Hmm, reminds me of my aunt’s trailer. She had a lightweight trailer custom made (and about that big) to tow behind her Mazda3.
After she wadded the whole thing up on the interstate (nobody hurt, thankfully) she bought a two axle trailer and paid someone with a truck to move it around.
You can do this sort of thing, but beware of hills and/or high speeds.
That being a single axle trailer indicates it shouldn’t weigh more than 3500 pounds. Any car should be able to yank that camper around with ease. But… in trailering, the question is not , “Can it pull it?”,but rather, “Can it stop it?” Also, I don’t know what a Mini weighs, but being a modern car (read: heavier than it looks), it should be able to handle the other trailering bug-a-boo: cross-winds.
I don’t have a brochure, but I’d be willing to bet it will say: “Your MINI was not designed for towing”. Right; and who designs cars for towing? Any car can tow; it’s intrinsic to its design. Idiots.
My Yaris has, in several places in the manual and on stickers: “Your Yaris is not designed to tow a trailer.” Okay, fine…except the CANADIAN Yarii, the SAME CAR except for graduations on the speedometer…IS somehow designed to tow a trailer; and Toyota will sell a trailer hitch for it.
I cogitated on that for some months; once the warranty ran out, I went down to the local Farm & Fleet (a Wisconsin man-mall) and had them install a frame-mount hitch so I could tow my cycle trailer. Had to wait a week for the hitch to come in; but they put it on and I’ve since towed about a thousand miles.
No problems…it’s a little noisy and a little slow, but it gets the job done on one-third the cost of my Dodge Van.
Saw the exact opposite today. Big RV, one of the pusher type. It was pulling a four wheel chuckwagon like you would see horses hitched to. It seriously was a mismatch. Trail rides start soon and I’m sure he was transporting it somewhere. Probably had the hitch for horses thrown inside the wagon. Today’s chuckwagons have car tires and wheels so you can pull them on the road. It’s just that I hadn’t seen them with anything faster than a tractor till today.
I tried to take a pic but missed it yesterday on the highway I passed a malibu Maxx towing a tandem axle enclosed trailer and the car was loaded to the brim rear bumper happily dragging along the Mass Pike at 55 MPH
Hmm, reminds me of my aunt’s trailer. She had a lightweight trailer custom made (and about that big) to tow behind her Mazda3.
After she wadded the whole thing up on the interstate (nobody hurt, thankfully) she bought a two axle trailer and paid someone with a truck to move it around.
You can do this sort of thing, but beware of hills and/or high speeds.
Scary… I like my Mazda3 and all, but it wouldn’t be my first choice for a tow vehicle.
I wonder if the Mini has a stick or not.
Having a Mini with an auto is a shame.
Pulling a trailer with a Mini without a auto would be crazy.
I’d hate to have to hold the car on the clutch uphill at a traffic light.
That being a single axle trailer indicates it shouldn’t weigh more than 3500 pounds. Any car should be able to yank that camper around with ease. But… in trailering, the question is not , “Can it pull it?”,but rather, “Can it stop it?” Also, I don’t know what a Mini weighs, but being a modern car (read: heavier than it looks), it should be able to handle the other trailering bug-a-boo: cross-winds.
So YOU’RE the one that takes all of those dizzy Ebay and Craigslist pics!
pah, that’s nothing, modern MINIs are big, how about this?
😉
Pure gold.
Let’s just call this the Friday funnies . . . how many of you seriously think that the Mini is actually attached to that trailer?
Busted!
Aww, you just beat me to it. Look behind the Mini’s left rear tire.
That’s not a Mini, that’s a MINI. You’ve got to shout it. I don’t know the reason for BMW’s rename.
Because “mini” is a common word and not very enforceable as a trademark. MINI is more unique and therefore more trademark-able.
you mean if i write like this i am not liable for trademark infringement? 🙂
Earthquake? What earthquake?
What’s the tow rating on FWD BMWs like this? Are they also part of The Great American Anti-Towing Conspiracy?
I don’t have a brochure, but I’d be willing to bet it will say: “Your MINI was not designed for towing”. Right; and who designs cars for towing? Any car can tow; it’s intrinsic to its design. Idiots.
Agreed.
My Yaris has, in several places in the manual and on stickers: “Your Yaris is not designed to tow a trailer.” Okay, fine…except the CANADIAN Yarii, the SAME CAR except for graduations on the speedometer…IS somehow designed to tow a trailer; and Toyota will sell a trailer hitch for it.
I cogitated on that for some months; once the warranty ran out, I went down to the local Farm & Fleet (a Wisconsin man-mall) and had them install a frame-mount hitch so I could tow my cycle trailer. Had to wait a week for the hitch to come in; but they put it on and I’ve since towed about a thousand miles.
No problems…it’s a little noisy and a little slow, but it gets the job done on one-third the cost of my Dodge Van.
Yes, we covered that very in-depth here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/auto-biography/the-great-american-anti-towing-conspiracy/
Here’s a real Mini towing a small Airstream, video and all.
Love those tiny Airstreams! I think I found my wandering-old-man combo – I’m much too cheap to front the towing MPG that a truck delivers.
Big NZ Mini fest on only 100 or so miles from here nice day long labour weekend whoo knows keep an eye on the cohort
Saw the exact opposite today. Big RV, one of the pusher type. It was pulling a four wheel chuckwagon like you would see horses hitched to. It seriously was a mismatch. Trail rides start soon and I’m sure he was transporting it somewhere. Probably had the hitch for horses thrown inside the wagon. Today’s chuckwagons have car tires and wheels so you can pull them on the road. It’s just that I hadn’t seen them with anything faster than a tractor till today.
I tried to take a pic but missed it yesterday on the highway I passed a malibu Maxx towing a tandem axle enclosed trailer and the car was loaded to the brim rear bumper happily dragging along the Mass Pike at 55 MPH