Pulling a Stratos 176XT with Acura MDX?

[ed33081]

Hey everyone.

I am looking at buying a Acura MDX which has a 3500lb tow capacity and 350lb tongue weight. I own a 2007 Stratos 176 xt which has a boat weight of 1200lbs dry. It has a 60hp Mercury outboard and single axle trailer with no brakes. I am not sure of the total package weight but I would guess it was around 2200lbs?

Do you think the Acura MDX can handle this tow? Is AWD required?

Thanks!

[FrankW]

If you have the V6 you should be good to go. You might need to change your oil and transmission fluid more often. It has a lot to do with were you are located and how far you are towing the trailer. Now if you are pulling a lot in mountains then it is a lot harder on the vehicle.

Frank

[ed33081]

It is a about a 30mi trip each way. The ramp is rather steep so I was thinking the AWD would be better but much prefer the FWD due to availability and price. Would FWD suffice?

[bemo]

I pull an 18ft boat with a Honda Pilot and it is fine but I would not want to be on a steep wet ramp without AWD.

[bradbellflower]

Towing is one thing and launching/retrieval is another, totally different thing. Steep ramps can be a problem. My skiff is lighter than your bass boat but I would never let someone try it with a car like that. Another YouTube video in the making.

[Warhawk]

I had a. 176xt with a yamaha 50. I pulled it with a Toyota Tacoma with a 2.7 L four cylinder. It did fine on flat ground, I towed it from Ft Worth to hot Springs, AR and got 16 mpg. It was struggling with the steep hills here, and I swapped it for a Honda Ridgeline. I launched the 176xt/Tacoma combo at several lakes and never had a problem at the ramp, it was a 2WD truck.

The Ridgeline is a fantastic tow vehicle for medium sized boats like I have now. You could compare the Ridgeline specs with the Acura and get an idea from that.