www.iFourWinns.com

I struggled with your dilemma when I first got our 245 Vista. We were towing it 1-3 hrs on the weekend with a 2005 Toyota Sequoia on less than flat roads. (And I had never towed anything bigger than a 21 ft bowrider) It was marginal at best, even through within the Sequoia's tow rating. I was getting 4-6 mpg and flogging it constantly. We switched to a diesel Ford Excursion and it is total night and day difference. I have to constantly remind myself that I'm towing the boat. It regularly gets 18-19 mpg on the highway and 11-13 towing. All numbers aside, the lack of tension and drama made it worth every penny.

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-Todd

1993 Vista 245
351 CID, OMC King Cobra

I have a H240 and average tow to Powell is 485 miles and tow with a diesel and wouldn't use anything else. My total weight including the weight of my vehicle is 18k lbs including all my gear, gas, water, people etc. I average 13 mpg going back and fourth over the rocky mountains and lets face it diesel are made to pull not gas engines. I put the cruise on 75 or 80 and have no trouble. Find a used excursion diesel You won't be disappointed

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[img]C:\Users\Robert%20Hryniewich\Pictures\Lake%20Powell%202006\BOAT[/img]
08 H240 Loaded
8.1L Volvo DP
Ford Excursion Diesel[img]

I fussed a lot about a long tow this year from Toronto to NYC (about 10 hours) - I have a 2008 Toyota Highlander, 3.5 litre, 270 hp and has a rated towing capacity of 5,000 lbs. - My 205 Sundowner tops out at about 4000 lbs, and I had 4 adults with weekend luggage in the SUV - I had only a few gallons of gas in the boat, and the water tank was drained.

The Highlander has a transmission cooler and I put fresh transmission fluid in before I left, as well as a good overall tuneup.

The trip was excellent, with no issues and the Highlander performed very well - I definitely exceeded the vehicle's rated capacity, but went fairly slow (55-60 mph), and it was pretty hard on gas, but I took it in to my mechanic afterwards and everything checked out fine.

I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, and I suspect I was lucky to have no problems, but the Toyota lived up to its reputation!

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2005 Sundowner
2008 Highlander V6