Towing HEAVY with the GTS
03-29-2018 | 08:54 PM
#16
Pro
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 630
Likes: 323
From: Reno, NV
I just finished 12 months towing a 6,740 lb Airstream all over the place with my 2006 CS. First leg was up the west coast, Olympic, Glacier and Yellowstone Nat'l Parks. Then down to the Utah and AZ parks. Layover in AZ Nov - Jan then 1,000 miles down the Baja peninsula to Cabo. Then back to Bay Area and north to Banff and Jasper. Then mile zero of the Alaska highway and into Alaska for five weeks. Then back along the Marine Highway to Vancouver Island and down the west coast.
Every time we pulled into an RV park, someone came over with the comment 'you tow that with that?'. I loved it
We put 27,000 miles on the CS of which about 23,000 were towing miles. Absolutely no issues and no aftermarket add-ons. 100% stock.
No problems with the mountains either and I went over them at the limit, not is the slow lane with the diesels. Depending on the grade, I ran as low as 3rd gear to generate power but rarely over 4,000 rpm. I monitored the coolant temp with my OBD reader and the highest value I saw was 221F going up the long I-5 pass in Oregon when it was 103F out.
Here's a pic of our camp in Homer, Alaska where you can see the relative size of our Cayenne and Airstream. Lots of pics and details on our travel blog at www.dcairstream.net. If you are scroll down and hit the June archive, you'll see the Alaska pics. Baja was last Feb.
Any questions?
Every time we pulled into an RV park, someone came over with the comment 'you tow that with that?'. I loved it
We put 27,000 miles on the CS of which about 23,000 were towing miles. Absolutely no issues and no aftermarket add-ons. 100% stock.
No problems with the mountains either and I went over them at the limit, not is the slow lane with the diesels. Depending on the grade, I ran as low as 3rd gear to generate power but rarely over 4,000 rpm. I monitored the coolant temp with my OBD reader and the highest value I saw was 221F going up the long I-5 pass in Oregon when it was 103F out.
Here's a pic of our camp in Homer, Alaska where you can see the relative size of our Cayenne and Airstream. Lots of pics and details on our travel blog at www.dcairstream.net. If you are scroll down and hit the June archive, you'll see the Alaska pics. Baja was last Feb.
Any questions?
03-30-2018 | 11:11 AM
#17
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 427
Likes: 3
From: Dallas, TX!
Yes, if you're running electric brakes. There are pre-made harnesses that plug right into the factory wiring under the dash. Very slick. My boat trailer had surge brakes but they are long gone, the hull that's on it now is so light I don't even worry about brakes, but at 3500/4000 is where I'd start to look into them. The cool thing about the factory wiring on the Cayenne is you can run a 5 wire harness and have reverse lights in your trailer. Sounds unnecessary but once you have them you'll wonder how you ever got along without them, especially if you're like me and are towing early in the morning and late into the night.
04-14-2018 | 01:03 PM
#18
Rennlist Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 10,710
Likes: 53
From: Southern Alberta, Canada
I just finished 12 months towing a 6,740 lb Airstream all over the place with my 2006 CS. First leg was up the west coast, Olympic, Glacier and Yellowstone Nat'l Parks. Then down to the Utah and AZ parks. Layover in AZ Nov - Jan then 1,000 miles down the Baja peninsula to Cabo. Then back to Bay Area and north to Banff and Jasper. Then mile zero of the Alaska highway and into Alaska for five weeks. Then back along the Marine Highway to Vancouver Island and down the west coast.
Every time we pulled into an RV park, someone came over with the comment 'you tow that with that?'. I loved it
We put 27,000 miles on the CS of which about 23,000 were towing miles. Absolutely no issues and no aftermarket add-ons. 100% stock.
No problems with the mountains either and I went over them at the limit, not is the slow lane with the diesels. Depending on the grade, I ran as low as 3rd gear to generate power but rarely over 4,000 rpm. I monitored the coolant temp with my OBD reader and the highest value I saw was 221F going up the long I-5 pass in Oregon when it was 103F out.
Here's a pic of our camp in Homer, Alaska where you can see the relative size of our Cayenne and Airstream. Lots of pics and details on our travel blog at www.dcairstream.net. If you are scroll down and hit the June archive, you'll see the Alaska pics. Baja was last Feb.
Any questions?
Every time we pulled into an RV park, someone came over with the comment 'you tow that with that?'. I loved it
We put 27,000 miles on the CS of which about 23,000 were towing miles. Absolutely no issues and no aftermarket add-ons. 100% stock.
No problems with the mountains either and I went over them at the limit, not is the slow lane with the diesels. Depending on the grade, I ran as low as 3rd gear to generate power but rarely over 4,000 rpm. I monitored the coolant temp with my OBD reader and the highest value I saw was 221F going up the long I-5 pass in Oregon when it was 103F out.
Here's a pic of our camp in Homer, Alaska where you can see the relative size of our Cayenne and Airstream. Lots of pics and details on our travel blog at www.dcairstream.net. If you are scroll down and hit the June archive, you'll see the Alaska pics. Baja was last Feb.
Any questions?
04-22-2018 | 02:55 AM
#19
AutoX
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
I just finished 12 months towing a 6,740 lb Airstream all over the place with my 2006 CS. First leg was up the west coast, Olympic, Glacier and Yellowstone Nat'l Parks. Then down to the Utah and AZ parks. Layover in AZ Nov - Jan then 1,000 miles down the Baja peninsula to Cabo. Then back to Bay Area and north to Banff and Jasper. Then mile zero of the Alaska highway and into Alaska for five weeks. Then back along the Marine Highway to Vancouver Island and down the west coast.
Every time we pulled into an RV park, someone came over with the comment 'you tow that with that?'. I loved it
We put 27,000 miles on the CS of which about 23,000 were towing miles. Absolutely no issues and no aftermarket add-ons. 100% stock.
No problems with the mountains either and I went over them at the limit, not is the slow lane with the diesels. Depending on the grade, I ran as low as 3rd gear to generate power but rarely over 4,000 rpm. I monitored the coolant temp with my OBD reader and the highest value I saw was 221F going up the long I-5 pass in Oregon when it was 103F out.
Here's a pic of our camp in Homer, Alaska where you can see the relative size of our Cayenne and Airstream. Lots of pics and details on our travel blog at www.dcairstream.net. If you are scroll down and hit the June archive, you'll see the Alaska pics. Baja was last Feb.
Any questions?
Every time we pulled into an RV park, someone came over with the comment 'you tow that with that?'. I loved it
We put 27,000 miles on the CS of which about 23,000 were towing miles. Absolutely no issues and no aftermarket add-ons. 100% stock.
No problems with the mountains either and I went over them at the limit, not is the slow lane with the diesels. Depending on the grade, I ran as low as 3rd gear to generate power but rarely over 4,000 rpm. I monitored the coolant temp with my OBD reader and the highest value I saw was 221F going up the long I-5 pass in Oregon when it was 103F out.
Here's a pic of our camp in Homer, Alaska where you can see the relative size of our Cayenne and Airstream. Lots of pics and details on our travel blog at www.dcairstream.net. If you are scroll down and hit the June archive, you'll see the Alaska pics. Baja was last Feb.
Any questions?
06-20-2019 | 09:59 AM
#20
Racer
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 322
Likes: 68
From: NW Arkansas
I have a '05 CTT. I also tow near (possibly slightly over) the limit. My trailer is a 20' enclosed trailer (#3,550) with my 928 track car (#3,000) plus tools, tires, and other crap.
I generally get around 9.0 MPG with this setup. Best I've done is 9.5. I generally keep it between 65 and 70. The MPG penalty is high as I go over 65, with little gained. I'm not sure if the GTS will behave similarly, but at least you have a data point to go on.
I generally get around 9.0 MPG with this setup. Best I've done is 9.5. I generally keep it between 65 and 70. The MPG penalty is high as I go over 65, with little gained. I'm not sure if the GTS will behave similarly, but at least you have a data point to go on.
I just finished 12 months towing a 6,740 lb Airstream all over the place with my 2006 CS. First leg was up the west coast, Olympic, Glacier and Yellowstone Nat'l Parks. Then down to the Utah and AZ parks. Layover in AZ Nov - Jan then 1,000 miles down the Baja peninsula to Cabo. Then back to Bay Area and north to Banff and Jasper. Then mile zero of the Alaska highway and into Alaska for five weeks. Then back along the Marine Highway to Vancouver Island and down the west coast.
Every time we pulled into an RV park, someone came over with the comment 'you tow that with that?'. I loved it
We put 27,000 miles on the CS of which about 23,000 were towing miles. Absolutely no issues and no aftermarket add-ons. 100% stock.
No problems with the mountains either and I went over them at the limit, not is the slow lane with the diesels. Depending on the grade, I ran as low as 3rd gear to generate power but rarely over 4,000 rpm. I monitored the coolant temp with my OBD reader and the highest value I saw was 221F going up the long I-5 pass in Oregon when it was 103F out.
Here's a pic of our camp in Homer, Alaska where you can see the relative size of our Cayenne and Airstream. Lots of pics and details on our travel blog at www.dcairstream.net. If you are scroll down and hit the June archive, you'll see the Alaska pics. Baja was last Feb.
Any questions?
Every time we pulled into an RV park, someone came over with the comment 'you tow that with that?'. I loved it
We put 27,000 miles on the CS of which about 23,000 were towing miles. Absolutely no issues and no aftermarket add-ons. 100% stock.
No problems with the mountains either and I went over them at the limit, not is the slow lane with the diesels. Depending on the grade, I ran as low as 3rd gear to generate power but rarely over 4,000 rpm. I monitored the coolant temp with my OBD reader and the highest value I saw was 221F going up the long I-5 pass in Oregon when it was 103F out.
Here's a pic of our camp in Homer, Alaska where you can see the relative size of our Cayenne and Airstream. Lots of pics and details on our travel blog at www.dcairstream.net. If you are scroll down and hit the June archive, you'll see the Alaska pics. Baja was last Feb.
Any questions?
We have the same model Cayenne. That is a big trailer but the Cayenne will do awesome. A good hitch will make all the difference. We used an Andersen hitch on our Keystone and I'm hoping it'll work with the Airstream as well. Just be sure you don't overload it! It's easy to add a lot of weight. Depending on your trip plans, I'd plan to not carry water. On our huge trip to Canada we kept the tank full because we were boondocking most nights. Our upcoming trip we only plan to stop one night so we'll have minimal water on board our 25FB Safari.