2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Towing Capacities

The 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe was quite capable when it came to overall towing capacity oh, just like a lot of the other late model years and have the ability to tow up to 5000 lb if your vehicle and trailer was properly equipped.

This sounds fantastic, but if you were not properly equipped then Your Capacity was significantly reduced to just over 1,600 lb So you need to know what equipment you needed to have installed not only on your vehicle but your trailer as well in order to achieve those higher ratings

Be sure to read through your owner's manual as it is the most valuable resource you have for your vehicle and be sure that you adhere to all of Hyundai's recommendations and requirements.

Overall Capacity: The overall towing capacity for the 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe ranged from 1,653-5,000 lbs. And was only dependent upon two different variables, which were whether you had the optional trailer package installed and whether the trailer you were pulling behind your vehicle was integrated with its own braking system.

The Chart:

The chart for the 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe was pretty simple, as you can see below and was similar to many other late model Santa Fes, in fact it was exactly the same as a number of other model years.

If we look at the data in the chart, we can see that on the right-hand side the sole engine option is listed along with the three maximum trailer weight ratings. At the very bottom of the table we can see the maximum tongue load weight rating which is referred to as the permissible static vertical load.

We can also see in the center of the chart, two different options which refer to brake systems and trailer packages. The brake systems are regarding your trailer, not your vehicle and whether the trailer you're using had its own brake system installed, as this would allow you to pull heavier loads if your trailer had the ability to aid in stopping itself.

There was an optional trailer package available for these SUVs as well, and you can see the two different ratings listed, which is a substantial difference between the two metrics.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Towing Chart

Sport Models Data: I was not able to find any data on the sport models, in fact, I was not able to find the owner's manual for these vehicles, so I could not provide the data in this article for those specific models.

Let's Compare The Data...

By Trim Level: There were only two different trim levels available for the standard model Santa Fes and this was either a SE or Limited trim level option. Since both trim levels used the same engine, both were able to achieve the same range as far as pulling power goes. I'm not sure if both trim levels were able to have the optional trailer package installed, as I was not able to find any detailed information on that subject.

  • SE: 1,653-5,000 lbs.
  • Limited: 1,653-5,000 lbs.
  • Sport: No Data
  • Sport 2.0: No Data

By Engine Options: I wanted to also look at the different engine options that were available for these vehicles and get the appropriate capacities based on the engine options, but since I couldn't find the data on the sport models, there was only one engine option for the standard models, so it's less of a comparison and more of just an overview of the data, in this case.

  • 3.3L (V6): 1,653-5,000 lbs.
  • 2.4L (4 cylinder) Sport Model: No Data
  • 2.0L (4 cylinder) Sport Model: No Data

Other Essential Information...

I was also able to find a couple of other pieces of information that talk about the trailer tongue load weight rating that's recommended by Hyundai and a small note on trailer brakes.

As far as trailer brakes go, all of the information we were provided from Hyundai was found in this little excerpt in the owner's manual, which I posted below and it really only talks about how the trailer brakes must be installed properly on the trailer and they must conform to Federal and local regulations, but that's about it. We do have the unbraked trailer weight ratings listed in the chart, which was listed at 1,653 pounds.

We were also given the maximum tongue load weight rating which was referred to in the chart as the permissible static vertical load, but is essentially the same thing and that was set at five hundred pounds (max.) because the maximum trailer weight rating was listed at 5,000 lbs. so 500 lbs. is 10% of that.

If you're pulling a trailer that is less than weight than the maximum rated specification, you will still want to aim for 10% of the trailer's weight on the tongue of the trailer, which would put weight on the hitch of your vehicle.

Hyundai Trailer Brakes Note
Hyundai Tongue Load

A Few Helpful Links:

There were only two different resources I used when researching information for these vehicles and most of the information you see in this article came directly from the owner's manual. The brochure was also helpful in providing me data about the different trim level options that were available for these vehicles and it also provided an overview of what options came standard with each trim level.

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