The 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe was a lot like the 2010 models and they even shared the same towing capacity figures in their charts. We were still able to achieve a 3,500 pound maximum rating for the 2011 models and that same low-end rating of 1,653 pounds, which is quite a gap and was still dependent upon what accessories you had equipped on your vehicle and your trailer.
Your owner's manual is probably the most valuable resource you have regarding your vehicle. Always follow Hyundai's recommendations and requirements.
Overall Capacity: The overall towing capacity for the 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe ranged from 1,653-3,500 lbs., which was dependent on a couple of different factors that included: the optional trailer package that was available, whether your trailer utilized trailer brakes and what engine your vehicle was equipped with.
The Tow Chart:
For the 2010 Santa Fe, I wanted to go over a few data points in order to make this chart as obvious as possible for anybody looking at it. The smaller 2.4-liter engine and the bigger 3.5-liter engine can both be seen on the right side of the chart and are the two options that were available for these model year SUVs.
There are maximum tongue load weight ratings listed at the bottom of this chart, which are referenced as the "static vertical load" ratings, although they both reference the same thing.
The remaining information will be clustered towards the center of the chart and talks about two different things, the trailer packages and braked vs unbraked weight limits.
A trailer package was offered with these vehicles, but there was not a whole lot of information out there regarding these packages, how to identify if you have one on your vehicle or even what's included with these packages, so I could not dive as deep as I wanted to into the subject as I wanted to.
We can also see you around that area two boxes that are labeled with brake system and without brake system and these are simply referring to your trailer and whether your trailer has brakes installed.
Comparing The Data:
By Trim Level: Despite the fact that there were still three distinct trim levels available for the Santa Fe, as there had been in previous model years, the data was still somewhat different. Obtaining these figures was as simple as taking each of the three trim levels' available engines and relaying that info to get the specified ranges.
- GLS: 1,653-2,800 lbs.
- SE: 1,653-3,500 lbs.
- Limited: 1,653-3,500 lbs.
By Engine Options: Moreover, I was interested in comparing the two different engines side-by-side to see how much of a difference there was in terms of their capacity estimates.
To my surprise, the 3.5 L engine had just an extra 700 pound capacity advantage over the 2.4 L engine, on the high end of the range. The rating was the same for both engines at the lower end, since it was the same for both engines and was the unbraked trailer weight rating, which was the same for both engines.
- 2.4L (4 cylinder): 1,653-2,800 lbs.
- 3.5L (V6): 1,653-3,500 lbs.
Other Important Information...
There was another couple of pieces of information that I was able to find regarding these vehicles that pertains to towing that I thought was worth a mention. Trailer brakes were required on loads that weighed 1,653 pounds or more but other than that information, I wasn't really able to find any more detailed data about trailer brakes other than the small bit of information I found in the first image below that is pretty general, in nature.
The trailer tongue load was also mentioned in the owner's manual and Hyundai recommends a 10% tongue load on your vehicle, and to clarify, the 10% is referring to the trailers weight, not your vehicles. For example, if your trailer weighed 2,200 pounds, which included the weight of the trailer and all of the cargo inside the trailer, then you would aim for a tongue load weight of around 220 pounds or 10%.
A Few Helpful Links:
It was fairly simple to gather the data for this article, mainly due to the fact that there were only two resources that I really needed to use to gather all of the information that I needed. I went ahead and listed these two resources below, which I highly recommend that you read through, as there are tons of information in both resources.