Towing With The C34 Stagea - Our Experience

[GH05T]

TRAILER RACES!

[C34S2STAG]

In any auto car that tows we always recommend a bigger trans cooler in line with the stock one for longer trans life and less chance of flairing.

[KiwiRS4T]

TRAILER RACES!

[oldie]

I asked this question a few years ago and no one knew the answer. What is the official tow capacity of a series 2 stagea. I am pretty sure you cant just whack a 2500 kg tow bar on it and legally tow that weight.

Craig

[Ben C34]

It's not like anyone really cares though!

Also I think in sa the tow car has to weigh more than the load it is towing.

[KiwiRS4T]

There are guidelines but they don't mean much. The AA lists the 3.0L Maxima (of course it doesn't have a listing for the Stagea) as 500kg unbraked and 1200kg braked but there appears to be no enforcement. People pull huge boats and caravans with impunity. The tow bar on my Stagea has a plate saying 1200kg braked but I have towed a two axle car trailer with only over-run brakes carrying an 1800kg car so over 2 tonnes.

[Duncan]

yeah the rules vary from state to state (and country for Bob!) too.

In NSW you can tow to whatever the manufacturer specifies (it used to be based on car weight but that is kind of a silly rule).

Since all Stageas came in under SEVS or RAWS, the manufacturer is whoever complied it. So really the legal NSW limit should be whatever a compliance shop is willing to say it is (and they then take the liability if they over estimate).

Also keep in mind the tow bar needs to be engineered as well for a given load if you want to ensure it is legal

[MANWHORE]

Here's my Stagea (a white one) towing my boat (the red one) at around 2 tonnes on a weekly basis and towing a mate's boat (the blue one) at around 1.5 tonnes once

My stagea has a once off custom lift kit fitted - car, towbar, liftkit, exhaust, brake upgrades, everything are all for sale in the for sale section (shameless plug). Liftkit keeps the car at about 400mm guard to hub centre loaded with people, 4wd recovery and towing gear, LPG system and 200kg of ball weight (totalling over 500kg extra weight in/on the car)!

Edited January 24, 2014 by MANWHORE

[XRATED]

Just thought I'd chime in too...

I've been really impressed with the towing ability of my s2 auto lately. Boats, race cars etc...

Centre diff lock has been really useful at the boat ramp and on grass/mud.... even with low profile tyres and coilovers (reasonably low) and a race car/trailer.

We towed the drift car (rb25 s13) this weekend... with 8 wheels/tyres, 3 people, gear, spares, tools and 100lt of fuel 200km from Hobart to Simmonds Plains.... it was a very well built car trailer, but we sat on 110 most of the way no worries, maintained 90km/h + up hill, including overtaking uphill...

Stock rad/fan/shroud, upgraded trans cooling, MV shift kit, cooler kit, 10psi, nistune, coilpacks and r34 brakes. No cooling issues, no trans issues, no braking issues and enough power/torque to not be annoying.

.... the only thing that kind of sucks is the fuel consumption of BP98. But hey, what else will tow that much, that can fit that much stuff, handles that well and is as fun for under 20k?

Cheers

J.

Edited May 5, 2014 by XRATED

[Dan_J]

should keep this as the towing thread

nice write up, how bad was fuel consumption while towing ?

[Dobo]

Sounds great Justin, also interested in your l/100ks. For comparison when i towed my s13 the 500km round trip to winton i got 17l/100ks. pulling 2tn trailer and car with the stag packed full of shit. Mine is way for stock than yours, stock boost, cooling and brakes, front mount, coilpacks, coilovers and that's about it, mine is manual though and i stayed in 4th the whole way, pushing 3.5-4k rpm trying to keep up with the v8 tow boats

[iruvyouskyrine]

Good read thanks for all that had input. This is making me want to get rid of my ute and get a stag!

Realistically i will only be towing once every 2 months at most so fuel consumption shouldn't be too much of a problem. Any before/after of how much better the stag towed when you put the RB30 in duncan? I have a spare 30 bottom end here i could slap in if it makes a significant difference I would keep the standard auto trans with another trans cooler and hopefully that would be more than enough to keep it cool.

Anybody else have any input, still umming and aaring as to whether or not i get one, would love to have a practical daily car!

[KiwiRS4T]

Good read thanks for all that had input. This is making me want to get rid of my ute and get a stag!

Realistically i will only be towing once every 2 months at most so fuel consumption shouldn't be too much of a problem. Any before/after of how much better the stag towed when you put the RB30 in duncan? I have a spare 30 bottom end here i could slap in if it makes a significant difference I would keep the standard auto trans with another trans cooler and hopefully that would be more than enough to keep it cool.

Anybody else have any input, still umming and aaring as to whether or not i get one, would love to have a practical daily car!

I use my wagon for towing and don't usually boost it that much as it has good low down torque with the RB30 block.

[KiwiRS4T]

I use my wagon for towing and don't usually boost it that much as it has good low down torque with the RB30 block...although to be honest there's no "slapping in" the 30 block with awd - there's a bit of work adapting the awd sump to fit!

[XRATED]

I use my wagon for towing and don't usually boost it that much as it has good low down torque with the RB30 block.

you must live on the only bit of flat NZ

[Dobo]

Yeah going up the hills on the hume i was pushing a steady 5+psi just to keep up, didn't really show on the fuel economy though. Do it Josh. best daily I've ever owned. Only thing is i love my manual, but towing is the only time I'd wish i got an auto.

[XRATED]

Honestly I thought I was going to end up converting mine to manual, but the MV upgrades are more than good enough to make the auto fun/fast on the daily grind.... plus is a real bonus towing.

[iruvyouskyrine]

More info about the "MV upgrades" please justin? As someone who has only ever towed cars with a manual 4.2TD Landcruiser i am new to the whole automatic side of things haha. I thought a decently sized trans cooler would be sufficient?

[zoomzoom]

There is a "stage 1" valve body upgrade which I understand is aimed at towing purposes. Stage 2 is performance oriented with fast shifts. It may also be useful for towing as when I installed mine, MV autos explained that it increased the flow of the cooling systems, which would be aided by a larger cooler.

[XRATED]

^^ what he said.