Why Cant i tow with a mirage

[Littlestan]

When your transmission "mysteriously" has an input shaft bearing failure, or when the engine develops a "mysterious" main bearing knock, I hope you won't blame the car!

When you add 2100 pounds to 1400 pounds, you make the weight that engine has to move 3500 pounds...that's nearly the same weight as a Lincoln Town Car! And you are going to move it with 74 horsepower?

You are asking that engine to work AWFULLY hard. And it ain't gonna be too happy about it.

I'd never blame something when it's my fault.

Are you aware that towed weight is not the same as vehicle laden weight? There is extra effort
required to put the towed weight into motion, but once moving is manipulated much more easily than
if you were carrying it. That's the physics behind it. Which is why it's not the same as a
Lincoln Town Car.

It has it's own suspension and braking system. All it needs is the momentum.

Imagine carrying a 50lb sack of flour on your back and walking 10 miles. Now put that sack on a cart
and pull that for 10 miles. Much easier and less effort/work required on your part.

[m4v3r1ck]

Again... by upgrading the crappy stock suspension and adding a torsion bar, I'd be completely changing
the engineering of the car and, in my and two others professional opinions, making it safe for 1400lbs of
braked towing.

I'm giving you direct examples of why I feel it's safely possible. Besides downplaying my thought process
and efforts, what are you bringing to the table?

Toyota says the Yaris can't tow. And yet it can! Just not here. Same with the Mirage.

I would go all the way if I were you:
1. Upgrade the engine, do engine swap with a 2.4L V6 Galant engine
2. Upgrade ECU
3. Upgrade suspension
4. Upgrade transmission and gears
5. Upgrade Brakes, use disc brake front and rear
6. Put rollcage to stiffen the whole body
7. Upgrade tires
8. Upgrade the whole exhaust

[Littlestan]

But that is not the issue. Why should you not tow with this car:
1. Puts too much load on just 3 CYL engine.
2. This car's designed to be efficient with the gas, on loads of load, this car uses more gas than a 2.0L 4 cyl engine, believe me I tried that by comparing usage when you drove the car at 135 km/h constantly against the wind (means pedal to the metal the whole 25 KM)
3. It put a lot of load on the brakes. Mind you that rear wheel brakes of the mirage is not a disc brake, it's a drum type!

So ... you can try towing with it but I just say one is being irresponsible by doing that. Not to mention the possibility of bringing danger to other road users (egocentric).

1. Too much load, in your opinion. This engine has been around longer than this latest incarnation of the Mirage,
incidentally.
2. Gas efficiency is not a concern when towing.
3. There is zero extra brake load on the Mirage; the trailer has it's own electric brakes.

Perceived irresponsibility is on your part seeing as it's my vehicle and trailer. And if it seemed AT ALL
like this is dangerous or sketchy in any way while test driving it, I would not continue to pursue towing it.
Case closed.

[Cobrajet]

Are you aware that towed weight is not the same as vehicle laden weight? There is extra effort
required to put the towed weight into motion, but once moving is manipulated much more easily than
if you were carrying it. That's the physics behind it. Which is why it's not the same as a
Lincoln Town Car.

I guarantee your engine and transmission won't be able to talk themselves into this theory as easily as you have talked yourself into it.

It seems pretty clear that you are going to do this despite any skepticism or admonishment from the hoi polloi here. If you are waiting for someone to agree with your conclusions, you might be waiting awhile. Everyone has laid out their concerns, and you don't seem to be willing to accept any of them as valid.

These cars are tinfoil and plastic. Towing 3/4 of a ton with one is a fool's errand. I wish you luck.

[m4v3r1ck]

1. Too much load, in your opinion. This engine has been around longer than this latest incarnation of the Mirage,
incidentally.
2. Gas efficiency is not a concern when towing.
3. There is zero extra brake load on the Mirage; the trailer has it's own electric brakes.

Perceived irresponsibility is on your part seeing as it's my vehicle and trailer. And if it seemed AT ALL
like this is dangerous or sketchy in any way while test driving it, I would not continue to pursue towing it.
Case closed.

I would say ... trial and error .... no other way to settle this. Otherwise it will still be a useless theoritical discussion

[Littlestan]

You are trying to "make a ***** into a housewife", and that is never a smart use of time. As I said, the car was not designed to be a tow truck. Adding a sway bar isn't going to make the transmission any stronger. There are probably only about 500-600 pounds contained in the entire rear half of the car, sitting on 4 inch wide tires. This is what is going to have to stay planted when you take that 1400 pounds around a corner on a wet road.

Good luck with that...

Now who's throwing out weights haphazardly? The rear of the car does not take the ENTIRE weight
of the trailer, it takes a very small percentage of it as the trailers own axle bears most of it, even
while cornering.

The tires will be upgraded if I feel traction is an issue during testing. I won't be able to know
whether they'll need to be or not until testing happens.

The transmission will only be under a heavier load while accelerating, and even then I won't be
driving it like a race car. Slow starts and steady acceleration. The clutch will be taking the brunt
of it, and I don't mind changing them out every few years as it's cheap and easy enough to do.

Can whoever pulled the 800lb trailer, unbraked, and no upgraded suspension chime in with how it handled in corners?

[Littlestan]

I would go all the way if I were you:
1. Upgrade the engine, do engine swap with a 2.4L V6 Galant engine
2. Upgrade ECU
3. Upgrade suspension
4. Upgrade transmission and gears
5. Upgrade Brakes, use disc brake front and rear
6. Put rollcage to stiffen the whole body
7. Upgrade tires
8. Upgrade the whole exhaust

9. Start a new thread titled 'How I built a new car that isn't Mirage and why I can tow with it'

[Littlestan]

I would say ... trial and error .... no other way to settle this. Otherwise it will still be a useless theoritical discussion

Nothing useless about conversation and discussion! That's what a forum is all about!

I do agree though, it will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

[Cobrajet]

The transmission will only be under a heavier load while accelerating..

Soooo....no hills in Canada? Perfectly flat, eh? I have only been there a couple of times, but I seem to remember seeing a few less-than-billiard-table-level sections of road.

Even a 2-3% grade will be a lot of work...

[Cobrajet]

9. Start a new thread titled 'How I built a new car that isn't Mirage and why I can tow with it'

A better thread title would be "How I Spent $600 On A Used Ford F250 And Don't NEED To Tow With My Mirage".