I've been considering getting a pickup truck to tow the S to the track days. My car is a weekend toy but is still street car. However, the idea of a pickup truck comes with the thinking that something could happen at the track.

I'm considering the Tacoma or Frontier. I really want to stay away from big trucks. Does anyone tow with a Taco or Frontier?

 

I had a 2006 Tacoma 6speed, and a 2012 Tacoma automatic. Towing was much easier with the 6speed. I found the automatic to hunt a bit, although it did just fine. The weak link in a truck as far as towing is always the transmission. In that line of thinking, why not go with something that you know is bulletproof.

I never towed a car with either though. I however did tow a motorcycle on a trailer that was COMPLETELY loaded down, along with the bed, and the interior (4door). I'm talking so loaded that a passenger couldn't even fit in the truck with me. I went through the mountains of NC with no problem in my manual Tacoma.

I now own a 1998 Tacoma and love it as well. I don't use a truck much, but when I do they get a work out and are used as they were intended. I hated taking my 2012 through the woods and mud when I would go hunting, so I sold it and got the 98. This thing has been great so far.

 

I like the idea of the new Chevy Colorado diesel...

It's a midsize truck that will should get ~30mpg and because its diesel it should have enough torque to tow an S2000 or any car pretty easily.

 

I prefer the Colorado but price wise the taco and frontier are easy to get since the 16 are coming fast and there is some 15 left.

Between the car and the trailer, I should be in the 4,000 pounds. Both of them are able to tow 6,000 pounds.

Of the big ones, I prefer the Silverado although I found better deals on the F150

 

I'd think you would be fine towing an open trailer with the Tacoma, I even did it comfortably with an Acadia. I'm not personally a fan of any of the Nissan pickups. Reliability tends to be sketchy. The new Colorado would likely be a decent choice too.

If it were me, however, I'd check out the F150 with the 2.7L ecoboost. It would easily tow an open trailer, could possibly tow a smaller enclosed if you upgraded, and get real world gas mileage very close to the mid size trucks (independent test have shown real world 23 mpg highway). Or maybe a Dodge with their Eco diesel. I have a friend regularly towing an open trailer with one, and he gets outstanding real world mileage. I'm a ford truck guy, but the small diesel is hard to ignore for small-medium loads.

Lastly, it's likely you are somewhat underestimating the towed weight. I had a 17.5 foot all aluminum featherlite open trailer, with the s2000, a set of spare wheels/tires, and not much else, real world weight was about 4400 lbs.

 

I tow my s2000 with an 2005 Ford explorer sport trac. It has a 4.0 v6 and a 5 speed auto. Im able to comfortably tow the s2000 up to 75mph with no issues in an open steel trailer.

I daily the truck also. Its the perfect size and runs on e85 so for less than $40 i have full tank. I still drive to the local track but anything more than a 30-40 minute drive i load the truck and trailer. I also like taking my own fuel to the track because paying 8+ a gallon gets old fast and i have yet to see a track have e85 at the pump. I also like the fact i can carry a full size jack impact tools etc.

Its nice having the S and the truck be flex fuel. Any time i have left over fuel i just throw it in the truck.

 

But you really want my RAM 1500 EcoDiesel though bb. A midsize truck with a 6500 lb tow rating like the new Tacomas or the Frontier will tow an open trailer and the S2k just fine. If you are buying new though, I would definitely go with the new Colorado for a midsize truck.

 

That diesel 1500 gave me a chub. I felt like i could just drag your trailer with no tires on and the truck wouldn't even notice.

 

Read CKit's excellent post:
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/111...t__p__23535528

 

Read all the data before assuming you can tow something.

Maximum towing capacity is just that, maximum. It's computed with the truck EMPTY other than a 150 pound driver.

-- Chuck