[gkaprelian]

I've read a lot of the posts related to towing. Most are about travel trailers which have great info on handling and gas mileage, but I have not seen anything about pulling a boat out of the water. I have a 3500# boat/trailer and am concerned about enough power to pull the boat out of the water, especially on a wet ramp. The torque at low rpm on an Ascent is in the 100's and that's the regime of pulling the boat on the ramp. Anyone with experience on a boat ramp would be great to hear from you.

 

[xydadx3]

No idea of the weight of this thing. It was an 18’ Maycraft. No struggle whatsoever.

 

[GaryInMI]

You have the full 277 pound feet for torque available at 2,000 rpms, that and the 5,000 pound tow rating and symmetrical all wheel drive means no worries on a wet boat ramp.

 

[Robert.Mauro]

Just have suitable tires for your extraction needs. For instance, all terrains if you have sandy beach ramps.

 

[Merope]

... I have a 3500# boat/trailer and am concerned about enough power to pull the boat out of the water, especially on a wet ramp...

Haven't yet used my Ascent on a boat ramp, but my previous vehicles had no significant issues. If there ever was any limitation, it wasn't power/torque but rather traction, often mainly the rear wheels, which FWD, 4WD or AWD handled. I expect the Ascent will be at least as good and probably better. What issues have you had on ramps with your existing or previous setups?

 

[SkiPro3]

I would think this would be a good time use X-Mode.

 

[Ruben Marin]

I used to tow a 79 cobia 18 ft fiberglass center console with a 150 johnson on it with my 03 forester not even a hesitation on the ramp. I wouldn't be concerned about the Ascent at all.

 

[gkaprelian]

Haven't yet used my Ascent on a boat ramp, but my previous vehicles had no significant issues. If there ever was any limitation, it wasn't power/torque but rather traction, often mainly the rear wheels, which FWD, 4WD or AWD handled. I expect the Ascent will be at least as good and probably better. What issues have you had on ramps with your existing or previous setups?

My current vehicle is a 2003 4Runner and have no problem. The 4Runner has a V-6 engine though. I do need to put it into low 4WD though. Looking to replace it and concerned about the Ascent on a boat ramp. I've seen the video and it sounds like the driver had to rev the engine to get the boat out of the water.

 

[gkaprelian]

I would think this would be a good time use X-Mode.

What is X-Mode?

 

[gmatt1000]

What is X-Mode?

I have a friend who has an 05 4Runner similar to yours. While it is a different type of vehicle than the Ascent etc its V-6 is underpowered and outdated. The ascent outperforms a 4Runner in many ways. The Ascent will have no issue with this towing task.

You can google it or look through this forum for a more in depth explanation of X-mode. Basically it is a drive mode that re-maps throttle, braking, cvt gearing, and awd systems for better performance in low traction situations. It works phenomenally well in a variety of situations I've used it.

 

[Robert.Mauro]

My current vehicle is a 2003 4Runner and have no problem. The 4Runner has a V-6 engine though. I do need to put it into low 4WD though. Looking to replace it and concerned about the Ascent on a boat ramp. I've seen the video and it sounds like the driver had to rev the engine to get the boat out of the water.

People don't rev the engine on the Ascent, except if they're in manual mode. He wasn't in manual mode.

It's a CVT. The computer will balance engine rpm and CVT ratio for whatever its doing. It may sound weird, but it is totally normal, and the beauty of how a CVT works.

The Ascent will have no problem with boat ramps, as a number of people have reported back.

 

[Q-Man13]

My current vehicle is a 2003 4Runner and have no problem. The 4Runner has a V-6 engine though. I do need to put it into low 4WD though. Looking to replace it and concerned about the Ascent on a boat ramp. I've seen the video and it sounds like the driver had to rev the engine to get the boat out of the water.

Ascent is always in AWD and it is 5ft-lb less(or less than 2% lower) torque than that 4Runner(277 to 282) but with over 15 years more technology. I believe all of the Ascent's torque is fully available at much lower RPMs than the 2003 V6 4Runner. You'll be fine.

 

[Q-Man13]

Looking at torque graphs the Ascent delivers 40% more torque at 2000rpm than your 4Runner does.

 

[Robert.Mauro]

all of the Ascent's torque is fully available at much lower RPMs than the 2003 V6 4Runner. You'll be fine.

Yep. The Ascent has an artificially controlled torque line (aka "curve") that's 277 lb-ft from 2,000 rpm to 4,800 rpm.

Reviewing the COBB stage 1 tunes, one can see an actual (and considerably higher) torque curve when those limits are moved by controlling boost and other related parameters differently.

 

[Q-Man13]

I read the torque graphs wrong, the Ascent is 20% more torque at 2000rpm not 40%.

 

[KandersonSLC]

We bought the Ascent for the specific purpose of hauling our 18' Lund fishing boat around the Utah and Idaho mountains. I've been very happy and absolutely no problems pulling the boat out at the ramp.

As an added benefit, the backup camera with the "+" mark on the screen allows me to back right up to the trailer hitch so I can attach the boat by myself.

 

[Q-Man13]

We bought the Ascent for the specific purpose of hauling our 18' Lund fishing boat around the Utah and Idaho mountains. I've been very happy and absolutely no problems pulling the boat out at the ramp.

As an added benefit, the backup camera with the "+" mark on the screen allows me to back right up to the trailer hitch so I can attach the boat by myself.

I thought the plus mark shows where the rear hatch goes to when opened?

Now that I think about it would be the line that the plus is on and the + indicate center for hitches.

 

[Shorty]

I have a 3000lb sailboat that I pull with my Ascent and as soon as it hits 2500RPM it pulls up the ramp smooth as silk. It's obvious when the turbo kicks in.

The backup camera is also a real plus, however when backing the boat down the ramp you have switch off the RAB.

 

[Kevin Williams]

We bought the Ascent for the specific purpose of hauling our 18' Lund fishing boat around the Utah and Idaho mountains. I've been very happy and absolutely no problems pulling the boat out at the ramp.

As an added benefit, the backup camera with the "+" mark on the screen allows me to back right up to the trailer hitch so I can attach the boat by myself.

And if you need to, you can adjust where the + mark goes so it lines up with your hitch perfectly! Love it!

 

[gkaprelian]

We bought the Ascent for the specific purpose of hauling our 18' Lund fishing boat around the Utah and Idaho mountains. I've been very happy and absolutely no problems pulling the boat out at the ramp.

As an added benefit, the backup camera with the "+" mark on the screen allows me to back right up to the trailer hitch so I can attach the boat by myself.

Thanks for that great information. Very helpful. Do you know about how much you boat/trailer weighs? What kind of gas mileage do you get with the boat and without?