Is there enough grunt to tow a smallish boat with a 6? or do I need to trade it in for a 4x4?

The UK diesel version won best tow car of the year.

 

my owners manual says dont tow

 

well that sucks, all that power too!

 

a car like this just isn't made for towing. not the right kind of chassis or suspension or gearing

 

Tows caravans just fine in the UK, chasis is the same.

 

I'm just saying that it is not designed to tow. Of course it can tow, I know some people who have put hitches on their 6, but it just causes a lot of undue strain, especially since this vehicle is not desinged as a tow vehicle. Compare a Mazda 6 to an F-250 or a Titan, or a Silverado and note any differences.

 

also consider WHERE the power band is for a Mazda 6. It gets a lot of power in the upper RPM's, which is why once you get going the car can just keep gaining speed. This is not good for towing, truck engines typically have a lot of thier torque in the low end of the RPM range, thus allowing them to get a heavy payload or trailer moving without much work. For instance, before I bought my Mazda 6 I had a Nissan Xterra, which is abyssmally slow, however, I could tow a couple thousand pounds and barely feel a difference, the engine didn't have to work all that much harder than without a load. With the Mazda 6 however, trying to pull anything substantial would cause great strain on the engine, as you have very little Torque and Horsepower before you get going. Also note that front wheel drive is not idea for towing, as you have additional weight being transferred to the rear wheels-this can hurt traction and steering as well as braking. Which is another point, the Mazda 6 does not have brakes designed to tow extra wieght either. That's all for now.

 

All those are fair points and I certainly would not want to destroy my warranty by voiding it. Just for the record though, the UK does not have such huge vehicles and the Mazda6 diesel (obviously a better torquey engine) did win tow car of the year. I would imagine Mazda would soften the chasis for the US market, but 'do not tow' seems such a cop out in the manual. Oh well...

 

i don't doubt that you could tow somewhat, and the diesel engine is definately better for towing, but passenger cars are just not realy made to tow. If you do tow, i would say to keep a real close eye on everything, limit tounge load, prepare to take a longer time to come to a stop. Do not exceed total load ratings for the car, etc.

 

There is a major misconception about towing in the United States. It's seems that you have to have a truck and you have to have a lot of power.
Europe has vertually no trucks, so people pull their caravane (5th wheel) with their every day car.
Thought, most serious tower will own a car equipped with a diesel (mostly turbo diesel). Some of those cars have front wheel drive and some have rear wheel drive. They all have worked just fine since people have discovered caravanes in the 70's.
Yes, the Mazda 6 might not be geared for towing as Fragile rightly mention. But a car will pull a load nicely and sometime slowly up hills, as a truck will sometime be over kill. Bigger is not always better. I believe your car should be able to safely pull 1500 lb (800 Kg). Anything above might place a stain on everything Fragile listed.