Thoughts / recommendations for a small car with 350lb tongue weight capability, no towing.

[900ss]

I am in the market to replace our 2019 GTI with a similarly sized small vehicle that is rated for a 350lb tongue weight. I just had the GTI repaired in a body shop, to replace sheet metal that has been damaged by our weekly excursions with a bike rack (2 tray Kuat Piston Pro), about 63 lbs, and two EMTBs, 80 lbs total without batteries over the past 5 years.

Long story short, the shop that sold me the hitch, rated for 350 lbs capacity, stated we would have no problems. Who has ever taken a paper clip and bent it back and forth until it breaks? It's called metal fatigue. Shame on me, being a machinist for many years (I am not an engineer by any stretch) and knowledgable of metal fatigue, for not thinking about the rack and bikes bouncing over every bump in the road increasing the stress on the car's structure. Think see-saw or teeter-totter for you Yanks.

Anyway, so far the Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness seems to be the best fit, even though I don't care for the vehicle. This will be my wife's daily driver, and she won't enjoy it because it is relatively gutless compared to the GTI. It is 7 inches longer than the GTI and a couple of inches wider. The rack has a 2" receiver, and is rated for 75lbs per tray. I am not overloading the rack or hitch, but did overload and subsequently compromise the GTI's structure. Yes, for those of you who would look this up, the GTI manual does state that it is not rated for towing.

 

[planegray]

Body on frame is, of course, the most correct answer.

That's a completely different breed of vehicle though

I'm thinking keep the GTI and get an older, unexciting small pickup for weekend use.

 

[GAJ]

I am in the market to replace our 2019 GTI with a similarly sized small vehicle that is rated for a 350lb tongue weight. I just had the GTI repaired in a body shop, to replace sheet metal that has been damaged by our weekly excursions with a bike rack (2 tray Kuat Piston Pro), about 63 lbs, and two EMTBs, 80 lbs total without batteries over the past 5 years.

Long story short, the shop that sold me the hitch, rated for 350 lbs capacity, stated we would have no problems. Who has ever taken a paper clip and bent it back and forth until it breaks? It's called metal fatigue. Shame on me, being a machinist for many years (I am not an engineer by any stretch) and knowledgable of metal fatigue, for not thinking about the rack and bikes bouncing over every bump in the road increasing the stress on the car's structure. Think see-saw or teeter-totter for you Yanks.

Anyway, so far the Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness seems to be the best fit, even though I don't care for the vehicle. This will be my wife's daily driver, and she won't enjoy it because it is relatively gutless compared to the GTI. It is 7 inches longer than the GTI and a couple of inches wider. The rack has a 2" receiver, and is rated for 75lbs per tray. I am not overloading the rack or hitch, but did overload and subsequently grossly compromise the GTI's structure. Yes, for those of you who would look this up, the GTI manual does state that it is not rated for towing.

CX30 normally aspirated.

The interior is far nicer than any Subaru and it has decent performance and handles nicely; I have driven my friends 2025.

Unlike the heavier CX5 my wife has, cx30 does not need the turbo which Mazda dropped for the new CX5 anyway.

 

[Climber]

Why not just go with a trailer?
It's the most obvious and effective solution.
Trying to cantilever 350 lbs off of a small car frame is just asking for trouble, as you found out.

 

[stangmx13]

Man this seems like a really obscure question. You prob need a much larger user base to get a good answer. Have you searched or asked Reddit?

 

[augustiron]

Haha, I went through this exact exercise a couple of years ago for my mother-in-law who had a GTI and wanted to carry 2 ebikes.

She loved the small sporty car, and after my research I said there's no way you can have small and sporty and carry 2 ebikes.

She wound up getting a RAV4.

Curious to see you what the peanut gallery comes up with here

 

[TheRobSJ]

New Tiguan? Pretty much a taller GTI. Amazing interior. The R-Line trim looks real sharp. Really good incentives to move them right now.

 

[Blankpage]

Throw the batteries on the back seat floor during transport to reduce the tongue weight requirement

 

[900ss]

Batteries are removed from the bikes while on the rack. To clarify, The hitch is supporting the rack at 63 lbs, and two bikes with a total weight of 80lbs when static.