Ok, thanks, I'll have to check.

 

I would use the I gear when towing. When I towed a trailer from NY to Florida in a Buick 3800SC, the owner's manual did not recommend letting the car to go into lock up as it would put too much stress on the transmission. I left the transmission in 3rd gear all the way. MPG was crappy @ 16 mpg, mostly because of air drag with that big box behind the car.

More HP at higher rpms.

I had some friends tow a car with a trail blazer just leaving their car in D and the tranny failed.

 

I have to say don't do this. Exceeding the GVWR is dangerous. They list that weight for a reason. Rent a truck and dolley for your trip. Se safe, not sorry after.

 

The towing capacity is not only for the unibody structure but also the capacity for the transmission to handle the additional load.

I pulled upwards of 1500-1700 with mine (1LT w/2.2L) a couple years back with a similar U-Haul trailer. My recommendation to you would be to invest in a good external transmission cooler. I had a tranny shop install one on my car for approx. $200, it mounts to the front of the radiator and takes the place of the stock cooler in the rad, but does not hamper radiator function, and makes the towing job a lot less strenuous on the tranny (the biggest danger when you tow anything is the transmission overheating, which can lead to slippage and other damage).

 

Solman, have you changed your oppinion on towing? If i recall in previous post you have stated you tow with a manual. I ask, just because I'm curious if something has changed your mind.

 

I would not do it simply because the brakes are pretty stressed with what fits inside an HHR.




i drove from Detroit to Birmingham Alabama and back with 700lbs of tools in my panel. Going through the maountains was interesting.

 

Never towed with an HHR, but I have been towing RV's for over 20 years. When I towed with relatively smaller vehicles (Chevy Astro or Chevy S10 Blazer) and relatively large travel trailers (GVW 3500-5000lbs) I typically and almost always towed in 3rd gear. This prevented the trans from hunting back and forth between higher gear ratios.

If this happens with the HHR in 4th, maybe it should be dropped back (unless there is something different these days; I recall an "Idiot" gear mentioned by some automatic owners on the site).

 

This transmission cooler you're talking about is sort of what I had in mind. My main concern was that if I towed a trailer, I'd be putting too much stress on the transmission. I have brand new brakes on my HHR, and I'm pretty sure they'll provide adequate stopping ability. Of course, I'd adjust my driving habits to account for increased stopping distances by driving 55 mph at most, and slowing down way in advance when coming to a stop (almost like if you're driving on ice). Plus, I can always downshift as well to reduce stress on the brakes. The most I'd be towing with my HHR is 1,200 pounds; that's only 200 pounds over the official towing capacity. For my particular trip, renting even the smallest u-haul truck and towing my car behind it would cost $500-$600 with minimal insurance in addition to fuel costs. On the other hand, renting a u-haul trailer only costs $125 with minimal insurance. Considering that I wouldn't even fill the u-haul truck halfway, renting a truck wouldn't be very cost effective. For only $200, it sounds like the transmission cooler is the way to go. To be on the safe side, I'll probably rent this u-haul trailer and take it for a 1-hour test trip to see if my HHR can handle it alright. If worse comes to worse, I may just end up using a smaller, lighter open-top trailer instead. I think I'm going to go with the transmission cooler. Thanks everyone for all of your help! Oh, one more question: If I have an external transmission cooler installed, would you still recommend driving in the "I" gear when towing, or does installing a transmission cooler eliminate the need for that?

 

Before I got my HHR, I owned a 2002 Buick Regal with the 3800 non-supercharged engine. I could only get 20 mpg if I was lucky. I don't know why, but normally, I'd get 17-18 mpg, and that's driving like a grandma too. That car cost a fortune to drive; good gas mileage is one of the reasons why I wanted an HHR. Now with my HHR (2.4L), I can normally get 25-26 mpg on a typical tank. I've gotten as high as 35 mpg driving 65 mph on the highway.

 

I'll still tow with mine, the unibody is the same reguardless of manual or auto. The only reason they don't want you to tow with the manual is the clutch. Most people have no clue how to do it correctly with a manual. It's not very often I hook my trailer up, but I will with no second though. No warranty anymore, so I pay for all repairs. Clutch is holding up extremely well, still pull hard.

But I still would not exceed the 1,000 lbs capacity for towing. Heaviest I've every hauled on mine is my 4x6 tilt trailer with my old 38" Murray riding mower on it when I sold it.