Pulling vehicles

[TetsuSan]

When it comes to pulling vehicles or trailers, how can you tell if the load is too heavy for the vehicle that is being driven? I get that using a car to tow a big truck would be obvious, but I noticed even an suv or truck would cause issues of slowing down causing it to stop almost completely. Not good when hordes are around you and what not.

[Undefined]

I've noticed that, when towing a van with another van, the van can go "fast" but will slow down over time. I'll let go of the peddle and restart accelerating and it will go back to its original top speed before falling off again.

With that said, I don't think there's a way to tell other than a big car has an easier time towing a smaller car.

On top of the devs looking into the issue that I described, I think towing speeds should be increased a slight bit. I have no problems with a horde blocking the street, but the time it takes to tow is insufferable.

[facepalm]

towing is terrible at the moment. I couldn't figure out what makes some cars better for towing than others.
My tip though: Use the Pickup Trucks (I think they are called Chevalier D6). It pulls most cars with a speed > 60. Most other cars max out at 30.
I heard the ambulance is also great for towing. I couldn't test it so far.

[Undefined]

Shortly after I made my post, I towed a Step Van using a Franklin Valuline and it was actually faster than some of the stuff I've towed, which is weird because the Step Van had about 200-300lbs on the Valuline.

Theoretically, the difference in weight between the two vehicles and the horsepower of the towing vehicle should give a good idea about whether you'll have an easy time towing the vehicle, but not in this case.

And I second what facepalm recommends (try out the pickup truck), they have good horsepower.

[Shift]

Towing is strange. Sometimes a heavy vehicle suffers to tow a sports vehicle. Sometimes the same heavy vehicle tows another heavy vehicle no problem. I still couldn't find the logic behind it.

[DarkFenix]

Towing generally makes no sense in PZ. Once you get a vehicle going it should be easy to keep it going. The issue should be making it stop again, braking hard should have it rear end you.

Instead we seem to have an invisible person sitting inside all abandoned vehicles, who will notice it's being towed after a few seconds and apply the brakes. So you can easily get a vehicle moving, but then it inexplicably becomes more difficult thereafter.

I think cars need a handbrake implemented. Parked cars would generally have it on by default, making it difficult to tow or move and they'll naturally come to a swift halt when moved. Get in and turn off the handbrake and the car becomes quite easy to move, it can be towed easily (wheel condition allowing of course), can be pushed by a player on foot, and once it starts rolling it has a tendency to keep rolling under its own momentum for a while.

[Shift]

Originally posted by DarkFenix:

Towing generally makes no sense in PZ. Once you get a vehicle going it should be easy to keep it going. The issue should be making it stop again, braking hard should have it rear end you.

Instead we seem to have an invisible person sitting inside all abandoned vehicles, who will notice it's being towed after a few seconds and apply the brakes. So you can easily get a vehicle moving, but then it inexplicably becomes more difficult thereafter.

I think cars need a handbrake implemented. Parked cars would generally have it on by default, making it difficult to tow or move and they'll naturally come to a swift halt when moved. Get in and turn off the handbrake and the car becomes quite easy to move, it can be towed easily (wheel condition allowing of course), can be pushed by a player on foot, and once it starts rolling it has a tendency to keep rolling under its own momentum for a while.

That's the first thing that came to my mind when I had difficulties pulling a vehicle: "Maybe it's handbrake is on", then I remembered there's no handbrake in this game.

Also it's true for making it stop, that's why IRL you never tow another vehicle unless there's someone inside the vehicle being towed to brake it when necessary. We don't have that luxury in this game, so I would like for that to not be simulated.

[Animalman]

There is a handbrake, its the rear wheel drive. You need to lift the rear wheels of the car you're towing in order to have best chance. But sometimes the best it can do is highly sensitive to driving surface. Generally a fast car has the best pulling power. The best car is like a snake. Its like you've become a snake. And everything happens exactly as you want it to.

[Night]

Acquire an ambulance to use for towing. As a general rule of thumb though, you want high horse power and low weight. -- If you click on the engine in the vehicle parts interface, the engine QUALITY (and condition) can also have an impact on how well the vehicle functions.

If you don't like the ambulance, the next best vanilla towing vehicle is probably the Franklin All-Terrain.

And whatever you do, don't tow with standard van's or cerise wagons, unless you have a death wish.

-- The next best towing vehicle for vanilla, imo, is the Dash bulldriver, specifically the police or fire department variants.

[Undefined]

So I just towed an Ambulance using a Step Van and was able to reach 30mph, which is amazing.

I'm not sure what's going on there.

The Ambulance weights 1116, the Step Van weighs 1517 and has 370hp. The Ambulance was towed from the front.

In my previous post, I had towed the Step Van from behind.

It'd be great if a Dev could step in and shine some light on what factors affect the speed of a vehicle that's doing the towing. If a dev can't answer, is there someone out there who has decompiled the code and can look it up?

[MagikarpMagi]

If you're encountering falling speeds while towing, set your cruise control to the max speed you can travel without shifting gears. Somewhere like 15-20 mph, I forget. Staying in first gear will give you better towing performance at a consistent speed.

I think engine quality and damage as well as damage to vehicle parts can affect towing as well, but not altogether sure.

[Animalman]

The tow master 3000 the one you’re looking for is the called the Chevalier Cossette.

The poisonous wiki states that it has no ability to tow other vehicles this is the far opposite of the truth. It is the optimal towing vehicle and provides the best driving experience for whatever size vehicle you are towing

[Undefined]

Originally posted by Animalman:

The tow master 3000 the one you’re looking for is the called the Chevalier Cossette.

The poisonous wiki states that it has no ability to tow other vehicles this is the far opposite of the truth. It is the optimal towing vehicle and provides the best driving experience for whatever size vehicle you are towing

I found two of those bad boys with Engine Quality 100 and in pristine condition, but I've never used them and I migrated away from where I found them.

Anyway, it would make sense that it's good for towing considering it's got a lot of horsepower and a light body.

[Animalman]

It is in fact not good for anything but towing. It can’t take much damage. You can’t transport anything substantial in it without a tow. And only the highest level mechanics can repair it. But it’s like a katana. If you get the opportunity just use it. Who cares if you wreck it. Id go as far as saying it’s my fav vehicle. But it is not what you want in a vehicle, because maintaining a car like that is a full time job.

It’s not even the rarest vehicle. For me the large 4x4 and the small 4x4 are pretty rare to find in useable condition. This type of sports car we are talking about is basically mid price range. And can be found in westpoint regular driveways but most of mine have come from riverside. And 1 from louisville. In immediate useable condition with keys I mean.

The car can cover distance from LV checkpoint to West Point in ridiculous time. And it can do it with a tow on the back and near perfect handling.

It sticks to the road

While an ambulance has a flip risk

[BoogieMan]

I think it may be a bug in the game. Every vehicle I've tried seems to lose 70% of it's engine power the moment any form of trailer is attached, even heavy duty vehicles, and can barely even move in the grass. I can drive slightly offroad and a towing vehicle will sometimes gradually slowdown until it stops even though the engine is still revved. If I let go of forward and press it again, it'll start slowly accelerating again.

Using cheats to boost engine power, even by many times, doesn't seem to do anything to mitigate the problem.

[Undefined]

Originally posted by Animalman:

There is a handbrake, its the rear wheel drive. You need to lift the rear wheels of the car you're towing in order to have best chance. But sometimes the best it can do is highly sensitive to driving surface. Generally a fast car has the best pulling power. The best car is like a snake. Its like you've become a snake. And everything happens exactly as you want it to.

I've had good results since following this advice.

Also, the Chevalier Step Van has been good for me in terms of towing. It can go up to 60mph.