Anyone tow with a Kia Sportage

[Old Ironmaker]

I am in the market for a newer vehicle, One option is to trade in y Silverado 1/2 ton 4x4 towards a vehicle for my wife and get me something. I have been offered a fantastic deal on a 2014 Kia Sportage, a good friends Mom's who has taken ill and can no longer drive. It has 22,000 miles on it. 2.5 litre 182 HP/177 foot pounds torque front wheel drive with only 2000 lb towing capacity. I estimate my StarCraft Superfisherman 190 is 2100 lbs with the 115HP Mariner and 15HP kicker, maybe a tad more, I know the boat net weight is 1750 lbs. Not including trailer. I don't tow much distance as we live on Erie. No further than 2 hours with no elevation changes I am concerned with pulling on a slippery steep ramp. I have to use 4 wheel drive often as the ramps are slick with algae often.

I know guys that do tow above capacity with similar sized crossovers, 2 wheel drive with zero issues.

Do you think it will do want I want it to do?

Thanks ahead of time, Johnny D,
Selkirk On. The Land Of Industrial Wind Turbines

 

[roffey]

Wait for some who really knows but my thoughts are... front wheel drive is not great for pulling boats out of the water. I think the towing capacity is rated for what it takes to pull a trailer. Your trailer likely will not be the weight of the boat and trailer. It would be what it takes to pull it. Having said that the tongue weight may be an issue tho.

Don't know if I'm making any sense or not

 

[roffey]

Thinking about your question further, why not keep the 1/2 ton for you and get the wife the Kia, best of both worlds, lol.

 

[82rude]

A friend pulls a 26 foot trailer with the little bugger.Personally id feel more comfortable with a Hyundai Santa FE .I'm not saying its right or wrong but I'm seeing more and more medium sized boats (19 to21foot) being towed by the santa fe or the Sorrento (kia).http://www.towingcapacity.co.uk/car-make-model/kia/kia-sportage/

 

[Scott Danforth]

you should drive the sportage.... co-worker has one with the 4-banger. he refuses to stomp on the accelerator because in his words, "it just makes me sad" the thing no mater what is claimed for hp, has less get-up-n-go than my PT cruiser with 222K on the clock

no way in he# that I would try to tow nearly double its capacity .

 

[82rude]

If a sportage is more gutless than a pt id stay a million miles away from it then.

 

[roffey]

... and you have to worry about stopping the thing.. will the Kia be up to it, I used to pull a tent trailer with a Ford tempo and if I had to do a panic stop it would just keep going with all the wheels locked up.

 

[briangcc]

Over limit? In the Great White North? Travel the 401/403/QEW towing? I wouldn't do it. Nope. Where we launched in Ontario, it was a sand ramp and there's no way a FWD vehicle would muster a retrieve. Ramp, if you want to call it that, was so bad we had the lodge we were staying at launch and retrieve the boats with a 4x4 Pathfinder - this was the late 90's.

I've seen a few undersized vehicles attempt to pull boats off ramps. Some are successful, meaning they get the boat up and out of the way, but the after effects are scary as all heck.

Saw an S-10 4x2 pull a 23-25' I/O out of one of my local ramps. He floored it, did a single wheel peel completely up the ramp, and in the process provided a smoke screen that the US Military would be proud of. Truck was still smoking as it exited the state launch, turned onto a major thoroughfare, stopped, then turned onto a different thoroughfare. I hope the guy made it home in one piece as that vehicle was severely undersized and the driver didn't appear to be concerned.

In another instance I saw a 1500 series 4x2 pickup attempt to pull a 30' cigarette boat out of Lake Ontario. He accomplished smoking the wheels and that was about it.


IF looking for a SUV in the KIA line I'd be looking at the V6 Sorrento - pulls 5k. Others....Nissan Pathfinder, Dodge Durango, Chevy Traverse, Toyota 4Runner, Toyota Highlander, V6 Honda Pilot. All have at least a 5K rating - based on current production year.

 

[NYBo]

You already know this is beyond the capabilities of the vehicle. Keep looking.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

NYBo, I know you are right. I should have added that more importantly than whether it will pull the boat out of a ramp, more will it stop when I want it to, And yes I have launched and retrieved her at places that said there was a ramp but it was where the land stopped and the water started.. Stoppnig is important, especially on the 400 series or the Queen E like briangcc mentioned?

I do have good news though. I went to see the Kia this AM. It isn't the gutless 2.5 lt. it has the 2 lt 260 HP TURBO AWD. The thing flies. The brakes not good enough to tow my boat and I always err on the side of safety now. The other good news is that it is like new condition but needs a good scrub inside as Steve's daughter has been using it and her 2 furry Dogs. My wife will like it I am sure. She will test drive it this weekend. When she feels that Turbo kick in she will be sold on it. Plus it's a few grand less than the Black Book value. Blue Book in the USA, Black Book here in Canada. I actually like the thing. I get to keep my truck to boot and look for my weekend sportscar this spring or summer.

Thank you all for the great advice. Often at times we know what the right decision is but need others to say it.

 

[NYBo]

That, as they say, is a horse of a different color. But the towing capacity is still 2000#.
https://www.kiamedia.com/us/en/model...specifications

But since you'll be keeping your truck, that's a moot point.

 

[roffey]

you mentioned in a different post that basically there is no replacement for displacement... I think after driving this vehicle you will think different, "260 HP TURBO AWD" this will fly and stick you to the back of your seat. My truck is turbo charged and it puts a smile on my face every time I punch it. You just don't get tired of performance.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Simple, she doesn't like it. No sale. Too small, too Soccer Momish, whatever that means, and an ugly colour. Case closed. I am ready to tap out. I told her to browse the Internet and she can find a car with a nice colour. Just find one ASAP, I want my truck back. To say I am sick and tired of car shopping is an understatement. I tap out.

I gave my buddies 21 year old son the Nissan yesterday, paying it forward. When I was in High School my fathers co-worker sold me his winter beater 63 Pontiac Parisienne (Bonneville in USA) 2 door hardtop for 1 dollar. I wish I still had that one. I told the kid he owes me $25.00 due to inflation.

 

[JimS123]

Simple, she doesn't like it. No sale. Too small, too Soccer Momish, whatever that means, and an ugly colour. Case closed. I am ready to tap out. I told her to browse the Internet and she can find a car with a nice colour. Just find one ASAP, I want my truck back. To say I am sick and tired of car shopping is an understatement. I tap out.

I gave my buddies 21 year old son the Nissan yesterday, paying it forward. When I was in High School my fathers co-worker sold me his winter beater 63 Pontiac Parisienne (Bonneville in USA) 2 door hardtop for 1 dollar. I wish I still had that one. I told the kid he owes me $25.00 due to inflation.

Our first Pontiac wasn't a Bonneville or a Parisienne, but a Catalina....a 1967. Same car, just a few less ammenities but still had the 400 CID V8. We had the car for 27 years. Finally, the rust got the better of it, though it still ran like a top.

Our Current Pontiac IS a Bonne - a 1980 that's still a virgin. Never seen snow....if its on the road you can be sure the boat is trailing behind it. Although we drove it a lot in the Summers, it has now become our dedicated towcar. You couldn't give me a truck to tow a boat.....LOL.

 

[QBhoy]

Why is the towing capacity so low ? Over here in uk it’s rated at 4000lbs.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Why is the towing capacity so low ? Over here in uk it’s rated at 4000lbs.

That's a good question. I think the disparity in towing rates have come up here before. Not an issue any longer as she won't buy it anyway.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Why is the towing capacity so low ? Over here in uk it’s rated at 4000lbs.

The Sportage came in many other European models than here in Canada and the US of A. EX, RX and SX only here, many other options in Europe. I have become a Kia expert after all this shopping. That and 2 bucks will get me a Tim Hortons coffee.

That Pontiac was gutless. A 6 cylinder if I remember, or a small block 8 running on 6. Most likely an 8. It wouldn't smoke bleach on a brake rev next to Harvey's with those snow tires on her. Why we never got arrested is beyond me. It wasn't an American muscle car back then like the GTO or Judge. Same body but that's about it.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Our first Pontiac wasn't a Bonneville or a Parisienne, but a Catalina....a 1967. Same car, just a few less ammenities but still had the 400 CID V8. We had the car for 27 years. Finally, the rust got the better of it, though it still ran like a top.

Our Current Pontiac IS a Bonne - a 1980 that's still a virgin. Never seen snow....if its on the road you can be sure the boat is trailing behind it. Although we drove it a lot in the Summers, it has now become our dedicated towcar. You couldn't give me a truck to tow a boat.....LOL.

Dad had basically the same car, a 78' . It was a Catalina here too then , not a Parisian if I remember right. A long time ago. The seats were more plush than the couch I had at my crash pad, but uglier. Sorry but I didn't like that one, rode like a bus. He traded in his 72' Delta 88. What a boat she was.