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Old 09-16-2012, 10:23 AM   #1
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Hyundai Tucson for towing?

We are looking at a 2010 Hyundai Tucson to tow our 15-foot Trillium. Does anyone have any experiences to relate? We have a 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe that we bought just last year to tow it, but our gas mileage is horrendous (even when we are not towing) so are looking to change.
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Old 09-16-2012, 10:26 AM   #2
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What is the tow rating of the Tucson? What is the loaded weight of the trailer? How much will it cost you to sell the Santa Fe? How much will the extra gasoline cost yearly you if you keep it?
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Old 09-16-2012, 11:14 AM   #3
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Hi Susan. I just looked up the towing capacity for a 2010 Tucson and it is only 1,000 pounds. In the list of trailer weights posted here, I found that the weight of a 15' Trillium is 1,940 pounds. In my opinion, a Tucson isn't going to work for you.

When you say the towing mileage with the Sante Fe was horrendous, how bad was it? It wouldn't shock me to see something in the mid- to low teens. Towing mileage varies with a lot of factors, the largest of which is speed. What speed were you trying to maintain?
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Old 09-16-2012, 11:28 AM   #4
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Susan, I just looked up your 2004 Sante Fe. The 4 cylinder engine was only rated for towing 1,200 pounds and the EPA mileage rating was 20/27 MPG (City/Highway). The 3.5L V-6 version was rated to tow 2,800 pounds and has an EPA rating of 16/22 MPG. There's also a 2.7L engine with similar towing capacity to the 3.5L engine.

Either way, when towing you will get no where near EPA ratings. My personal experience is a loss of 40% on fuel economy when towing. Again, that depends on a lot of factors and your "results may vary". Don't get discouraged. If you have the V-6 version of the Sante Fe and it's running well, I'd say keep it and be content to feed it the extra fuel when towing. The fuel bill is lower than a new car payment.
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Old 09-16-2012, 12:35 PM   #5
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My pathfinder gets about 17 MPG average when towing my 13' scamp it gets about 15. Not bad but not great. I guess that's why I also have my civic which gets 34. Twice that of the pathfinder. It's a 99 pathfinder and not the prettiest (bought it used) but its perfect for towing and trips to the hardware store
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Old 09-16-2012, 12:45 PM   #6
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Hyundai Tucson for towing

Speed really does make a difference. We towed our 13' Scamp 9,000 miles this summer, with our 1994 Dodge Cummings Diesel in stead of our Jeep Wrangler, because empty we average 23mpg with it, and only 14mpg with the Jeep (not towing) and only 10.5 towing with the Jeep. The Dodge averaged 17.8 towing at 75 mph, and 23 towing at 55 mph. It didn't know it was even back there and never had to down shift on mountain grades.
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Old 09-16-2012, 12:50 PM   #7
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I have a 4cyl 2006 Tucson. Rated for towing 2000 lbs. the only problems are long hills at highway speed. Mileage is a factor of speed. Much better at 55 than 70.

Check out my blog at eggscamper.blogspot.com
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Old 09-16-2012, 10:15 PM   #8
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Unless you are getting less than 14 or 15 mpg, don't expect a different vehicle to necessarily improve the fuel economy much (if any).
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Old 09-17-2012, 01:51 PM   #9
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Amen, Mike. It takes horsepower to move something up a hill and also overcome air resistance. Relatively speaking, there's not a whole lot of difference whether that horsepower is coming from a 2.5L four cylinder engine or 5.0L V-8. It still takes the same relative amount of fuel to generate the same amount of power.

Not trying to start a whole bunch of replies to my comments. Yes, I'm ignoring the frictional and heat losses inside the two different engines and the relative RPM's that are needed to produce the same HP. If it were me, I'd prefer the larger engine which makes that same horsepower at a lower RPM.

OK, so I guess I did open a can of worms. But Mike is right, there won't be much change in Fuel economy. It pretty much gets down to gross vehicle weight, drag coefficient, terrain, wind, transmission type, and the SPEED that you choose to tow at. Slow down and enjoy.

Hope I haven't confused.
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Old 09-17-2012, 07:11 PM   #10
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You don't say which 2010Tucson you're looking at...there may be a wide range of capacities between models. A breaking point is often transmission, manual being favored over auto for higher towing capacity. For example, the 2010 GLS 4 cyl/6 speed/manual transmission has a limit of 2000 pounds.
(Source: 2010 Hyundai Tucson GLS 4dr SUV 2.4L 4-cyl. 6-speed Manual Features and Specs)

This vehicle is very similar to my Kia Sportage in terms of size, weight, engine size and towing capacity. I've been towing a trailer exactly like yours for years with the ('97!) Kia, and have no complaints whatsoever about the combination. I'd add that a lot of those miles were over fairly rugged, often mountainous terrain.
Note:
I presume that your Trillium has electric brakes since they were standard on the '78- need I add that a live brake controller in the tow vehicle is an absolute necessity?

I'd have no qualms about towing a T-4500 with the Hyundai described above.... other 2010 models may have lower limits and would probably not be up to the job.

Happy Camping!
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