Questions about towing TAB 320cs-s and two Kayaks with 2017 Honda Ridgeline,

mikewisniewski

Hello my name is Mike and I am new to RVing.  I recently purchase a 2018 TAB 320cs-s.  Currently I am towing it with a 2011 Lexus RX350.   The Lexus pulls the TAB fairly well on flat and some good size hills (such a the West Virginal Turnpike) at about 13 to 16 MPG at 55 to 65 MPH.  My concern is adding two 12 foot Kayaks to the top of the Tow vehicle.  I have been looking for a different tow vehicle that can tow the TAB and TWO Kayaks mounted on J-rails on the top of the tow vehicle.  I do not think the Lexus will be able to handle this set up I will be heading out west in April from Ohio (some mountains and higher elevations).   Can anyone tell me if the Honda Ridgeline could handle this set up and still have the engine RPM lower (not overworking)  with decent gas mileage?    I have also looked into to a 2015 Toyota Sequoia and I am sure that can handle  the set up with no problems.  My concern with the Sequoia is the possible low MPG.   The TAB will not be over loaded weight wise and there will be two people on the trip.  Any solid direction on the Ridgeline would be appreciated!!  Thanks Mike   

jgram2

@mikewisniewski, welcome to the forum! While you wait for a Ridgeline owner to reply, go ahead and search on Ridgeline in the search field-upper right of your screen. There a several threads about them which might be interesting.

dragonsdofly

@mikewisniewski, welcome to the forum and congratulations on your trailer!  Wonderful folks here with a wealth of information. Someone will answer with helpful info. In the meantime, adventures await, and happy t@bbing!

IrishCamper74

@mikewisniewski
Welcome! Although I cannot speak for towing with 2 kayaks and/or through mountainous elevations, I can tell you that in our experience with towing our t@b CS with our Ridgeline, we average between 17 and 19 MPH through areas like Blue Ridge mtns, etc.
That being said, my husband is a pretty conservative driver; rarely drives over 70 MPH while towing that t@b unless we need to speed up to get out from behind a slow vehicle, etc. 
RPM never gets overworked. It's high enough to produce enough torque but not dangerously so to where the drivetrain/transmission is negatively affected. 

There are plenty of folks here who regularly tow out west through mountains; stick around, I'm sure you'll get good advice specifically for that!
Happy Camping!

pthomas745

Here are a bunch of Ridgeline posts.

https://www.google.com/search?ei=Ic5ZXLrAHaqM0gKL56zACg&q=ridgeline++site:tab-rv.vanillaforums.com&oq=ridgeline++site:tab-rv.vanillaforums.com&gs_l=psy-ab.3...2513.6664..7478...0.0..0.131.1600.23j1......0....1..gws-wiz.xaoj2debrv8

Arwen

Welcome Mike,

I tow my 2018 T@B 320S Boondock with my 2018 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk (v6), with 2 sea kayaks on the Jeep's J-racks (the kayaks are 17 and 16.5 feet long).

The two sea kayaks don't seem to have any noticeable effect when towing the T@B, as my mph is the same 16-17 with or without them.

rkj__

Does your Lexus not have a 3.5L V6 rated at 275 HP?  While Kayaks might add a little drag, and a small amount of weight, I'd be surprised if the Lexus could not handle it.

The Ridgeline also has a 3.5L V6, with an almost identical rating of 280 HP.  Again, I'd expect the Ridgeline to handle your load.  Although newer, and modernized in some ways over your 2011 SUV, I'm not sure you would see dramatic improvements over your Lexus.

The Sequoia is a great road trip vehicle.  It is spacious, comfortable, and powerful.  But, the 5.7L 4x4 is only rated at 17MPG highway when unloaded.  Though big V8s tend to see less of a decrease in economy when towing small loads than smaller engines, the Sequoia will never win a fuel economy battle.  The purchase price is significant as well.  If you have room in the budget for a few more gallons of fuel on each trip, you may wish to keep the Sequoia as a consideration. 

My old 2008 Canyon had a 3.7L I5, rated at 242 HP, and handled a CS-S with a full bed, and a canoe above the roof.

db_cooper

I don't think you need a new tow vehicle just for the kayaks.  The T@b sticks up so high, there won't be much extra drag, especially with a lower roofed vehicle.  We carried 2 fiberglass sea kayaks to Jasper and back and actually got a little better mileage than usual (might have been the higher altitude?).  Getting the kayaks up there with an under 5ft. spouse is a challenge, so a lower car would be better in that regard.

If you're dead set on getting a new TV,  pay attention to the torque ratings more than the horsepower.  We've towed with both the 6 cyl Subaru Outback and the Xterra, and the extra torque of the Xterra is noticeable, even though horsepower ratings are similar.  If the Ridgeline torque is not much more than the Lexus, you won't notice much improvement on hills.  Of course the Sequoia will have torque and HP to spare pulling the T@b.

manny

Hi, Mike  I have a 2016 honda pilot 3.5 L V-6  & 2017 T@B cs-s  pulled from Ohio to Seattle,Wa. and back..   6000 mi.  avg 14-16 mpg  TV and T@b  worked great..  happy camping....

Photomom

We tow our T@B with our Highlander and have had no problem with two kayaks on Thule Hullavator racks. But we don’t have real mountains around here. I can’t imagine that a Sequoia would give you any trouble at all, other than being able to lift your boat up that high.

rcuomo

I tow our 2018 320S with a 2017 Ridgeline RTL-E. No issues, handles and pulls with no problems. I do not tow with roof mounted accessories but I usually have lots of equipment in the truck bed. For example, our three person inflatable kayak, grill, extra battery, plastic storage containers. With a hitch mounted spare and 2 bikes on the frame bike carrier my tongue weight is around 288#. I have seen 21 mpg on level highways at 60-62 mph and have averaged almost 18 mpg overall. IMO the Ridgeline has more than sufficient capacity to handle the 320S and probably the 400. 

dougm

Thanks for sharing your experience @rcuomo, Great to hear that you've had good towing experience with your 2017 Ridgeline and a T@B320S.  I live in California and am considering getting a 2017 or newer Ridgeline but want to make sure that the Ridgeline can tow over the Sierra Nevada mountain passes without bogging down.  Do you think it has enough power to pull a fully loaded vehicle through the mountains at 50 mph or higher on reasonable grades?

rcuomo

Dougm, short answer yes. We towed our 320S home from PA thru some hilly passes, not steep mountains like CA or CO, but definitely challenging. I was able to keep up with Interstate traffic in some cases exceeding 80 to pass trucks. (I know the tires aren’t speed rated for 80). The only thing I had to do was take it out of Eco mode to get the extra towing power. 90% of the time I am able to tow in Eco mode with no issues at all. I think that’s what contributes to the better than average mileage. 

dougm

That's awesome @rcuomo, thank you.  I'd love to ask you some more questions about your Ridgeline such the amount of drop or rise you used, your advice on trim level, new vs used?  We could do this by email if you prefer.

I'd also like to hear if anyone else has towed a T@B 320S with a Honda Ridgeline over mountain passes such Highway 80 or 88 in CA and how it performed going up and going down near the summits.

rcuomo

No problem. recuomo.ny@gmail.com will work. 

dougm

I tried to send you an email to recuomo.ny@gmail.com but it did not go through.  Try sending me one at dmodlin@gmail.com  Thanks!

rcuomo

Darn spellcheck. Try rcuomo.ny@gmail.com. 

Edited for language.  Although, I agree about spellcheck☺️.   Sharon

ChrisJ

I have a 2018 Honda Ridgeline Sport and hauled my 2004 T@B from Vancouver, BC to Alaska last summer.  Could not even feel the trailer.  Averaged 15.8 mpg (US) (15 L/100km).  I expect 2 kayaks on the roof would make very little difference.

mikewisniewski

Well,  Really appreciate the feed back from everyone!  Update: we decided to try out the 2011 Lexus Rx350.  After doing research about vehicle toques we found that the Lexus had about the exact same engine torque line through all RPMs as the Honda Ridgeline.  So we set off from Ohio to California and after 5000 miles the Lexus pulling the TAB 320cs-s without kayaks did a great job.  The car towed on straight and level highways at around 2100 RPMs at 63 miles per hour.  No land speed record but I found that if you towed at a higher speed the RPM went up to around 2800 and 3000 RPM at about 70 mph.  The gas mileage average for the total trip was 17.5 gpm (that was hooked to the TAB and also unhooked driving around seeing the sites.  I would guess the gas mileage to be around 14 mpgs just pulling the TAB.   I looked into the the Chevy Colorado 4 cylinder durmax turbo diesel but couldn't pull the trigger on the purchase until I knew how the Lexus did.   The Chevy Colorado diesel torque is outstanding at 2000 rpm though.   None the less I thought I would share my experience with the Lexus pulling the Tab 320..  I don't think the Lexus would do very well pulling the Tab with Kayaks but that will be the next adventure.  NOTE,  the headwinds heading west on I-40 where monstrous which 80 percent of the trip.    again thanks for all your input!!! 

tybladesmith

@mikewisniewski , FWIW I have a 2018 Chev Colorado Duramax and 2018 T@B 320S. Traveling westbound into the wind we saw 14 to 15MPG in the Southwest mountain passes 7,400 FT, but east bound from Denver I70, always at 65 MPH and 1550 RPM, with a tail wind we averaged 19 to 21 MPG. With head winds it is a trick to keep the torque converter in lockup. (2 MPG better)
 I just added kayak racks to TV but haven't made a trip with them. In the past we didn't notice much drop in MPG with two touring kayaks. 

I bet you will be just fine styling in that Lexus.

mikewisniewski

    Thanks tybladesmith for your input!!   The Lexus is doing better then I thought it would.   What is your speeds when pulling the TAB?   I also do not use cruise control and when coming to a hard climb drop down in the 50s (MPH)  I make a point to stay off the gas and out of higher RPM's  

tybladesmith

@mikewisniewski, I tow at 65 MPH or below.  

dinzzy

Welcome.  I’ve had bad experience with Honda and their transmissions.  The RX has a Camry transmission.  I discovered this when looking for a tow vehicle to replace our Honda Odyssey that 

rcuomo

I have a 2017 RTL-E and it tows great, no issues with above average mileage. I tow mostly in Eco mode and it should handle your CS-S and kayaks with no problem. I usually tow with a full bed of equipment including an inflatable three person kayak and two bikes on my tongue mounted bike rack. I monitor the tranny temps and it rarely goes higher than normal. 

tphaggerty

2019 Ridgeline RTL with factory roof rack.  Haven’t towed our 400 with kayaks yet, but anticipate no issues. Tows the 400 easily, mpg goes down to around 12 or so. Used to carry 4 kayaks while towing a Coleman pop up with 4 bikes on top with a 2004 Sienna with no problems, so I’m figuring the Ridgeline won’t break a sweat over 2 kayaks...

Have a trip planned in 2 weeks where I will be towing with 2 kayaks, I’ll post back if there are any issues.

Beenie

Arwen; that’s exactly what my set up looks like except I have a 2019 with 2L turbo

isinned

I have a  2010 Lexus rx350 with a 2021 t@b 320S+ solar and platform... at 65 -70 some hills average 11.2 mpg  lots of hills and 55mph 13.5 mpg average.... so I feel the wind factor is more of an issue loosing mpg if I slow down to 60 I get 14 mpg and 12mpg when I push the suv to 70 mph....  just my 2c