This made me laugh. Living in England now, and I find it hilarious seeing cars towing trailers and campers because being from Texas you "need" the big truck to tow anything. We got me a proper English mini.....and our Texas truck made the journey as well :)
Love, love, love! I'm a Brit living in the us and I drive a 2002 red/white mini cooper. My husband and I were tent camping a few years back and it was not to my taste. A huge rv would be absolutely fantastic but, definitely not within the budget. Something like this is well within reach so, thanks! I never even thought that my Doris (the Mini) would be capable of towing something as fun as this! Now I'm off to research... may be a while. :D
The Mini S has lots of power. My son towed a 5x8 cargo trailer loaded with his stuff as he moved to Montreal in the winter. No Problem. A non S different story
I've been waiting for this video!!! yess. I'm really interested in this sort of lifestyle and have been enjoying your snaps and videos! :) thanks for sharing elsa:)
Well this pretty much answers my question! Because I was curious if the R56 can tow a boat, a large ocean kayak actually as well as its trailer. And the answer is a resounding YES!
I can't wait!! I love snowboarding season but it sounds like hiking and biking will be SO fun this spring and summer!! I wonder where we will be come April...!!?
Elsa Rhae That is the best part, Colorado has so much area to explore that it's easy to find yourself in new places all the time! 💚 I live in Manitou Springs right at the base of Pike's Peak, and it's kind of amazing that there are tons of hiking trails in every town you visit, endless jewels to discover!
THIS IS AWESOME❗️ I HAVE SEEN 2 OR 3 VIDEOS OF URS BUT RECENTLY..TODAY, B/C I JUST ❤️ UR DOG KAMP, & UR LIFESTYLE, I WANTED TO GO. ACK 2 THE BEGINNING OF UR JOURNEY🤗😍 ELSARHAE & BARRON, I ADORE YOU! THANK U SO VERY MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR JOURNEY...SO MUCH I WANT TO SAY AWESOME ABSOLUTELY..EXCITED TO DELVE IN2 MORE OF THESE VIDEOS AND LEARN ABOUT U AND KAMP🤗😍😍🔥🔥
Those views look utterly STUNNING! I'm so surprised at how well the mini seemed to have handled the drive along with towing a scamp. Driving a ford escape (which is the car I have) is a DEFINITE change from a standard "car", and must have been a bit of a change considering the size of the car you were driving on it's own without the extra weight. Or at least the sensation of it anyway. Love your work Elsa--this is a really cool video! Can't wait to see more :)
Thank you so much for watching!! We were pretty surprised by the coop too. After all our research we knew it would work, but didn't expect it to work SO well! Now when we're parked we have an awesome little snow scoop we can drive around the mountains with GREAT gas mileage. A truck would haul ass and definitely slide a bit less but we have so, so much more control with this little manual scoop. We're loving it and we're super happy to see the great response from people who didn't believe it could happen! Testing the boundaries is something we just looooooove to do! :) I'm really glad to have you here on my channel. Thanks for commenting!
I have a turbo fiat 500. And ive been thinking of buying a scamp to on adventures. This video did give me some more insights. Ive also learn that you can find towing ratings on uk forum for these little cars
I’m not saying that you guys do this, but I just want to say to the people watching this amazing video that coasting a car down hill is one of the most dangerous things any driver can do. The whole argument about coasting saves fuel is wrong. Coasting just means that you’ll travel down hill with the engine idling and using fuel without any engine braking at all, therefore the brakes will be working overtime and getting dangerously hot. You don’t want the brakes to get too hot and fade, especially when towing as you’ll end up with no brakes at all. Keep in a suitable low gear going down hill with no throttle and not only will you not cook the brakes, you will also not use any fuel at all as the car’s PCM will shut off the fuel injectors until you open the throttle again.
I towed 2 stand up jetskis with a 2200lb miata (total tow weight, probably a little over 1000lbs), and it was absolutely fine. I towed a small sailboat with the miata, and it was fine. It was definitely a lot easier to tow than, for example, an 9000lb boat with suburban (which is a lot more sketch)... It's when you realize that trucks are towing 2 times the weight of the truck, that you understand that towing someting that's 50% of your car is fundamentally EASIER (even if the car is not rated for it). You can rate it, and put better springs, and blah blah, but you can't cheat the physics.
Do u think if an automatic that has manual change over would be able to pull this? I hav a 2009 mini clubman what would you say if it was you?...you did well on yr experiment...im in nz
When you said it is not made to be a tow the vehicle but it is rated to tow at 1500 pounds. Is that info associated with owners manual or dealer? Just trying to figure out cause my car is not recommended to tow, yet it has a tow hitch specifically designed for it , thank you
I’m in the same boat, I have a 2020 Corolla SE 6MT, and while it doesn’t have a tow rating in North America, the Australian model (Literally the exact same car) is rated for 1000lbs unbraked, and 2600lbs braked. So I’m digging and researching if a roughly 650lb trailer, with a 450lb motorcycle will be an issue.
My room is super cluttery and I have too much clothes so this lifestyle is inspiring me to get rid of useless trinkets that I am holding onto for some reason. 😂 Thanks Elsa!
So are y'all going to be staying in Breckinridge? I've skied there a couple times (i've lived in Colorado my whole life) and it's just BEAUTIFULthere! Hope you've been liking it so far😙
I would love to know how long you towed with the mini for, and if you had an issues? I have noticed in some of your later videos you are using a different car. My dream is to tow a teardrop trailer with my mini cooper s. But so far, no one will put a towbar kit on it for me. (Im from Australia, and Mini Australia says no to towing).
I have an automatic 2013 Beetle and I want to hitch a small travel trailer Pro-lite to it about the same weight as yours scamp. I’ve received a ton of negative comments on Facebook asking about this but I’m curious what is your opinion on this? I will not be driving in snow. Thanks! 😊🙏🏼
Hey there- did the scamp weigh 1,000 lbs WITH all your stuff inside?? Just bought a trailer that weighs 1,700 to be pulled by my 2005 Subaru Impreza w a row capacity of 2,000 lbs
Barron attached the hitch to the car himself. The wiring harness was the trickiest part. If you find you're having trouble as you install it, reach out to him over e-mail and he'd be happy to help! BarronLink@gmail.com
Ngl Love small compacts and sedans. Hate seeing them die off. I love my Mitsubishi Mirage but it can't tow with it's 78 hp I3. I want something equally tiny or compact that can tow a tear drop. Though I'm told in the US, the mini is only rated at 500 lbs.
Check if the exact same car is sold in Europe or Australia, I’m betting it has a tow rating there. My 2020 Corolla isn’t rated in North America but it is rated for 1000lbs unbraked in Australia. Still wondering if I should try towing a motorcycle 1000km with it though.
I Iive in germany and i'm towing a 600kg Caravan with my 69HP 3-cylider Škoda Roomster 5 Speed manual. No problem at all. So why you make such a big thing out of that. The cooper is a 160HP 6 speed manual car. What could be better? Maybe a turbodiesel, but eccept from that, you chose the right car.
cjeam Going up a steep hill requires shifting down. But it works well with that. I don't have to avoid any roads. Towing speed is limited to 80kmh in germany, so you stick between the trucks and lorries on the Autobahn.
cjeam Some trailers are allowed to be towed at 100kph. They got a official sticker at the back that says "100" 😅. Mine doesn't, so it's 80 for me. My car is clearly not the best for towing a caravan, but it's not that problem. Most important thing: I'm not in a hurry when towing because it's holiday... 😊
Your video is very good, but I have a 180 hp Kia Sportage with a 2000 pound towing capacity which was fine until i pulled my 13' scamp into the mountains of Colorado and out west! I had regretted not buying the 16 foot over the 13, until I drove through those mountains.. Oil blow by, and it didn't have enough power to pull my trailer at those altitudes... Just FYI for your sake.. Good luck! Of course, your supercharger will help at altitude...
Ed Percy Imperial gallons are bigger than US gallons. 30mpg imperial is about 25mpg US. 40mpg imperial is about 31mpg US. When they got 11.9mpg in the UK that’d be about 14.2mpg. Which is still terrible, but it’s a large flat surface that is taller than the tow vehicle and they’re doing 70mph in it into a strong headwind. Doing 70mph in it in the UK would be speeding.
I live in the UK, I started a business trading atvs and farm equipment for a year I weekly towed 1500lbs plus with a stock hyundiani20 with 84hp.. it was fine
So I’m guessing my husband’s 2002 Honda Accord front wheel drive with 4-cylinders and no upgrades would NOT be able to pull a Scamp... (and my 1996 Buick LeSabre is even more of a “no”...) lol.
Krista Parker It would do fine. Check the plate on the vehicle to see what your max allowable towing weight is, it’s probably 1600lbs. It will be slow (which is good, since the slower you go the easier it is to stop which is obviously the most important bit) and naturally towing puts more stress on your vehicle components which with an old vehicle may be of concern if there are parts which have covered a lot of miles (like the clutch), but it will do it.
I'm British btw, I'm only really making educated guesses from what I've learnt because I like watching truck and towing videos from the US haha! but: I think something like that may be the problem yes. I don't _think_ mechanical brakes like we have exist (or are as common), I think it's probably no brakes and then moves straight up to an electric controlled system with a brake controller. So this may well be an unbraked trailer effectively. The large "travel trailers" or fifth wheels in America have electric brake systems, which is why a lot of their pickup trucks come fitted with a brake controller as standard in the cab with a sliding switch to control the level of braking. If your tow vehicle doesn't have a brake controller that would mean you need to get one retro-fitted, whereas in the EU we can just rely on the mechanical brake in the trailer. The top end of towing in America is insane compared to what we're used to, they will tow weights up to 16 tonnes behind a pickup with electric controlled brakes. As I understand it as soon as you go over 3.5tonnes in the UK I think VOSA would prefer it if you have air brakes, you don't need air brakes until very large weights in the US.
Check out "Big Truck Big RV" if you want to see reviews of trucks and RVs that they have in the US, they are RIDICULOUS compared to our sorts of caravans haha. I've seen one with a marble counter-top in the kitchen and a full size American style fridge freezer! "TFL Truck" do tow tests with trucks and you can see how someone in the US might tow really heavy weights behind their heavy duty pick-ups, generally in a "gooseneck" setup, including the electric brake system.
You guys have the numbers wrong. Horse power isnt what pulls things.. its torque lol. For example semi trucks have only 400hp or so.. but 1200 ftlbs of torque.. your cooper has only around 160 ft lbs of torque. A ford escape depending on the engine has 280ft lbs of torwue. Thats a massive difference. Lol. Your cooper is small no wheel base. Weighs nothing.. single axle trailers are inheritly dangerous and known to sway around.. a light vehicle like yours would be tossed around like a rag doll.
Just for anyone driving through the mountains. You don’t want to use your brakes going downhill, you will chew through them. Put your car in a gear lower instead, even automatic cars can do this
Hi Elsa...which tow bar did you use , I'm from the UK but can't seem to find one over here I have a Mini coppers 2007 and my trailer is a sprite 400 xxx
How did it feel? I don't want an SUV and I am researching people who tow small cars....I want to use every blue moon to tow my Harley short distance. How did the brakes feel?
Both of u seem like very happy and empathetic ppl. I enjoy your vibe. Oh and in regards to towing, tow ratings are more about structure than horsepower. Or brakes. Hopefully, over time, the trailer doesn't shake up the cooper's body structure to the point it's got the rigidity of a can of spaghetti. Thanks for the vid
rod22lt Aye. My vehicle weighs 3500lbs is rated to tow 4400lbs and has a whopping 113bhp. Doing 70mph while towing anything seems like a bad idea to me though.
wow so I wanted to do trailer life too but i thought it was impossible because i have a 1991 toyota supra turbo that is pretty low, but I didn't realize the scamp is so light so hypothetically speaking a 1500 max lbs scamp could be towed by my supra that weighs about 3600 lbs and makes 300 hp and up to 350 hp on high boost. If you guys see my comment I would like to know if your mini was fwd or awd and how did your mini do towing in the snow
This made me laugh. Living in England now, and I find it hilarious seeing cars towing trailers and campers because being from Texas you "need" the big truck to tow anything. We got me a proper English mini.....and our Texas truck made the journey as well :)
I've heard someone say this exact thing before :) We laugh at it too, but it's all good. They don't have to understand!
Love, love, love! I'm a Brit living in the us and I drive a 2002 red/white mini cooper. My husband and I were tent camping a few years back and it was not to my taste. A huge rv would be absolutely fantastic but, definitely not within the budget. Something like this is well within reach so, thanks! I never even thought that my Doris (the Mini) would be capable of towing something as fun as this! Now I'm off to research... may be a while. :D
Welcome to Colorado! The mountains are fabulous for camping spring, summer and fall.
Let me tell ya... they're great for (s)camping in the winter too!! We're having a blast!!
The Mini S has lots of power. My son towed a 5x8 cargo trailer loaded with his stuff as he moved to Montreal in the winter. No Problem. A non S different story
I've been waiting for this video!!! yess. I'm really interested in this sort of lifestyle and have been enjoying your snaps and videos! :) thanks for sharing elsa:)
Am from California and planning to haul a trailer with my 06 mini all the way to puerto Vallarta in 3 months. 🍻
Well this pretty much answers my question! Because I was curious if the R56 can tow a boat, a large ocean kayak actually as well as its trailer. And the answer is a resounding YES!
YES! ~Welcome to Colorado!~ And you're just in time for our beautiful Spring ad Summer months! :D
I can't wait!! I love snowboarding season but it sounds like hiking and biking will be SO fun this spring and summer!! I wonder where we will be come April...!!?
Elsa Rhae That is the best part, Colorado has so much area to explore that it's easy to find yourself in new places all the time! 💚 I live in Manitou Springs right at the base of Pike's Peak, and it's kind of amazing that there are tons of hiking trails in every town you visit, endless jewels to discover!
PaintedFoxes ooooh Breckinridge and manitou Springs are beautiful place to live, in jealous! Also hi fellow Coloradans!
Shania Roberts ^_^ ✌🏼
This is such a cute couple with a Mini & trailer combo. Don't know why I watch3d but beautifully created❤️
THIS IS AWESOME❗️ I HAVE SEEN 2 OR 3 VIDEOS OF URS BUT RECENTLY..TODAY, B/C I JUST ❤️ UR DOG KAMP, & UR LIFESTYLE, I WANTED TO GO. ACK 2 THE BEGINNING OF UR JOURNEY🤗😍 ELSARHAE & BARRON, I ADORE YOU! THANK U SO VERY MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR JOURNEY...SO MUCH I WANT TO SAY AWESOME ABSOLUTELY..EXCITED TO DELVE IN2 MORE OF THESE VIDEOS AND LEARN ABOUT U AND KAMP🤗😍😍🔥🔥
Those views look utterly STUNNING! I'm so surprised at how well the mini seemed to have handled the drive along with towing a scamp. Driving a ford escape (which is the car I have) is a DEFINITE change from a standard "car", and must have been a bit of a change considering the size of the car you were driving on it's own without the extra weight. Or at least the sensation of it anyway. Love your work Elsa--this is a really cool video! Can't wait to see more :)
Thank you so much for watching!! We were pretty surprised by the coop too. After all our research we knew it would work, but didn't expect it to work SO well! Now when we're parked we have an awesome little snow scoop we can drive around the mountains with GREAT gas mileage. A truck would haul ass and definitely slide a bit less but we have so, so much more control with this little manual scoop. We're loving it and we're super happy to see the great response from people who didn't believe it could happen! Testing the boundaries is something we just looooooove to do! :) I'm really glad to have you here on my channel. Thanks for commenting!
I have a turbo fiat 500. And ive been thinking of buying a scamp to on adventures. This video did give me some more insights. Ive also learn that you can find towing ratings on uk forum for these little cars
What kind hitch do you got? And do you know the gross weight of the camper?
I’m not saying that you guys do this, but I just want to say to the people watching this amazing video that coasting a car down hill is one of the most dangerous things any driver can do. The whole argument about coasting saves fuel is wrong. Coasting just means that you’ll travel down hill with the engine idling and using fuel without any engine braking at all, therefore the brakes will be working overtime and getting dangerously hot. You don’t want the brakes to get too hot and fade, especially when towing as you’ll end up with no brakes at all.
Keep in a suitable low gear going down hill with no throttle and not only will you not cook the brakes, you will also not use any fuel at all as the car’s PCM will shut off the fuel injectors until you open the throttle again.
Where did you get the hitch to put on the actual car I can’t find it anywhere
I was in Colorado yesterday on my way to California! Colorado is so beautiful!
Kamp, Scamp, and Scoop sounds like a sitcom! XD
StaticDaggers ...and Snoop, the dog...or would that be Poop?
Can you show how you hooked up the wiring harness for towing?
I towed 2 stand up jetskis with a 2200lb miata (total tow weight, probably a little over 1000lbs), and it was absolutely fine. I towed a small sailboat with the miata, and it was fine. It was definitely a lot easier to tow than, for example, an 9000lb boat with suburban (which is a lot more sketch)...
It's when you realize that trucks are towing 2 times the weight of the truck, that you understand that towing someting that's 50% of your car is fundamentally EASIER (even if the car is not rated for it). You can rate it, and put better springs, and blah blah, but you can't cheat the physics.
Are you going to be warm enough in the scamp at night in the mountains?
We have a 1200w electric heater that heats the Scamp in NO TIME! It's amazing. It draws very little energy as well.
im soooo excited to see a Mini Cooper can pull the 13' Scamp!!!!
We ran into a honda civic pulling a Scamp in the town we've been staying!
You both did a great job it's so convenient to have a hitch on any car this makes it possible very Amazing
Happy that everything went well 🤩
What hitch did you guys use??
Do u think if an automatic that has manual change over would be able to pull this? I hav a 2009 mini clubman what would you say if it was you?...you did well on yr experiment...im in nz
Looks like a countryman would be a perfect upgrade for you guys
Back in 2014 I almost brought a used S just like this same color but with the fog lights,.. kinda wish I would of got it now
I have a 2006 mini Cooper s check mate edition
And I didn't know they could drag a camper 😎
Now you do! Get out there!!!
No reason at all not to, I bet you hardly even notice such a light trailer behind it.
I need to see if I can tow a trailer I have a 2014 mini cooper countryman. Which brought me to your video.
Good luck!!
Thank you for the video and nice Shiba
Make sure to drink tons of water to not get altitude sickness!
Thank you!! I've finally learned from my last several trips to CO that I MUST drink water!! I get altipoops and altitoots every trip!
Elsa Rhae lol
When you said it is not made to be a tow the vehicle but it is rated to tow at 1500 pounds. Is that info associated with owners manual or dealer? Just trying to figure out cause my car is not recommended to tow, yet it has a tow hitch specifically designed for it , thank you
I’m in the same boat, I have a 2020 Corolla SE 6MT, and while it doesn’t have a tow rating in North America, the Australian model (Literally the exact same car) is rated for 1000lbs unbraked, and 2600lbs braked. So I’m digging and researching if a roughly 650lb trailer, with a 450lb motorcycle will be an issue.
So are you trying to say that you should only tow with the Mini Cooper S stick shift not the automatic
Do you guys use the Curt class 1 hitch? Looking to get one to pull about the same weight in a 2013 S but didn’t want to be the first…lol
Did you ever get the curt class hitch?
I did, setup is nice, but I haven’t tested/got a pull behind trailer yet. Just a 500# cargo carrier. Drives wonderful with a 150lb tool case on
My room is super cluttery and I have too much clothes so this lifestyle is inspiring me to get rid of useless trinkets that I am holding onto for some reason. 😂
Thanks Elsa!
So are y'all going to be staying in Breckinridge? I've skied there a couple times (i've lived in Colorado my whole life) and it's just BEAUTIFULthere! Hope you've been liking it so far😙
I use a mint 98 Town car with a Small V8. 18.4mpg around 65-70mph, and it weighs 5300 and can tow 2500 and holds 6 people...
I would love to know how long you towed with the mini for, and if you had an issues? I have noticed in some of your later videos you are using a different car. My dream is to tow a teardrop trailer with my mini cooper s. But so far, no one will put a towbar kit on it for me. (Im from Australia, and Mini Australia says no to towing).
This is awesome!!
I have an automatic 2013 Beetle and I want to hitch a small travel trailer Pro-lite to it about the same weight as yours scamp. I’ve received a ton of negative comments on Facebook asking about this but I’m curious what is your opinion on this? I will not be driving in snow. Thanks! 😊🙏🏼
Hey there- did the scamp weigh 1,000 lbs WITH all your stuff inside?? Just bought a trailer that weighs 1,700 to be pulled by my 2005 Subaru Impreza w a row capacity of 2,000 lbs
Is this mini an AWD or FwD?
Wow thank you for this video!!!
Did you get snow tires? I have a manual scoop clubman and looking for ideal winter traction in Minnesota
Way to go mobile!!!
Nice job. Any advice on mounting the hitch? I got a 2011 S, also a 6 gear.
Barron attached the hitch to the car himself. The wiring harness was the trickiest part. If you find you're having trouble as you install it, reach out to him over e-mail and he'd be happy to help! BarronLink@gmail.com
Also, have a 2011 S. Did you got the how-to mount the hitch?
Ngl
Love small compacts and sedans. Hate seeing them die off.
I love my Mitsubishi Mirage but it can't tow with it's 78 hp I3.
I want something equally tiny or compact that can tow a tear drop. Though I'm told in the US, the mini is only rated at 500 lbs.
Welcome to Colorado 💚💚
Interesting. Wonder how it would work on a Smart Car. Likewise they don't recommend towing either.
Welcome to Colorado!!
What kind of dog do you have
hi guys, did you need to homologate the mini? we have a cooper from 20i20 and seems not possible to tow? please let me know thanks!
Check if the exact same car is sold in Europe or Australia, I’m betting it has a tow rating there. My 2020 Corolla isn’t rated in North America but it is rated for 1000lbs unbraked in Australia. Still wondering if I should try towing a motorcycle 1000km with it though.
I Iive in germany and i'm towing a 600kg Caravan with my 69HP 3-cylider Škoda Roomster 5 Speed manual. No problem at all. So why you make such a big thing out of that. The cooper is a 160HP 6 speed manual car. What could be better? Maybe a turbodiesel, but eccept from that, you chose the right car.
Steinn Going uphill must take some time for you. Do you generally avoid major roads too?
cjeam Going up a steep hill requires shifting down. But it works well with that. I don't have to avoid any roads. Towing speed is limited to 80kmh in germany, so you stick between the trucks and lorries on the Autobahn.
Steinn Cool 80kph? I didn’t know that. Here in the UK it’s ~100kph which may make a difference. It’s impressive that it manages it fine.
cjeam Some trailers are allowed to be towed at 100kph. They got a official sticker at the back that says "100" 😅. Mine doesn't, so it's 80 for me. My car is clearly not the best for towing a caravan, but it's not that problem. Most important thing: I'm not in a hurry when towing because it's holiday... 😊
Your video is very good, but I have a 180 hp Kia Sportage with a 2000 pound towing capacity which was fine until i pulled my 13' scamp into the mountains of Colorado and out west! I had regretted not buying the 16 foot over the 13, until I drove through those mountains.. Oil blow by, and it didn't have enough power to pull my trailer at those altitudes... Just FYI for your sake.. Good luck! Of course, your supercharger will help at altitude...
What kind of dog is that?
How have I never seen this. I thought y'all always had the Subaru
pretty cool
Kool nice before your time little MG was towing small travel, don't worry your car got the job handle. please watch my video life in the city
How do you stay cool in a scamp without AC on the roof
At 12 miles a gallon you might as well get a large camper that gets the same mileage
Why do all American cars do really bad mpg in uk a mini towing would get at least 30 mpg
Ed Percy Imperial gallons are bigger than US gallons. 30mpg imperial is about 25mpg US. 40mpg imperial is about 31mpg US. When they got 11.9mpg in the UK that’d be about 14.2mpg.
Which is still terrible, but it’s a large flat surface that is taller than the tow vehicle and they’re doing 70mph in it into a strong headwind. Doing 70mph in it in the UK would be speeding.
Actually to tow is better with on automatic
Why is that?
❤
That's awesome lmao.
Is that a fox
I want a friend that lives in Breckenridge!
:-(
I have a Pontiac Montana van ..towing my scamp i get 18mpg......
I live in the UK, I started a business trading atvs and farm equipment for a year I weekly towed 1500lbs plus with a stock hyundiani20 with 84hp.. it was fine
It's a city economy car
baron looks mo better with hair. viewer opinion
So I’m guessing my husband’s 2002 Honda Accord front wheel drive with 4-cylinders and no upgrades would NOT be able to pull a Scamp... (and my 1996 Buick LeSabre is even more of a “no”...) lol.
Krista Parker It would do fine. Check the plate on the vehicle to see what your max allowable towing weight is, it’s probably 1600lbs. It will be slow (which is good, since the slower you go the easier it is to stop which is obviously the most important bit) and naturally towing puts more stress on your vehicle components which with an old vehicle may be of concern if there are parts which have covered a lot of miles (like the clutch), but it will do it.
VERY VERY easily... If the trailer has brakes it would probably be OK to about 3000lbs
cjeam do American trailers not have brakes? It's the only reason I could think of why towing limits would be so low.
I'm British btw, I'm only really making educated guesses from what I've learnt because I like watching truck and towing videos from the US haha! but:
I think something like that may be the problem yes. I don't _think_ mechanical brakes like we have exist (or are as common), I think it's probably no brakes and then moves straight up to an electric controlled system with a brake controller. So this may well be an unbraked trailer effectively. The large "travel trailers" or fifth wheels in America have electric brake systems, which is why a lot of their pickup trucks come fitted with a brake controller as standard in the cab with a sliding switch to control the level of braking. If your tow vehicle doesn't have a brake controller that would mean you need to get one retro-fitted, whereas in the EU we can just rely on the mechanical brake in the trailer.
The top end of towing in America is insane compared to what we're used to, they will tow weights up to 16 tonnes behind a pickup with electric controlled brakes. As I understand it as soon as you go over 3.5tonnes in the UK I think VOSA would prefer it if you have air brakes, you don't need air brakes until very large weights in the US.
Check out "Big Truck Big RV" if you want to see reviews of trucks and RVs that they have in the US, they are RIDICULOUS compared to our sorts of caravans haha. I've seen one with a marble counter-top in the kitchen and a full size American style fridge freezer! "TFL Truck" do tow tests with trucks and you can see how someone in the US might tow really heavy weights behind their heavy duty pick-ups, generally in a "gooseneck" setup, including the electric brake system.
very cool
You guys make me think of modern day hippies. I love it.
K
I love these videos! Please keep doing them like a series! Also, where do you put your makeup?? 😂
You guys have the numbers wrong. Horse power isnt what pulls things.. its torque lol. For example semi trucks have only 400hp or so.. but 1200 ftlbs of torque.. your cooper has only around 160 ft lbs of torque. A ford escape depending on the engine has 280ft lbs of torwue. Thats a massive difference. Lol. Your cooper is small no wheel base. Weighs nothing.. single axle trailers are inheritly dangerous and known to sway around.. a light vehicle like yours would be tossed around like a rag doll.
Just for anyone driving through the mountains. You don’t want to use your brakes going downhill, you will chew through them. Put your car in a gear lower instead, even automatic cars can do this
I think you inspire woman to be there self. Stay true
What trailer hitch part number did you put on your 2006 mini cooper s
You two are such a awesome couple . i so glad i accidentally stumbled on your channel.
No way! Great to use the car until you were ready to upgrade! Amanda
This is freaking awesome! so promising to see the Mini Cooper towing and yall traveling with a pup :)
Very cool Barron!!! I love watching Sailing La Vagabond on youtube...this will be the second channel I follow religiously.
Hi Elsa...which tow bar did you use , I'm from the UK but can't seem to find one over here I have a Mini coppers 2007 and my trailer is a sprite 400 xxx
You can actually install brakes for the Scamp. A friend of mines did it. Apparently, it was worth it to him. Live your best life and happy journeys.
i wasnt sure if i could tow my 1600lbs pop up with my civic si .. now i know lol
What model hitch receiver did you use?
How did it feel? I don't want an SUV and I am researching people who tow small cars....I want to use every blue moon to tow my Harley short distance. How did the brakes feel?
I’m wondering if my 2017 Prius can pull a scamp 13. It’s rated at just over 1500 towing capacity. It’s an automatic and only has 120 HP.
congrats guys... this is kinda an interesting experiment on the Mini :) enjoy!
I was thinking about buying caravan for my mini but 😮was sceptic as well as everyone else’s
What are the chances that the ball and coupler can come undone when you hit bumps in the road? I wanted to ask this.
The scamp weighs 2,000lbs not 1,000lbs.
It’s definitely closer to 2k or more. Without brakes it’s overweight for HD pickups.
Great work, guys! I'm inspired.
Can you tow something similar in an automatic?
Would this be illegal in a state like CA?
Both of u seem like very happy and empathetic ppl. I enjoy your vibe. Oh and in regards to towing, tow ratings are more about structure than horsepower. Or brakes. Hopefully, over time, the trailer doesn't shake up the cooper's body structure to the point it's got the rigidity of a can of spaghetti. Thanks for the vid
rod22lt Aye. My vehicle weighs 3500lbs is rated to tow 4400lbs and has a whopping 113bhp.
Doing 70mph while towing anything seems like a bad idea to me though.
What was your budget?
Nice Tim F. Podcast!
Welcome to Colorado! You staying in Breck or settling somewhere else? If you don't mind me asking haha
Sierra Berk staying in Breck for the week and looking for a new place to park for next week!
Just want to add a comment!
wow so I wanted to do trailer life too but i thought it was impossible because i have a 1991 toyota supra turbo that is pretty low, but I didn't realize the scamp is so light so hypothetically speaking a 1500 max lbs scamp could be towed by my supra that weighs about 3600 lbs and makes 300 hp and up to 350 hp on high boost. If you guys see my comment I would like to know if your mini was fwd or awd and how did your mini do towing in the snow