and it looks like yours has much bigger wheels and tires:
http://www.shorelandr.com/pages/t_sp...productID=1143
08-05-2010, 08:19 PM
#17
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