To Saturn Vue Owners, a question of towing speed.

[AKBrick]

Hi all,
My wife and I are thinking about getting a Saturn Vue to tow behind us. The "Motorhome Magazine" vehicle tow guide states that to tow the automatic you must be at 65 miles per hour or lower. (I'm just assuming that it is just the automatic).
Okay, here's the nitty gritty. Does anyone travel faster than that without having any problems. This concerns us as I tend to have a lead foot and we don't want to hurt the poor toad. Do you go faster than that for short distances/long distances or stay at the speed limit that the owner's manual states? Don't worry, I'm not the "warrenty" police.
If there is a transmission problem with it, we would probably go with the standard transmission.
Oh yeah, what's your views on the Vue. Good/Bad, automatic/standard or AWD transmissions.
Thanks for reading this.
AKBrick

[AKBrick]

Hi all,
My wife and I are thinking about getting a Saturn Vue to tow behind us. The "Motorhome Magazine" vehicle tow guide states that to tow the automatic you must be at 65 miles per hour or lower. (I'm just assuming that it is just the automatic).
Okay, here's the nitty gritty. Does anyone travel faster than that without having any problems. This concerns us as I tend to have a lead foot and we don't want to hurt the poor toad. Do you go faster than that for short distances/long distances or stay at the speed limit that the owner's manual states? Don't worry, I'm not the "warrenty" police.
If there is a transmission problem with it, we would probably go with the standard transmission.
Oh yeah, what's your views on the Vue. Good/Bad, automatic/standard or AWD transmissions.
Thanks for reading this.
AKBrick

[Gary RVRoamer]

Don't know about a Vue, but we have always ignored the 55 mph restirction on our Tracker/Suzuki without any repercussions.

Speed restrictions are about heat build-up. The tranny doesn't fall out if you exceed the limit by 1 mph. Instead, you may shorten the life somewhat with sustained high speed driving. Emphasis on "may, since it will depend on a lot of variables, e.g. ambient temperatures, how long at what speed, type of tranny fluid (synthetic withstands heat much better than natural fluids), air flow under/around the toad, etc.

If you exceed the limit frequently, check the tranny fluid for signs of overheating - discoloration or a "burnt toast" smell.

[Ding-a-ling]

Hey AKBrick,

I don't worry too much about the 65 MPH restriction since I usually cruise at 62 MPH - that gets better MPG than 65

Sometimes I may be pushing 70 though, such as downhill gaining momentum for the next up grade.

[Paulin]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">If you exceed the limit frequently, check the tranny fluid for signs of overheating - discoloration or a "burnt toast" smell. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You should probably be checking your mirrors for patrol cars too!

Paul

[Beaver 08]

we have the 2006 vue 6cyl and love it. We usuallly stay arounf 65 sometime a bit more but no problems so far. We follow the procedeure soutlined in book for towing .

[AKBrick]

Thanks everyone for your replies. My average (fast) speed is 70mph, but that's without a toad. I'd probably be a little more paranoid about towing a vehicle, especially since there are a lot of frost heaves up here in Alaska. However, I am retiring next year and plan on fulltiming it for a couple of years and selling the house up here. I can't wait to have miles of decent roads in the "Lower Forty-eight".

Does anyone have a standard transmission Vue out there?
AKBrick
aka: Alaska Brickwell...oops! I gave it away!!!

[N8XV]

If you don't mind having a standard trans, the Ford Focus makes a great toad. No speed or distance limits.

[DriVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by AKBrick:
Does anyone have a standard transmission Vue out there? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>AKBrink, I have the V6 AWD. The standard is only available of the 4 banger so you will find that motor somewhat underpowered.

The Vue is a good little toad, not too heavy, and it has an excellent amount of cargo carrying capacity for its size. I had a Blue Ox baseplate installed with the removable tabs and I pull the Vue using a drop bar and the Aluminum Aladdin tow bar.

No problems to date. For the price, we like it a lot PLUS you get the 250HP Honda 3.5L engine and 4sp tranny that you would have to pay through the nose for on an MDX or Pilot.

[paulmarg]

We are thinking seriously of trading our Saturn
SL2 for an '06 or '07 Saturn Vue V6 FWD...Are any changes required for flat towing,or anything we should be aware of before our decision?
Does the Saturn Vue have as good a reputation as an "excellent toad" as the SL1 and SL2?

[SMIES]

We have a 06 Vue 6 cyc FWD. We towed it about 10,000 miles thus far without any problems. Remember that every 6 to 7 hrs, you must stop and run the engine trans in neutral for 3 to 4 mins.
Also, as noted Honda has recently announced that they do not recommend any out their vechiles for flat towing except the CRV.
The Vue itself is great. Good fuel economy, great handling, and comfortable.

[AKBrick]

Hmmmm....sounds like a lot of good information out there. We're looking for some good room capacity for dog crates going back and forth to dog shows, so we need room to put crates side by side in the back. We checked out the Chevrolet HHR, and that looked fine. We actually put our dog crates in it to check!

Driver, what did you have to do to make the AWD flat towable, if any? I wish my pontiac Vibe AWD would do that! We're trying to get by without having to spend too many dollars by keeping it simple, (but I'm not trying to be cheap either).
Thanks again all,
AKBrick

[DriVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by AKBrick:
Driver, what did you have to do to make the AWD flat towable, if any? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>The Vue was flat four towable from day 1. I installed a BCM cluster fuse switch, a Blue Ox baseplate and a bulb kit. That was it. Leave the key in "accessory" and the transmission in "Neutral" and just pull away!

The rules are no "sustained" speeds over 65 MPH and when you stop for lunch run the toad for 3 minutes. Shift through the gears and do not shift into "Reverse" before you shut down.

I have exceeded 70 MPH for brief periods of time.

[AKBrick]

DriVer,
Thank you for your input. I'm impressed with all of Saturn's Vues being flat 4 towed. Especially the AWD!
I'm deffinately going with the Blue Ox Aladdin and bulb kit.
Is the cluster fuse switch installed so you don't have to go under the hood to pull the required fuses? Also, what do the fuses do that are being pulled?
We're driving down to Anchorage, AK. from up here in Fairbanks to viset the only Saturn dealer in Alaska next weekend. Thanks to you and the good folks on IRV2 for educating me on the Vue and other motorhome subjects.
By the way, I just put on Bilstien shocks all of the around. Like you said, BIG difference!!!!