First haul with 5x8 fully loaded.

[rednelb]

Took the first long trip in the Journey last week. 6 passengers and a loaded trailer. At or near the towing capacity of the 2012. I was well below the total GVWR.

First thoughts are that it did quite well. Once the trailer has some weight added, it didn't jump around at all and felt smooth the entire time. I took it through the back hills of Kentucky and Tennessee. Small and curvy hills with lots of turns. It was wet as well, so I wasn't able to keep a steady speed around turns. I can definitely tell it is there when pulling. I was really impressed with stopping. I almost couldn't feel it. The Journey can get everything stopped in a hurry.

I don't know how you other members decided on a 6x12. That is a lot of trailer for this vehicle. I averaged around 14.5-16 the entire trip. Lows around 13 when it was slow. I watched the temps almost entirely and never went above 212 for oil, 204 for trans, and coolant might have touched 200. Usually the oil temp stayed around 200.

Plan on using the manual shift a lot if you are towing near your limit. The vehicle either really wants to get to and stay in 6^th or decides to downshift way too much. 4^th and 5^th are good gears when going up long hills. I think the computer changes the way it thinks every now and then depending on the driving style. I noticed this after I got home and unhooked. I was getting 16mpg when I usually get 20. I put it in manual for a bit and back into auto and voila!, normal driving came back.

All in all, it did quite well and it was nice to haul all our crap and be able to enjoy all the nice features inside the car without cargo getting in the way.

[Marius]

Took the first long trip in the Journey last week. 6 passengers and a loaded trailer. At or near the towing capacity of the 2012. I was well below the total GVWR.

First thoughts are that it did quite well. Once the trailer has some weight added, it didn't jump around at all and felt smooth the entire time. I took it through the back hills of Kentucky and Tennessee. Small and curvy hills with lots of turns. It was wet as well, so I wasn't able to keep a steady speed around turns. I can definitely tell it is there when pulling. I was really impressed with stopping. I almost couldn't feel it. The Journey can get everything stopped in a hurry.

I don't know how you other members decided on a 6x12. That is a lot of trailer for this vehicle. I averaged around 14.5-16 the entire trip. Lows around 13 when it was slow. I watched the temps almost entirely and never went above 212 for oil, 204 for trans, and coolant might have touched 200. Usually the oil temp stayed around 200.

Plan on using the manual shift a lot if you are towing near your limit. The vehicle either really wants to get to and stay in 6^th or decides to downshift way too much. 4^th and 5^th are good gears when going up long hills. I think the computer changes the way it thinks every now and then depending on the driving style. I noticed this after I got home and unhooked. I was getting 16mpg when I usually get 20. I put it in manual for a bit and back into auto and voila!, normal driving came back.

All in all, it did quite well and it was nice to haul all our crap and be able to enjoy all the nice features inside the car without cargo getting in the way.

When I bought my new RT in the summer of 2012 they were still rated for more. I had no issues towing the U-haul 6x12 cube with the most essentials with me from Montreal to Vancouver. That was adults and a one year old in the car plus the 6x12 cube. Absolutely no issues in power, stability etc. Was somewhat surprised they lowered the towing rating, but I guess that has more to do with the faulty rotors, transmission issues, engine fuck ups than with what the car can really do.

[dhh3]

The Nitro had a tow/haul switch. By shifting it manually, you did exactly what the tow haul switch does: keeps it out of OD and does not let the transmission lock up. I believe 5 and 6 are both OD gears but I could be wrong on this.

[Woah322]

I tow my 5X8 on the regular. Trailer is approx 900lbs empty and I load it up to 2,500lbs of cargo, no issues. Try not to go above 3,500 lbs but I've heard they lowered the maxium capacity to 2,500 lbs.