Subaru Outback and Tab320 S

donksax

I read a couple of comments about towing the 320......I have a 2016 Subaru Outback.  My tongue weight allowance is 200 lbs.  Towing max is 2700 lbs.  Would like to hear more comments on whether this is doable or not.  I have found a nice used 320 S that I would like to purchase.

DougH

As a fellow all wheel drive wagon owner, and T@B tearjerker, I'd say go for it.  But those numbers are kinda low, especially tongue weight.

I did a quick search and there's mixed results with Outback owners who have tried. 

jgram2

Is it a 4 cylinder?

db_cooper

It will work, but I personally don't trust the CVT to hold up to towing.  If you trade cars frequently then it's probably ok. If you hold on to cars long term, I'd get a different the vehicle.

Whatever you decide, monitor the transmission temps .

donksax

jgram2:  Yes, it is the 2.5 four cylinder.  The owners who have the camper pulled with a 2.0 Ford Escape.  I have until tomorrow to make up my mind.

DougH

If you need power in the mountain passes... 

 https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/hennessey-maximus-1000-is-the-gladiator-we-wanted-2019-05-31/

LiteBrite also just did a review of a milder 800 Hp HellCat swapped Jeep Gladiator that's less pricey than the Maximus. 

elbereth

Depends on where you live.  If you do a search here there have been a few threads...  people who live in the mountains are less thrilled than those of us on the plains.  
We have no problems towing ours in Minnesota with our 2015 Outback 4 cylinder.
 I think there was an Outback ad at one point with a T@B in tow.

jgram2

Search on Subaru Outback- several threads (you need to wade through some unrelated threads) but there are yays and nays.

VictoriaP

Are you towing in a mountainous area?
Are you willing to travel extremely light? 
Prepared to pay out of pocket for a new transmission, or anything else that fails?

If those answers are No, Yes, and Yes, go for it. If not, rethink the idea.

Plenty of people tow T@bs with the Subaru Outback in spite of the low tongue weight, including me. It’s not a *good* tow vehicle, it’s a barely adequate one, especially the 4 cyl version. If you’re willing to work with its limitations and are willing to fork out the money if your very expensive CVT transmission fails—because Subaru’s weasly warranty wording appears to indicate they will not pay if you’ve used the car for towing—then by all means, have at it.

My rationale: It had been 20 years since I camped. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it enough (especially solo) to justify the expense of a new tow vehicle on top of the trailer cost. I have the 2015 6 cyl, which is a bit more capable than yours in that it has a 3000 lb capacity, though the same 200 lb tongue weight. I knew lots of others had done it. I have already set aside the $6k in case of transmission failure.

My experience: I probably won’t take it over the Cascades again. To be fair, it performed better than I expected, but the obvious strain on the engine, and the mediocre mileage, plus simply knowing this isn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done, combined to make it a less than pleasant experience. Towing on relatively flat ground has been totally fine, so I’ll stick to this side of the mountains and reasonably short trips of no more than a couple hundred miles while I wait for the 2020 Outback to come out. The 200 lb tongue weight is a huge issue, and overall capacity is annoying...my packing thought process tends to go, ”do I take my 26 pound grill? How much water can I carry? Good lord, why does everything weigh so much?” Can I move the spare to the tongue? (No.) Can I move to a 2 - 6 volt battery setup? (No.) Carry a generator on the frame? (No.) The trailer alone has a minimum 1800 pound dry weight depending on the model (nuCamp 320s). Everything in your car, including people and pets, counts towards your overall combined limits and everything in the cargo area (behind the rear axle) is a problem for the tongue weight. It’s just not a lot to work with, and I’m pretty sure even packing lightly that I’m over on the tongue.

Ideally, you should go with a vehicle with a 5000 lb towing capacity and 500 lb tongue weight, but at a minimum, 3500/350 is adequate. Many Outback owners do try it. Most seem to upgrade pretty quickly, but I’ve met a few who’ve done it for years, mostly with older and lighter T@bs.

(The 2020 Outback will have a 3500 lb limit. Still waiting to hear if it will have a 350 tongue weight to go with that whenever it finally comes available; if so, it rockets to the top of my shopping list presuming it drives as well as my 3.6. If not, I’m looking at the Ascent/Highlander class of mid size SUVs.)

BirdieJane

The 2020 Subaru Outback added a turbo charged engine. It also upped the tow specifications, 3500-pound towing capacity
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.caranddriver.com/news/amp27131761/2020-subaru-outback-photos-info/

rcuomo

Ditto dbcooper comments. Will it work, yes. Would I use my Outback to tow my 320S, not past my driveway.  It isn’t a good idea to stress the CVT tranny. If you monitor the tranny temps while towing on level ground you would never use the Outback.  The engine barely has adequate power but there are tons of folks who do tow with the Subaru. Tongue weight is critical and most folks are bumping right against the 200# limit. My two cents. 

Homebodyatheart

@VictoriaP we own one of each, and our 2015 Highlander is my tow vehicle preference at this time. Our Ascent is an 08/18 build date with some nasty "known but not yet acknowledged by SOA" issues. So far we seem to have dodged the transmission replacement issues, had the battery replaced under warranty with less than 3,000 miles on it, but I'm hesitant to tow with it yet, the Highlander being my first choice. When we had an Outback 2.5 I really liked it! Personally I feel better towing with a 6cyl vehicle with 5000#/500 #tongue weight capacity. 

VictoriaP

Homebodyatheart said:

@VictoriaP we own one of each, and our 2015 Highlander is my tow vehicle preference at this time. Our Ascent is an 08/18 build date with some nasty "known but not yet acknowledged by SOA" issues. So far we seem to have dodged the transmission replacement issues, had the battery replaced under warranty with less than 3,000 miles on it, but I'm hesitant to tow with it yet, the Highlander being my first choice. When we had an Outback 2.5 I really liked it! Personally I feel better towing with a 6cyl vehicle with 5000#/500 #tongue weight capacity. 

@Homebodyatheart I didn’t realize you had the Ascent too! Ugh, sorry you’ve had issues with it. I’m definitely wanting to just muddle along with the 3.6 Outback for a bit longer if I can get away with it, because of the Ascent brand new model issues and the 2020 Outback being the first model year of the 6th gen series. Plus, price tag. It’s been 22 years since I’ve had anything other than a Subaru, I really don’t want to switch, but it almost feels inevitable. Going to talk to my sales guy soon with the caveat that I’m not ready to buy for a little bit yet; dealership handles Subarus & Toyotas, so I can have him watching out for good used models.

Just checked my tongue weight....195. The Purpleline mover puts 100 lbs behind the axle, and the spare is still back there too, which is probably why I’m tongue light for a Boondock even when loaded, but as expected, in order to stay around that 200 lb mark, I’m probably around 8% when I’d prefer to be right at 12%. Doable at slower speeds, and the sway bar probably helps some, but definitely not ideal.

N7SHG_Ham

@Homebodyatheart are you implying the Ascent transmission is already giving SOA trouble? I would really like to know what Subaru did to make the Ascent 5000 pound rating (at least on paper) over previous Subaru CVT'S? It is still a Subaru flat four  engine, now with a turbo and still a CVT, hopefully they did something as the basic powertrain design is similar to all other four cylinder Subaru's with a CVT.

Hopefully it will be a solid car, but I have yet to hear a technical reason why after saying CVT's are bad in a towing application they have now become acceptable in the Ascent?