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Kia Sorento good for towing?

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Topic: Kia Sorento good for towing?
Posted By: Joan & Robbie
Subject: Kia Sorento good for towing?
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2020 at 11:54pm
Hi,

My husband and I just purchased a 2016 R-pod 179 and are looking for a vehicle to tow it.  Has anyone used a Kia Sorento and how did it perform?  We like the Sorento because it is smaller and will fit better in our garage, but we don't want to sacrifice performance and handling.  Other mid-size SUVs we are considering include the Ford Explorer, Nissan Pathfinder, and Honda Passport.  They all have towing capacity of around 5,000 lbs, but the Kia is a bit smaller than the others.

Thanks!
Joan & Robbie
Anchorage, Alaska



Replies:
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2020 at 5:44am
Hi and welcome.

Re your tow vehicle, all the ones you listed are on the small end of what I'd want to consider for towing a 179. I tow my 179 with a Highlander, which is slightly larger and heavier but in the same category. I consider it the smallest tow vehicle I would use. Luckily, it fits fine in my garage, but if it didn't I think I'd still squeeze it in rather than reduce my towing capabilities any further.

Size and weight matters while towing. Longer wheelbase, higher gross weight rating, larger fuel tank all help. For example, you will at best get around 13-14 mpg towing no matter what you get so a small gas tank might drive you crazy. The Highlander is just shy of 20 gallons and its OK for me but I wouldn't want it to be any less. You'll only want to consider AWD versions of any of those vehicles of course.  

How you camp and what you take with you is very important in making your choice. Are you going to be boondocking? If so, you will want to be able to fill your water tank and will probably want dual batteries. Together that adds a couple of hundred pounds to the tongue weight. I boondock and mine tongue weight is right at 500 lbs, which is generally the limit for vehicles this size. Add passengers or a bunch of heavy stuff in the back of the SUV and you're overloaded. It's just my wife and I and we carry just a few light things like folding chairs back there. I wouldn't add anything else or take any passengers while I'm towing. 

OTOH, if you're going to have water and hookups where you camp and there's just the two of you and you pack light and drive conservatively you should be fine. You will be surprised at how fast weight adds up though, get an actual weight on your trailer, tongue, and tow vehicle as loaded (you can use a public scale for that) so you know and aren't guessing. Trailers never weigh what the manufacturers say they do. 

One spec that is not generally published but important is the max combined gross vehicle weight. That's the max total weight of the combined rig.  You can't just add the 5000lb max tow rating to the gross weight rating of the SUV, that 5000 lbs is the max you can tow with only the driver and nothing else in the tow vehicle. The CGWVR should be listed (along with lots of other good stuff) on the driver's door jamb. 

Another consideration is that since you will be towing a relatively heavy trailer with a relatively light tow vehicle, you will want to have a weight distribution hitch to help move some of the hitch weight from the rear axle to the front axle of the SUV for better stability and control. So, confirm that what you get has at least a 500 lb hitch rating and check the manual and be sure that the manufacturer doesn't disallow use of a weight distribution hitch. 

None of these vehicles are going to be overpowered for towing but they won't be terrible either.  As long as you're not in a hurry you'll be fine on performance. Have fun!






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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold


Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2020 at 8:00am
"Kia Sorento good for towing?"


Nope, not a travel trailer.

Maybe a teardrop or a pop-up tent trailer.


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r・pod 171 gone but not forgotten!


Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2020 at 8:23am
Joan and Robbie, it looks like the Kia Sorento has a towing capacity that is about the same as the gross vehicle weight of the 179, giving you no margin of error and in all likelihood, you'd be seriously overweight by the time you added yourselves, fuel, and the normal stuff people bring along camping.  Take a look at the weight limits from Kia's web site:   http://www.ksmanual.com/vehicle_load_limit-143.html - http://www.ksmanual.com/vehicle_load_limit-143.html

The 179 is a great choice for a travel trailer but you really need to match it to a tow vehicle that can comfortably handle it.  The other vehicles you mentioned would work well, as would a Toyota 4Runner, provided they are properly equipped for towing a trailer of that weight.  It's best to have a margin of error on the towing capacity.  If you don't, you'll find that you're exceeding the combined gross vehicle weight, as was mentioned by offgrid.

Best of luck in your search.


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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost


Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2020 at 10:26am
The Nissan Pathfinder is going to be your best choice out of all the mentioned vehicles. It has a tow capacity of 6100 pounds. But it has to be a 2017 or higher. Pre 2017 had 5000 pound capacity. I have a frontier that has the same tow rating, and I wouldn't hesitate to pull a 179 with it. I pull a 195 at this time, and the dry weight is 3500 pounds. 

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2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195
2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl
I'll be rpodding


Posted By: Joan & Robbie
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2020 at 10:57pm
Thanks everyone, that was very helpful!  Based on the above advice, we decided to skip the Kia Sorento.  We just returned from the dealer where we purchased a Nissan Pathfinder.   Looking forward to getting acquainted with our new R-pod!



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