Kia Sportage for towing? Or any other recommendations?

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tiger_buzz

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Does anyone have a Kia Sportage and use it for towing? I am looking at the 2.0 auto

Or does anyone have recommendations for a towing car? It needs to be economical though as it will be my everyday car too

I have a 16.1hh horse, don't know her weight but she is fine/tb build and I don't have a trailer yet, but probably will end up with an ifor 511 to give an idea of weight!

I've never owned a car for towing before so the more information from you guys the better :)

Thank you
 
I've got the sportage 2.1 diesel manual as my "day" car. In theory you can tow with it but the axle weight is very low. I've an Ifor 5010 and usually have 2 ponies on board + tack and kit in the car. That would put me over the axle weight with the Kia. You could get an ultra light single trailer and send water tack etc in a separate car. But even then, for me, the lack of power would be too scary. I'm not sure going up a steep hill would be comfortable - let alone getting out of a muddy field. But then I tow with a Landrover defender 110 LWB (my OH's day car!) so I am possibly spoiled.
 
As with most things in life, it depends how much you want to spend.

The 2.0 Sportage will do about 37mpg real world. So its not overly economical, hence opens up most 4x4 towing cars to you.

A am a huge fan of Land Rover products for towing, the Discovery Sport is a similar size to the Kia, and will do around the same mpg. Friends of ours use one for towing a HB511 and its great.
 
Shay said:
I've got the sportage 2.1 diesel manual as my "day" car. In theory you can tow with it but the axle weight is very low. I've an Ifor 5010 and usually have 2 ponies on board + tack and kit in the car. That would put me over the axle weight with the Kia. You could get an ultra light single trailer and send water tack etc in a separate car. But even then, for me, the lack of power would be too scary. I'm not sure going up a steep hill would be comfortable - let alone getting out of a muddy field. But then I tow with a Landrover defender 110 LWB (my OH's day car!) so I am possibly spoiled.
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I definitely don't want a single trailer, will the sportage not be able to comfortably tow an ifor 511 with one horse in then? On paper it says yes, but I don't want to be driving something that is only just within it's limits :)

Darbs said:
As with most things in life, it depends how much you want to spend.

The 2.0 Sportage will do about 37mpg real world. So its not overly economical, hence opens up most 4x4 towing cars to you.

A am a huge fan of Land Rover products for towing, the Discovery Sport is a similar size to the Kia, and will do around the same mpg. Friends of ours use one for towing a HB511 and its great.
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The Discovery is a lot more to buy though, even if they are similar costs to run.

I've also been recommended the SsangYong Rexton or Turismo?! But I'd never previously heard of it?
 
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MuddyTB said:
I've got a BMW X1. Tows 2000kg so easily copes with my Ifor 510 and 16.1 horse. And does 46 mpg day to day.
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This is an honest question, but is 2 tonnes easily enough to tow a trailer and one horse then? I'm guessing it's not enough to tow two horses? I've also looked at the Ssang Yong Korando and that has 2 tonnes.

People I know have been giving me such conflicting opinions!
 
http://www.uktow.com/towing capacity.asp?make=Kia&model1=Sportage

I'd get something more suited to the job. My 2.0 litre vitara was ok could tow a max 1850kg my trailer was 800kg but seeing other discussions I'm not sure I should have been towing with it anyway.

Have you looked at Kia Sorento I think they are more suitable or a Mitsubishi, jeep Cherokee

I think on the ifor's there is a max weight on the tow hitch which refers to the minimum your car can tow, I think that's where I got confused
 
tiger_buzz said:
This is an honest question, but is 2 tonnes easily enough to tow a trailer and one horse then? I'm guessing it's not enough to tow two horses? I've also looked at the Ssang Yong Korando and that has 2 tonnes.

People I know have been giving me such conflicting opinions!
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Yes. The manufacturers won't claim it can tow 2000 if it can't. The Ifor 510 and my horse plus a bit for hay/water never top about 1700kg anyway so I'm well within the weight. I couldn't take 2 horses, just 2 smaller ponies.

I've towed on to wet fields and long grass before no bother.

My advice is to work out your priorities. If you need to tow in deep mud or steep hills off road you may want something meatier. If you want to tow 2 horses you'll need more tow capacity. I'd probably even suggest a bigger car if towing long distances or very often.

However, if like me you need an economical day to day car which can tow 1 horse to local events every other weekend you are better off with a smaller car due to mpg on your day to day commute. There are lots to choose from. Good luck!
 
tiger_buzz said:
Does anyone have a Kia Sportage and use it for towing? I am looking at the 2.0 auto

Or does anyone have recommendations for a towing car? It needs to be economical though as it will be my everyday car too

I have a 16.1hh horse, don't know her weight but she is fine/tb build and I don't have a trailer yet, but probably will end up with an ifor 511 to give an idea of weight!

I've never owned a car for towing before so the more information from you guys the better :)

Thank you
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The maximum towing weight of the 2.0 auto is 1900kg and the Ifor 511 is 1000kg which allows you up to 900kg for the load. However you do need to remember that the vehicle should always outweigh the load you are pulling (ideally the load should be no more than 85% of vehicle as the other way round puts strain on the vehicle and also means that you run the risk of the tail wagging the dog)

The maximum towing weight will be based upon the maximum gross weight of the vehicle so as your gross weight drops so does your towing capacity.

So you do need to bear this in mind as the min kerb weight of the Kia sportage is 1690kg, so you will need to ensure that assuming your horse weighs say 600kg that you do have at least 200kg of additional weight in the vehicle.
 
Fred66 said:
The maximum towing weight of the 2.0 auto is 1900kg and the Ifor 511 is 1000kg which allows you up to 900kg for the load. However you do need to remember that the vehicle should always outweigh the load you are pulling (ideally the load should be no more than 85% of vehicle as the other way round puts strain on the vehicle and also means that you run the risk of the tail wagging the dog)

The maximum towing weight will be based upon the maximum gross weight of the vehicle so as your gross weight drops so does your towing capacity.

So you do need to bear this in mind as the min kerb weight of the Kia sportage is 1690kg, so you will need to ensure that assuming your horse weighs say 600kg that you do have at least 200kg of additional weight in the vehicle.
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I would always have two people in the car plus tack and general junk that would live in ones car haha, why is it so important though? Sorry if it's a stupid question but I am new to this and google is confusing!
 
ROG's reference to the B+E license is that post 1997 you need a separate test to tow a trailer. If you got your UK license after 1997 you must take the separate trailer test.

ROG is also going to be the one to untangle the trailer tow weight question as the responses certainly have not matched my understanding - but towing with a 110 LWB there is pretty much no chance of exceeding my tow weight!
 
Shay said:
ROG's reference to the B+E license is that post 1997 you need a separate test to tow a trailer. If you got your UK license after 1997 you must take the separate trailer test.

ROG is also going to be the one to untangle the trailer tow weight question as the responses certainly have not matched my understanding - but towing with a 110 LWB there is pretty much no chance of exceeding my tow weight!
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Yes, I need to take that test, premature maybe to purchase a car before I have passed it, but I need a new car and seemed sensible to choose a car I will be able to tow with!

Once I have passed that test I can tow anything, is that correct?
 
ROG said:
post number 3000 of the HHO TOWING CLINIC thread explains everything - link below in signature
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Thank you!





LICENCE
B or B+E = B

VEHICLE
GVW = 2260kg
Towing capacity = 2000kg
Kerb weight = 1797kg

TRAILER
Un-laden/empty = 1000kg
MAM = 2700kg

Is there a way to travel one horse legally without the B+E licence? Thank you :)
 
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