Kia Sorento V-6 as tow vehicle?

GibW

Wondering if anyone has experience towing with a V-6 Kia Sorento. We're thinking of getting a 2018 to replace our 2015 Subaru Outback 4 cylinder. Specs are for 5,000 lbs. towing capacity and rated for 500 lbs. tongue weight. So on paper it looks good. But wanted to check here to see if anyone had first hand experience. Thanks...

jgram2

Just searched on Kia and it looks like several people have them. Maybe some will reply and you can look over the matches in the meantime.

mandt

We have that car and it has worked fine. no issues

jason330i

GibW said:

Wondering if anyone has experience towing with a V-6 Kia Sorento. We're thinking of getting a 2018 to replace our 2015 Subaru Outback 4 cylinder. Specs are for 5,000 lbs. towing capacity and rated for 500 lbs. tongue weight. So on paper it looks good. But wanted to check here to see if anyone had first hand experience. Thanks...

Hello. We tow with a 2017 Sorento V6 SXL AWD. Unless you are in Canada, the tongue limit specified in the owners manual technically says 350lbs, but that still is more than enough for a Tab 320. 

I can confidently say you will have a better tow experience towing with a V6 Sorento than a 4 cyl Outback.

Like all crossover SUVs, the rear springs are soft and the rear will sag with a moderate amount of tongue weight. This amplifies the one drawback with the Sorento which is the low hitch height. I have the factory hitch and I believe it is the same with aftermarket hitches for the Sorento. They are all low to the ground. 

As as you may know, the standard Tab does not have much ground clearance either. So you may find yourself scraping things as you travel through dips. 

Some Sorento owners who tow have changed their rear springs or added airbags to the rear to help with the sag. I personally use a weight distribution hitch with sway control. This eliminates my sag.

When we bought the Sorento we also cross shopped the similar Toyota Highlander. The factory hitch on the Highlander installs in the rear bumper so it has much higher ground clearance. So I actually think it would be a better tow vehicle.

But the lack of Apple CarPlay and the inferior smart cruise control in the Highlander were both deal breakers for me. I believe the Sorento is a better all around vehicle than the Highlander.

But back to the point, the Sorento tows the Tab great. 

db_cooper

Our Xterra leaf springs were too soft as well.  Even without towing, it would bottom out easily on logging roads with people in the rear seat.  I added these helper springs and it completely solved the issue.  Took 30 minutes to install them myself (if you can tighten a bolt you can do it).  Cheap and effective.

https://www.autozone.com/suspension-steering-tire-and-wheel/leaf-spring-assist-kit/superior-automotive-leaf-spring-assist-kit/541243_0_0

dsatwork

We have a 2016 Sorento with the V6 and all-wheel drive and love it. We did add the Air Lift 1000 air bags, because as @jason330i says they are low and very soft. However, the airbags take care of all that and since we installed them, we haven't had any issues with dragging. All of the information I've seen, has the tow capacity at 5000 lbs and 500  weight right here in the good ole US of A. I love our Kia for towing the Tab, we have over 7000 miles towing all over the southwest and northwest some 10,000' passes and 108 degree temps without any issues. We have only had it since last February. We're going out again on Sunday to Joshua tree. 

GibW

Thanks to all for your thoughtful comments. Really helpful to learn from real world experiences.

mammabear34

SO glad to hear all this !  I just brought my T@B home 2 days ago and I haven't put a hitch on my 2016 Kia Sorento V6 AWD yet.  I will definitely keep this page and put on either the leaf springs or air bags !  Thank you everyone !   I'm so curious how it will feel towing it !

GibW

We keep our tongue weight at around 200 lbs. The Sorento is rated for 350 lbs tongue weight with a 5,000 lbs towing capacity. So I will wait and tow our T@B a few times to determine if the air bags are needed. 

dsatwork

GibW said:

We keep our tongue weight at around 200 lbs. The Sorento is rated for 350 lbs tongue weight with a 5,000 lbs towing capacity. So I will wait and tow our T@B a few times to determine if the air bags are needed. 

The 2016 and later Sorento V6 AWD models have a 500 lbs tongue weight with 5000 lbs tow capacity. But in my humble opinion, they can't really do that without the help of airbags or something to help with sag.

Marceline

mammabear34 said:

SO glad to hear all this !  I just brought my T@B home 2 days ago and I haven't put a hitch on my 2016 Kia Sorento V6 AWD yet.  I will definitely keep this page and put on either the leaf springs or air bags !  Thank you everyone !   I'm so curious how it will feel towing it !

Another thing you can do is buy a drop hitch and reverse it so it steps up. I had to do that to get a 16" hitch height when fully loaded. Also load your vehicle with the heaviest stuff over your rear wheels instead of behind them. 

dsatwork

Marceline said:

mammabear34 said:

SO glad to hear all this !  I just brought my T@B home 2 days ago and I haven't put a hitch on my 2016 Kia Sorento V6 AWD yet.  I will definitely keep this page and put on either the leaf springs or air bags !  Thank you everyone !   I'm so curious how it will feel towing it !

Another thing you can do is buy a drop hitch and reverse it so it steps up. I had to do that to get a 16" hitch height when fully loaded. Also load your vehicle with the heaviest stuff over your rear wheels instead of behind them. 

Getting it to 16" isn't the problem, I think my hitch only uses a 2 1/2 or 3 1/2" rise. it's how close the hitch is to the ground, because it mounts under the bumper. And these cars don't have much clearance.

dsatwork

@Marceline Your Battered but trusty 3.5l V6 Hyundai Santa Fe seems to have better clearance than the Sorento's do.

Cpalmer

Thanks all, Just bought a Sorento to be able to pull a T@B...... will add the Leaf Spring Assist.  Now need to find a nice used T@B CS or CS-S, really want the cooking space on the outside!

dsatwork

@Cpalmer I have a set of sumo springs that I'll sell for $50

GibW

Wanted to report back on our experience towing with the Kia Sorento... We bought a 2018 V-6 Sorento with AWD in December hoping that it would proved to be a more able tow vehicle than our 4 cylinder Subaru Outback. Now after a few trips I can say that our hopes were not misplaced. The Kia is nimble and quite capable towing our 2017 T@B 320-S. We do pack light; our tongue weight is probably just around 200 lbs and there is not a ton of gear in the Kia although we do put our two bikes up on top. I did not feel that the rear suspension needed any help with our light load. Highways and merging are handled with ease. The automatic transmission does a great job of downshifting for hills. We tend not to push it too aggressively and feel it's a great match for the T@B. Gas mileage with the T@B was probably around 15-16 mpg although it seemed to be reading 18 mpg at one point. Will need to keep better track on future trips. 

dsatwork

@GibW one of my big complaints about the Sorento is that the trip odometer reading doesn't show a running MPG. It shows the average MPH whatever that does for you. I think you can see MPG for a second or two just after you turn the car off.

ashaw

I upgraded from a Subaru Forester to a Kia Sorento and it tows great. I actually get a better gas milage with the Sorento when towing vs. the Forester..  Make sure that the exact model you are getting has the 5000 lb. towing.  Some configurations get less. Good luck and enjoy pulling your T@B.