Hello. just inherited a gen 2 prius. Im going to put a tow bar on it. Its suggest maximum tow capacity is only 1000kg, with nose weight upto 75kg. Im guessing towing weight is different to laden weight, should could i tow something and still have passengers in the car? I dont believe all this 810lb maximum weight rubbish.
My understanding is that a Prius CANNOT be used as a tow vehicle in Australia (also a Commonwealth country). I am unaware of the situation in the UK with regard to a Prius being used to tow something. I think that the rationale in Australia is that the Prius is rated for nil ("0.0") towing capacity and thus, this type of vehicle is barred from being used as a tow vehicle (someone from down-under who knows this stuff please jump in here).
While U.S.-market Prii are also not rated to tow anything, we've seen numerous indications here that they are rated for towing across Europe. At least in the U.S., for other vehicles that can tow, the trailer nose weight and passenger / internal cargo weights are supposed to be added together and held to the maximum cargo weight. And these rated cargo weights are very commonly ignored here too. Quite deadly when combined with a half-dozen other problems and defects (e.g. Firestone tire / Ford Explorer rollover fiasco of the 1990s), but otherwise rarely noticed as a problem by itself.
It’s not rubbishy. I used to tow a lot rented the 8 foot open trailer from uhaul. Only takeaway I can tell you is it’s very hard on the hybrid battery. The car is not designed to haul that extra weight but it’s ok around town. Very hard on the brakes. With that weight there will be no regen power There are 2 types of gen 2 owners there’s the folks that have a bad hybrid battery and the folks that soon will. You never mentioned miles. As a new owner of a used G2 do some reading about that and see what we are do dealing with. Use the Search forums selection up top and search Hybrid battery I mentioned this because the tow load will quickly reveal any weakness n the hybridbattery.
ok something to work with. thank you. The reason i dont trust the 810lb laden weight, is this is only 370kg. do i need to carry a set scales round? 5 average adults are gonna weigh more than 370kg..
Your Euro-American bias is showing. I'm seeing multiple claims and labels for U.S.-market Gen2 models covering 810 to 840 pounds. My own Gen3 is factory labeled for 825 pounds, before a supplementary label added at the port to cut it by 10 pounds for added accessories. 825 pounds works out to 165 pounds per person, which matches the guideline that was very long used here for estimating passenger loads on commercial aircraft and boats. That is, until this century when folks noticed that the nation's expanding waists and butts had rendered that guide laughable. But that guideline appears to still be plenty, with margin, for the country where this car was designed and first marketed.
