Tow Car of the year - wrong award?

[MrRee]

Was going to put this in Tow Car Section - but sure this is more general.
Petrol Tow Car of the year 2018 was the Kia Stinger 2.0 in basic trim.
This was perfect for me as I rather fancy the Stinger and I tow a small/light caravan.I'm looking for a flashy, fast car which can also tow.
Armed with this petrol towcar of the year award I go to the Kia dealer and have a test drive in the 3.3 litre.
Now, the problem - on Kia's website it says that the 2.0 litre can pull 1100kg max., the 3.3 litre 1000kg and the 2.2 diesel 1500kg. The Tow Car of the year 2018 were supplied the car with the statement that it can pull 1500kg.
The handbook for the car states 1500kg for the 2 petrols and the diesel, which makes sense looking at the power figures.
Kia HQ are worse than useless and know nothing, they say ask the dealer, I have - who need to ask Kia!
Anyone here know anything about the 2018 towcar of the year and were they misled by Kia?
Better still, anyone actually tow with a Stinger?

 

[MrRee]

Hi all
Joined as I want to see why Kia Stinger 2.0 was Petrol TowCar of the year 2018, when Kia will not confirm it can tow and instead their website states that it can only tow the smallest of caravans despite the TowCar testers being told 1500kg!

 

[Damian]

Parkers guide lists the car as being able to tow a braked 1500Kg,

I suggest that you take the matter up with KIA as no one here has their knowledge or reasons for not confirming.

 

[MrRee]

I have contacted Kia, who said contact Dealer, who say contact Kia ...... everywhere says 1500kg .... Kia's website says 1100kg for the 2 litre and 1000kg for the 3.3 - which is nuts with 500+Nm of torque coming in at 1300 RPM.

Someone here may own one and tow with one and have a good answer.

 

[Woodentop]

A good reference if you are unsure is
Honest John
who is the guy who does the motoring page of the DT on Saturdays. If you are unsure after readings his comments and findings you can e-mail him and he does reply.

 

[Damian]

Quote " Was going to put this in Tow Car Section - but sure this is more general."

Towcar is the appropriate section for info on Towcars.

You have already posted about this car in New Members and normally a duplicate posting is removed, but on this occasion your postings will remain as you provide more detail in this post.

Damian-Moderator.

 

[ProfJohnL]

You cannot take engine power and torque as a guide to the towing ability of car.

There have been some notable examples where same engine and gear box used two different vehicles have very different towed weight limits and it was apparently due to the vehicle cooling system being more compromised in one vehicle.

Often sports models of cars are no homologated for towing which is a requirement in the EU, so even if there is no foreseeable issue with cooling or braking, if the manufacturer has not done the towing testing it would be illegal to tow with the vehicle.

Other apparent discrepancies can arise if the manufacture concludes a car can tow a trailer whose weight exceeds the cars GTW -GVW subtraction. The greater trailer weight can only be towed if the load carried in the car is reduced by exactly the same amount, as the GTW must not be exceeded.

The discrepancy you have found points to teh fact that you must not assume third party sites will be correct, you can only use the vehicles registered figures as they appear on the vehicles weight plate.

 

[Parksy]

Rather than having two almost identical topics from the same forum member running on different message boards simultaneously I've amalgamated them and the replies to this thread.

 

[Raywood]

It seems to me that the figure in the handbook published by Kia should be the legal limit as that is their chapter and verse on the subject. A problem you could have though is that if you buy one and find the registration document gives you a lower one the authorities might take that.
Frankly Kia seem to be uninterested when they should be, as while the dealer has to be truthful when asked questions but if Kia cannot answer how can he?

 

[MrRee]

Do you mean on the V5?

 

[NigelHutson]

Whilst I can’t comment on the Caravan and Motorhome Club’s Tow Car if the Year Awards, we did test the 2.0-litre petrol version of the Kia Stinger at the 2018 Tow Car Awards event, and it was a real surprise in a good way. I thoroughly enjoyed driving it both towing and solo. As for the weights, they are supplied by the manufacturers (in this case Kia UK) and then double checked before we start thinking about ballasting the caravans to match. So, the 1,500kg towing limit would have been supplied by Kia themselves.

 

[Lutz]

It seems to me that the figure in the handbook published by Kia should be the legal limit as that is their chapter and verse on the subject.

A handbook is not a document. The only official document that can be used as evidence in court is the Certificate of Conformity, as only that is signed off by the manufacturer responsible for the product.

 

[ProfJohnL]

It seems to me that the figure in the handbook published by Kia should be the legal limit as that is their chapter and verse on the subject. A problem you could have though is that if you buy one and find the registration document gives you a lower one the authorities might take that.
Frankly Kia seem to be uninterested when they should be, as while the dealer has to be truthful when asked questions but if Kia cannot answer how can he?

Manufacturers will often print a get out clause in hand books: typically E&OE = Error and omissions excepted.
It is also the case that many owners hand books cover several models from a range, and thus some of the information is generalised or not model specific. Your bible has to be the registration document (V5c) and the vehicles unique data plates.

 

[MrRee]

Does the V5 give towing weights?

 

[otherclive]

Yes. But sometimes a V5 can have inaccurate data and requires amendment. I had a Mitsubishi SWB Pajero grey import where its V5 classed it as a motorhome. I had quite a job persuading DVSA to issue an amended version. But for a towing weight it should represent what Kia supplied.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Yes. But sometimes a V5 can have inaccurate data and requires amendment. I had a Mitsubishi SWB Pajero grey import where its V5 classed it as a motorhome. I had quite a job persuading DVSA to issue an amended version. But for a towing weight it should represent what Kia supplied.

Yes mistakes can happen, but until the mistake on the V5 is rectified by the manufacturer, the value displayed on the V5 is the value that would be used by the authorities when assessing loading queries.

 

[MrRee]

I've looked on my V5 - absolutely nothing about towing weights.

 

[otherclive]

I've looked on my V5 - absolutely nothing about towing weights.

That’s strange normally the V5 has braked and Unbraked towing loads. I can’t envisage a car that doesn’t specify even the unbraked load. That would effectively prevent it towing even a light trailer. Cars with central exhausts are sometimes not approved for towing. Ie ST/RS Ford

 

[Hutch]

I've looked on my V5 - absolutely nothing about towing weights.

That’s strange normally the V5 has braked and Unbraked towing loads. I can’t envisage a car that doesn’t specify even the unbraked load. That would effectively prevent it towing even a light trailer. Cars with central exhausts are sometimes not approved for towing. Ie ST/RS Ford

Just looked at The V5 for my Sante Fe, and under listing "O" max trailer weight, O1 unbraked O2 Braked , it's blank. But on my door post it has the Gross Train Weight.

 

[otherclive]

I've looked on my V5 - absolutely nothing about towing weights.

That’s strange normally the V5 has braked and Unbraked towing loads. I can’t envisage a car that doesn’t specify even the unbraked load. That would effectively prevent it towing even a light trailer. Cars with central exhausts are sometimes not approved for towing. Ie ST/RS Ford

Just looked at The V5 for my Sante Fe, and under listing "O" max trailer weight, O1 unbraked O2 Braked , it's blank. But on my door post it has the Gross Train Weight.

Must be a Korean thing 🙂

 

[Lutz]

Yes mistakes can happen, but until the mistake on the V5 is rectified by the manufacturer, the value displayed on the V5 is the value that would be used by the authorities when assessing loading queries.

It’s not the manufacturer that makes mistakes on the V5 but the issuing authority, here the DVSA. They are known to sometimes transfer details from the manufacturer’s Certificate of Conformity to the V5 incorrectly.

 

[Gafferbill]

Does the V5 give towing weights?

..........you need to locate your vehicles weight plate and this will give you the accurate information.

Locating the weight plate (Vin plate) and it's interpretation is explained by this website......

Click here

 

[ProfJohnL]

Does the V5 give towing weights?

..........you need to locate your vehicles weight plate and this will give you the accurate information.

Locating the weight plate (Vin plate) and it's interpretation is explained by this website......

Click here

Generally this document covers it, except where a manufacture sets a higher maximum towed weight allowance, based on the tow vehicle not being fully laden

Under no circumstances should the GTW be exceeded.