Best cars to tow?

[Swanky]

So... getting back into Zomboid to finally realize that "build your house" playthrough. Been surviving before, so it's not super terrible easing back into things.
However, I found that beautiful 400 storage weight trailer and I want to tow that thing... only the 400HP / 60 engine quality car that I have won't cut it, doing it with 15mph max and it randomly gets slower on the road. No car traits used in this playthrough.
What do I need to focus on when I want to tow big and heavy things?

[SgtEmissary [Kane's Will]]

Are you using modded vehicles? If not i would suggest the Chevalier D6. It was my go-to for awhile until I got modded vehicles in. This is peculiar as in my playthroughs my vehicles achieved much higher speeds than 15 MPH.

[Kaia]

https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Franklin_All-Terrain

That one is my fave. it's got a large trunk, but also has 4 seats intead of 2.

[SgtEmissary [Kane's Will]]

Originally posted by Kaia:

https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Franklin_All-Terrain

That one is my fave. it's got a large trunk, but also has 4 seats intead of 2.

That and the Dash Rancher. https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Dash_Rancher If you can find these two. They're pretty rare. D6s are loads more common and if you find a fire-truck variant it has even higher engine power.

[Kaia]

Originally posted by SgtEmissary Kane's Will:

Originally posted by Kaia:

https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Franklin_All-Terrain

That one is my fave. it's got a large trunk, but also has 4 seats intead of 2.

That and the Dash Rancher. https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Dash_Rancher If you can find these two. They're pretty rare. D6s are loads more common and if you find a fire-truck variant it has even higher engine power.

Nope. that one only has 2 seats. And a garbage trunk capacity.

[Swanky]

I'm running Filibusters + Autotsar's Petyarbuilt & Samara. Haven't found any of those yet, spawning in Rosewood with very low car spawning (and low durability to boot).
All of the cars you have suggested however have better horsepower ratings than the one I am having, so I guess I'll have to scoot around town to see if I can find a jeep or SUV with better ratings there. I can already hotwire, and I have gas so fingers crossed.
Thanks for the suggestions, all helpful <3

[SgtEmissary [Kane's Will]]

Originally posted by Kaia:

Originally posted by SgtEmissary Kane's Will:

That and the Dash Rancher. https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Dash_Rancher If you can find these two. They're pretty rare. D6s are loads more common and if you find a fire-truck variant it has even higher engine power.

Nope. that one only has 2 seats. And a garbage trunk capacity.

Depends on your usage and needs. OP is specifically talking about tow power here. Which the Rancher, D6 and Bulldriver have it beat.

In any case, the D6 has 80 capacity (which is not a considerable difference from the All-Terrain which has 85) while the Dash Bulldriver (its SUV cousin) has 130. If he wanted storage capacity, might as well drive the Chevalier Step Van. There the van would be the best for overall storage capacity.

[SgtEmissary [Kane's Will]]

Originally posted by Swanky:

I'm running Filibusters + Autotsar's Petyarbuilt & Samara. Haven't found any of those yet, spawning in Rosewood with very low car spawning (and low durability to boot).
All of the cars you have suggested however have better horsepower ratings than the one I am having, so I guess I'll have to scoot around town to see if I can find a jeep or SUV with better ratings there. I can already hotwire, and I have gas so fingers crossed.
Thanks for the suggestions, all helpful <3

See if you can find one of those Chevy trucks or a Ford F-150 he has then.

If not, you might be able to find a Chevalier Nyala, which is the most common car in the base game. With decent horsepower, capacity, handling. If you need parts for it, you're good to go and if you can find a squad car it has much higher horsepower. https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Chevalier_Nyala

If I didnt use a D6 I would use the Nyala as a second choice.

[Animalman]

https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Chevalier_Cossette

hands down sort of thing you'd tow a caravan with.
Quick to reach speeds
Which can be integral when towing. Nothing worse than when a zombie can walk faster than your car can get out of first

[Animalman]

stat u wanna look at is engine power.

the rancher is 440, but the cossete is 570.

it outperforms even the franklin all terrain,
but also both other sports models by a factor of 50

500 dash elite, 500 premani, 520 mercia lang

this also combines with the weight to calculate the final pulling power i imagine. in which case the cosette still reigns king

that beast is like a snake dragging a vehicle behind it

wiki is full of suprises
https://pzwiki.net/wiki/File:Carmodconcept.png

[SgtEmissary [Kane's Will]]

Originally posted by Animalman:

stat u wanna look at is engine power.

the rancher is 440, but the cossete is 570.

it outperforms even the franklin all terrain,
but also both other sports models by a factor of 50

500 dash elite, 500 premani, 520 mercia lang

this also combines with the weight to calculate the final pulling power i imagine. in which case the cosette still reigns king

that beast is like a snake dragging a vehicle behind it

True, but it is one of the rarest vehicles in the game though. I've only seen like about 5 or so in the over 1,179 hours I've played.

[Animalman]

Yeah they are rare. So are most of the sports models. with more common ones Dash Elite. The other two sports premani, mercia lang also rare. But they pop up from time to time.
I not played a mechanic in a while because of course these models require decent mechanics skill to maintain

[SgtEmissary [Kane's Will]]

Originally posted by Animalman:

Yeah they are rare. So are most of the sports models. with more common ones Dash Elite. The other two sports premani, mercia lang also rare. But they pop up from time to time.
I not played a mechanic in a while because of course these models require decent mechanics skill to maintain

Exactly, that in mind, the other vehicles are far more reliable in all areas. If they break, they are easily repaired, or replaceable.

[Yarblatt]

For the OP, specifically addressing the "randomly slows down after a while" thing while towing. It's not random, but it can be hard to figure out at first glance and it's a bit wonky. What's happening is that once you get up to a certain speed, the car automatically shifts to a higher gear and at the higher gear it doesn't have the power to keep pulling the towed vehicle so it essentially stalls. It's not remotely how towing works in the real world, but that's what's happening in game. In real world, assuming a constant surface and level plane, you can keep shifting up gears and going faster with the same tow load until you red line the engine or something changes the forces acting on the vehicle(s). For whatever reason, the automatic transmissions in game can't figure out how to apply power properly while towing.

[Animalman]

cool info on the wiki

"
Trying and failing to hot-wire:

Doesn't break the car or your tools.
Can make noise and draw attention.
Remember, cars in better shape are trickier to hot-wire
."

i think i sat for a long time trying to hotwire a 100% cosette before

heres another

2017 thursdoid fire truck
https://pzwiki.net/wiki/File:Truck_Fire_Model.png
i wonder why they dropped it
https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Planned_features#Vehicles


missing from the wiki is also the Ambulance stats
from my knowledge thats a good tower aswell
in addition to police vehicle though cannot vouch for the tow for that

[SgtEmissary [Kane's Will]]

Originally posted by Yarblatt:

For the OP, specifically addressing the "randomly slows down after a while" thing while towing. It's not random, but it can be hard to figure out at first glance and it's a bit wonky. What's happening is that once you get up to a certain speed, the car automatically shifts to a higher gear and at the higher gear it doesn't have the power to keep pulling the towed vehicle so it essentially stalls. It's not remotely how towing works in the real world, but that's what's happening in game. In real world, assuming a constant surface and level plane, you can keep shifting up gears and going faster with the same tow load until you red line the engine or something changes the forces acting on the vehicle(s). For whatever reason, the automatic transmissions in game can't figure out how to apply power properly while towing.

Theres a fix for that. You can go in reverse and then back into forward and it gives you an extra burst of power. I figure this mimics that. Its helped me a ton, especially when I've been off-roading. You do this with Speed Demon and its going to get crazy.