As I posted before, I have doubts about backing a hybrid down a boat ramp where it might have to be in the water. Some of those electrical circuits might not react well with being submerged.
1 Like
I have a 2013 Highlander V6, 2wd, non hybrid. I can get around 23-24 mpg on the interstate going 80 mph. I imagine it would get a couple more mpg’s if you were to drop the speed to about 70 mph. I’m not sure what it’s tow rating is. I have a 1/2 ton truck also and would rather tow with it. I’d imagine the 2wd highlander would spin the front tires like mad if you tried using it to pull a boat up a wet boat ramp, so I’d definitely recommend 4wd.
It appears equipping it with 4wd drops the mileage to 22 highway. Maybe not much better than what you already have now.
Think outside the box.
Can you rent/lease dock or hoist/lift space at the lake & leave the boat?
For the annual trip, I’d look into renting a boat.
You could get somebody to tow the boat to the lake and back every year.
How about a couple of nice PWC’s on an aluminum trailer?
I live on a lake and get tired of messing around with boats. I have several and a PWC. I can’t imagine the grief involved with what you’re doing. Simplify!
CSA
Simple is good! So I’ve been thinking why not use a friends truck for the few times, but then I factored in we don’t have a gas pump on our lake so there is the frequent trips trailered to the gas station (toting the 5 gallon tank down to the pier gets old), plus taking it out to wash, I definitely need a tow vehicle, friends are not readily available for that kind of thing lol. Appreciate the thought though. PWCs are fun, but I like a boat for simple cruising around.
I get about 16 on the Trail Blazer, and initially when I started to search, I was hoping since 2006 SUVs have improved in mileage, but I guess you get what you get. But 22 is better than 16 for sure.
I’ve owned a few Trailblazers and currently have an '08. Very capable truck based SUV with a lot of nice features. Wish they still made them. Only complaint is even with the Atlas I6, mileage isn’t great but about on par with trucks that have similar towing specs. There’s no free lunch. BTW, the TB should get around 16 city and 21 hwy. The highlander 22 cited above was for hwy so not much better-
I tow a few different boats, one is fiberglass bass boat with trailer weighing around 3500 lbs. No way I’m towing that around with a unit body designed SUV. I prefer body on frame truck platform myself…
1 Like