It's not just the looks though. Trailers are heavy, and hard on a vehicle. I don't think the springs, wheels, tires, frame and transmission on our coupes are built to tow anything.

I wrestled with this decision about 9 months ago when I had to trade in my old vehicle and get a new one. Really wanted the G, but I also wanted to haul my bikes around, as well as Jet-skiis. Went with VW touareg. I then saved to get the G (which I bought 3 weeks ago).

 

If thats what you want to believe. Mine pulled my 1100 lb jetski behind it without a problem. It actually pulled it better than my Pathfinder ever did.

 

Do you have any pictures? I may have room on my ride for 1 more mod.

 

Trailers are heavy? Depends on the trailer. Jet ski trailers are light. If loaded correctly (with the axle on the trailer doing the weight bearing) the load on the rear of the car will be minimal.

My 9000 pound RV has a tounge weight of about 800 pounds - because of the way it's loaded. I could make it 1600 pounds if I wanted to, but that wouldn't be very smart. It also has two axles with electric brakes. When I hook it to my diesel Dodge, you can't even feel it back there. A little slower off the line is all.

The tounge weight on a jet ski trailer on the back of your G, if set up right, will likely be less than a passenger in the back seat. Unless you're towing the thing day-in and day-out the wear and tear on the vehicle pulling will be minimal. Just don't try to tow at 80MPH and stop like you would unloaded.

If you were going to be towing constantly, you could put electric or mechanical brakes on your trailer and get a brake controller. I have one in my truck that allows me to program lead/lag braking, braking force, anti-lock, etc. It's awesome and makes towing much easier. All depends on what you want to do.

No question that the G can handle the load. This motor and tranny handle more HP and torque than a lot of the pickups out there, and the brakes are well suited for heavy use. As long as you don't get stupid with weight and distribute the load correctly you'll never have a problem.

6MT guys may have to rethink how they clutch... Auto guys can just step on the gas.

I'm not saying that the G is the perfect tow vehicle. I'm only saying it can be done safely and efficiently with no real harm to the car.

 

how did you get the ski in the water??? backing the G down a boat ramp would be rather treacherous; i would be afraid the exhaust tips would be submerged...

 

I think Geewillikers nailed it:

"Wet incline + weight on the bumper + deep water behind you = disaster.. I've seen pick-ups spin their wheels going backwards as their ski trailer pulled them into the lake - I can't imagine doing it in a G. Some of those boat ramps are steep, they're ALL slippery and you usually have to dunk your rear tires to get the ski/boat deep enough to float off."

... but I think there are practical applications that would certainly be helpful- for my case it would be ideal for hauling my mountain bikes. I don't want any roof mounted racks "dorking" (previously eloquently said) up my paint; I don't want any part of any rack or gear touching it. Ideally, the hitch and bar rack would be configured to go under the body kit so that it wouldn't be visible unless the rack was attached.. hard to tell by the pix provided- but a good question I think: Can anyone confirm if the hitch is always visible???

 

Geewillies - " I have one in my truck that allows me to program lead/lag braking, braking force, anti-lock, etc."

Are you telling me you have a truck and want to throw a hitch on your G? How old are you man? Your posts seem to get longer and longer. Are you cutting and pasting again?

On a G sedan, I can see putting on a light weight hidden hitch (which isn't necessarily always hidden). But no one's doing it on a coupe right? Please no.

 

 

As long as your engine is running water won't enter the muffler. I have submerged my muffler several times as you can see in one picture.

 

It really isn't a problem. The G35 for being RWD is actually better. Due to the weight being on the rear wheels you have more traction than a FWD car trying to pull the car itself up the ramp when its wet. My G35 never had a issue with traction even trying to make it loose traction once I got on it hard out of the water with no problems. But a truck next to me starts spinning. LSD helps a great deal on this and the weight of the car. Trucks have no weight on the rear. This is why SUVs have a easier time pulling boats, etc out of the water over trucks.

 

I told you dammit, it's FreeWillies, not GeeWillies.

No, not cutting and pasting.

No, not going to add a hitch to my G. Just explaining how I think it could be practically done. Some here seem to think it's ridiculous and anyone who wants to do it should've bought another car. I think it's unreasonable to consider trading your car when you might only use the tow option a handful of times a year. Truck is rated over 13,000 pounds tow - that'll handle anything I want to pull.

I wouldn't try to dunk a ski with my G for the reason I wrote above. Others may feel more daring. I would use a hidden hitch to haul bikes though - coupe or sedan.

If you don't like the length of my posts, stop reading when you get tired. I realize you younger folks aren't used to exercising your minds as much as us old farts are.

 

G35_TX

Looks great. No sag at all. What does the tongue weigh?

 

Never weighed it myself, but I would say pretty close to 100 lb. It takes a lot for me to lift it by myself without the wheel.

 

So about 2 suitcases in the trunk's worth? Or a load of groceries?

 

Wow! I'm pretty shocked by the members who feel it necessary to tell someone to get another vehicle rather than to put a hitch on their car... Then to take it a step further and say if they can't afford to do so, they should have bought a different vehicle... Simply amazing to me...