HOWTO: Calculate towing speed/grade speed

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I will probably end up just renting a Silverado from Hertz rental cars for the vacation. Wanting to go down to Miami with the boat and a rental truck is only $1,400 for 30 days and unlimited miles. It was still fun doing the calculations though. I have towed it 2 hours west with the Spark from Seattle, WA to the Pacific Coast but there weren't any mountains. I honestly just do not think the radiator could handle that pass in Montana you are talking about in the Summer heat, even with the heater on full blast. Not to mention the engine oil temps would probably be pushing over 270 degrees getting cooked on the head, cams, and valves up mountain passes. These cars are meant to run on 5W-20 so I would hate to put 5W-40 in it just for one trip. And even after all that it would have the run super rich all the way up the mountains and could possibly cook the converter. I've seen Spark motors on sale on Ebay for less than $1200 but I think the rental truck is the best idea versus chancing a motor up in Montana. I don't know if these motors could handle running at a 12:1 air fuel ratio for 5 miles up a pass even if the radiator keeps up. Would probably do some damage to the cylinder walls getting fuel washed running that rich.

 

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I never thought I'd see a calculation on a Chevy Spark towing a boat, but the calculations are pretty interesting. That pass in Montana is steep and long, it will be very interesting to see if the mathematical model proves accurate, but at the very least, you can optimize all the variables and see if you get your ground speed target.

Good luck!

I may end up just getting an old truck off craigslist or something. I feel like I would get a ticket for impeding traffic if I tried it.