Kia Sorento Towing Capacity: What To Know

Published September 8, 2021
in Model Info

Kia owners love to brag about the durability and convenience of their vehicles, a radical turnaround from Kia’s old reputation for faulty design and frequent lemons. Now Kia competes with some of the most durable and well-known brands for durability and reliability, including Ford, Honda, Toyota, and Volvo. With popular models like the Sorento, more and more people are looking for performance details. Here’s what you need to know about Kia Sorento’s towing capacity.

We’ll also cover how Kia Sorento holds up against other similar vehicles, how the Sorento handles while hauling, and not anything else you need to know about using your Sorento to haul.

Kia Sorento Towing Capacity

Like many vehicles, Kia Sorentos have a range of different towing capacities depending on what year model you buy and what trim level you choose. Kia Sorento’s towing capacity ranges from 2,000-3,500 lbs. for most models today, depending on the options you choose.

That range is pretty good for camping and can even handle small pop-up and compact campers. It’s also a good range for aluminum or light fiberglass boats, but not for larger boats.

This range is also suitable for small trailers, up to very small horse trailers. However, larger trailers aren’t a good idea, especially if they’re loaded.

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Towing Packages

The LX and S trim levels both have a towing capacity of 2,000 lbs. If you upgrade your Sorento to an EX or better, the towing capacity goes up to 3,500 lbs. That’s partly because of a change in the engine in your Sorento, but you’ll also get other features that make the Sorento easier to drive and haul with.

All-new Kia Sorentos come with three features that can impact your towing experience:

Electronic Stability Control
Traction Control System
Hill Start Assist Control

As you improve your trim level, the Sorento also offers blind spot warnings and cross-traffic sensors that help keep you safe on the road. However, some of those sensors may need to be turned off while you’re hauling since the sensor may be set off by your trailer or other hauled equipment.

Kia Sorento Safety Ratings

One important thing to consider when you’re looking at the towing capacity of any vehicle is its safety rating. That’s because towing heavy equipment inherently makes driving that vehicle more difficult. The safer your vehicle is to start off with, the safer it is to haul with that vehicle.

The good news is that in addition to the Kia Sorento’s good towing capacity, the Sorento also gets excellent safety ratings. The higher the trim level you choose, the better the safety features of the Sorento become.

How Does Kia Sorento Towing Capacity Compare To Similar Vehicles

When it comes to towing capacity, the Sorento is on the good side of average. Looking at SUVs and compact SUVs, the average towing capacity tends to be around 3,000-5,000 lbs., with some outliers both below and above the average.

For instance, the Honda CR-V, one of the more popular compact SUVs, has a towing capacity of 1,500 lbs. That means that the Sorento has a base towing capacity performance 500 lbs. higher than the CR-V.

For a more comparable option, the Ford Explorer has a towing capacity of 5,000-5,600. The Explorer is known to be one of the best hauling SUVs currently available, so the fact that the Sorento comes close speaks to how well designed it is for hauling.

The Sorento is comparable in a lot of ways to the RAV 4, CR-V, and Forester aside from towing capacity. It’s a similar size and comfort level, and all three models of SUVs have options for similar safety and convenience features.

However, the Kia Sorento has lower fuel efficiency than a lot of similar SUVs. That’s partly because of the higher horsepower that makes the Sorento a good hauling vehicle. However, it also means that the Sorento isn’t as popular as a general commuter vehicle since gas costs a good bit more than it would for the less powerful SUVs.

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Kia Sorento Driving Performance While Hauling

With all of the safety features and other performance details of the Kia Sorento, you’d expect pretty good driving performance in most conditions. Thankfully, the Sorento delivers on expectations.

The Sorento handles well while loaded. Both engine designs are powerful enough to maintain good speed and acceleration while loaded and don’t seem to work too hard to maintain speed even at maximum towing capacity.

Some of the additional safety features on the Kia Sorento can be helpful for towing performance, but some of them can also get in the way. For instance, backup assistance and proximity warnings may be set off by a trailer behind your vehicle. However, cross-traffic warnings can be useful to help make up for additional blind spots that come from hauling trailers, vehicles, and other equipment.

However, the Kia Sorento doesn’t have a 4-wheel drive as an option. That limits its performance slightly and can make it harder to regain control if you encounter challenges on the road while hauling.

Braking performance while hauling is also very good with the Kia Sorento. Brake performance is reasonably efficient without putting excessive wear and tear on your brake pads and rotors. That helps to minimize how much maintenance you need to do on your Sorento.

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Advice for Hauling With A Kia Sorento

Kia Sorentos are good for hauling a wide range of weights and can handle a wide range of different sizes and configurations. Without having 4-wheel drive, there are a few more limitations, but for the most part, a Sorento can handle hauling anything within its weight capacity.

However, despite all the safety features and the power a Sorento brings to the table you’ll still need a fair amount of maintenance to keep the car in good condition. That means keeping on top of your maintenance, especially oil changes, coolant, and making sure you’re doing regular maintenance on time.

The Sorento also has middle-of-the-road clearance for an SUV. At just over 7 inches of clearance, it’s reasonable for most road and weather conditions, but that is just a little lower than some SUVs.

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