I know Honda doesn't recommend towing with the Civic Hybrid, but that holds for the regular Civic and Accord, too. My Honda saleswoman loves to tell the story of a customer who uses his Accord to operate a lawn mowing business and tows one of those industrial mowers with it.

So, does anyone here have experience towing with their HCH? I'd hate to have to sell mine in order to haul a tiny sailboat (laser, I-14, etc)

 

I belive the manual says towing anything voids warranty.
How often do you sail?
Would renting a towing vehicle be an option? You might come out ahead in the long run.

 

Rattus,
Don't know about the Civic, but the Accord has a 1,000 pound towing capacity listed. For years, on my last Accord, I puled a golf cart that was significantly heavier than 1k lb.s (including trailer). A small sailboat is very light. I wouldn't think you would have ANY problem with that. Your FE will suck, but you've got to enjoy life!

 

i'm going to have to disagree with you, tink, i dont think towing with the hch is a good idea - clearly it wasnt made to tow, even though it has somewhat sufficient power to.

if you do tow, watch the tongue weight (perpendicular force at the bumper/tow attachment) - too much pushes the rear of your car down and compromises your frame and handling/turning speed. with the small civic frame, i dont think it can handle that much downward bending force that suburbans and gmcs are built for.

 

Respectfully taken, Blue. BUT, you're talking GMC's and Suburbans and HE's talking a small sailboat. I pulled a small sailboat with my Honda GOLDWING - an 1800 cc motorcycle. Small sailboats are VERY light compared to most other towed trailers.

If you're not familiar with touring bikes, mine has a receiver hitch and tows a small trailer quite easily.

Tink

 

This may not be applicable, but towing anthing using a manual transmission is a bit different than towing the same object with an automatic transmission. I think I ruined a 2000 Subaru Legacy GT automatic tranny towing a very light Jon boat on a light trailer. Anyway, it failed after 60K miles, which is pretty unheard of in the Subaru world. But then, towing anything is pretty unheard of for that crowd anyway. For my Escape Hybrid, I plan to use a hitch for a 4-bike rack, which I already own, but I am not going to tow anything. The towing rolling resistance can vary quite a bit based on tire pressure, etc.

 

It isn't the weight I would worry about. It is the the driveline, and IMA that might get damaged when pulling the boat out of the water. Electric motors don't like to stay still. They overheat fast when they are under load, but have to much resistance to move, or move fast enough. Just a thought. On flat ground, or anyplace that the car has momentum, or can easily get momentum, I would just be careful with the electric motor, but in a high load level situation, I'd question if it might hurt the car. Give it a try and let us know how it goes!

 

Rattus-
I'm a sailor and have towed a few boats. I think a laser- (100lb board boat) on a what, 50# laser/sunfish trailer would be no problem. no tongue weight to speak of. someone else brought up a good point with an automatic transmission though- it would probably not notice a laser- you don't haul them up and down steep ramps usually - but something bigger like a 420, I-14, snipe... I don't know. I towed a 19ft lightning with my tr6, but it was a bigger engine & manual transmission- I'll tell you one thing; it didn't like stopping! pulled it just fine, but you had to plan early for tolls.

what kind of towing are you thinking of? short trips over flat terrain to the lake or long hauls over mountains to the beach? either way it will void your warranty so you need to look carefully at your requirements. maybe you can swap cars with a truck driving friend for the weekend; win, win; he gets to try a hybrid, you get to haul your boat!

 

Thanks KLCarch for correcting me - you know more about this than I do. Even though Honda says towing is "not recommended" for civics, that doesn't mean that it isn't feasible for light applications, i suppose.

 

drivetrain sells a hitch specifically for the hybrid civic. the company swears its been tested and proven


i bought one and installed it no problem; but, i'm having a helluva time finding anyone to install a wiring harness for the trailer.