The 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe is a more compact SUV, so I didn't expect it to have a massive towing capacity attached to it, but it was able to achieve a maximum rating of up to 3,500 pounds, if you had the right equipment equipped on the vehicle.
It is important to note that you also had a lower rating of 1,653 pounds if certain requirements were not met, so you need to know what equipment you need to have installed on the vehicle in order to achieve those higher ratings.
I recommend that you read through your owner's manual and that you abide by all of Hyundai's requirements and recommendations when it comes to towing or anything else related to your vehicle.
2022 Santa Fe Overview
Overall Towing Capacity: The overall towing capacity for the 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe's ranged from 1,653-3,500 lbs. There were different ranges within that overall range though, which mainly accounted for the engine that you had equipped in the vehicle and whether you had a brake system equipped for your trailer.
The lower 1,653 pound rating was for trailers that did not have their own braking system installed and it didn't matter which engine you had equipped in the vehicle, you were only able to achieve this rating as specified by Hyundai.
There were also two different ratings for the two engine options that were available and this was either a 2,800 or 3,500 lb rating, if you had the standard brakes equipped with the vehicle.
There was another maximum trailer weight rating listed that had an optional package for the braking system on these vehicles and these were set at two thousand pounds maximum, no matter which engine you had installed in the vehicle
Engine Options: There were two different engine options for the 2022 model year and were both 2.5 liter engines, but one of these engines was a turbo model, that had much more power than the other standard option.
This was probably the biggest factor that contributed to the maximum trailer weight ratings in the chart, along with trailer brakes.
Trim Levels: There were five different trim levels also available for these model year SUVs and the trim level that you had equipped on your vehicle did impact the weight ratings that were found in the chart because certain trim levels only had one engine option available to them.
This directly affected the trailer weight ratings because the engine you had equipped was one of the main factors that contributed to how much you could pull.
Assumed Weight: I was not able to find any information on how much assumed weight that Hyundai specified when listing the maximum trailer weight ratings in the chart. I will look into this further and update this post as soon as I find that information.
The Tow Chart:
The chart for the 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe looks complex, but it really is quite simple if we look at the data. There are only two different types of engines that were offered and these were both 2.5 liter engines, but one was a standard engine and the other one was a turbo engine.
We have three different weight specifications listed in the chart and these are listed as the maximum trailer weight ratings without a braking system on your trailer, plus two capacities listed for trailers that have either a standard brake system or an optional package system that was available.
We can also see that the trailer tongue load weight rating was also specified and is listed as the static vertical load in the chart. This seems to be about roughly 10% of the trailer's weight and is pretty normal if we consider other vehicle manufacturer s'specifications.
Tongue Load Weight Rating...
In the chart above we can see that the trailer tongue load weight ratings were lifted at 280 lb and 350 lb which is the maximum weight given the highest trailer weight ratings for each engine option. Hyundai does specify that the trailer tongue load weight rating should be 10% of the trailer's overall weight and if you are hauling less than the maximum listed capacity in the charts, then you would use this 10% figure in order to get an accurate tongue load weight rating.
Trailer Brakes:
I couldn't find anywhere in the owner's manual that specifically stated any figures, other than the chart that I have posted above and if we look at the data in that chart, we can see that Hyundai requires that you have brakes installed on your trailer if you're planning on pulling more than 1,653 pounds.
Keep in mind that this is Hyundai's requirement and you will need to check with your local vehicle codes (that vary by state) in order to comply with what their requirements are, as they could be lower than what Hyundai requires.
Optional Braking System:
Coming Soon!
The Different Trim Level Options:
There were five different trim levels available for the 2022 models and these were listed in the spec sheet as the: SE, SEL, XRT, Limited and Calligraphy trim levels.
I was able to find the five different trim levels and what their maximum tow capacities were, based on the engine options that were available for each trim level. This further breaks down the information and helps organize which trim levels had the higher capacity numbers, due to having the more powerful turbo engine equipped.
What Engine Do I Have?
Finding out which engine you have equipped in these vehicles is pretty simple because the trim level that you have tells you all the information. The SE, SEL and XRT trim levels had the standard 2.5 liter engine equipped, while the Limited and Calligraphy trim levels had the more powerful 2.5 L turbo engine equipped.
I couldn't find any information that stated if the upgraded 2.5 L turbo engine was available for the SE, SEL and XRT trim level options, so I assumed that these engines were standard equipment and there were no options to upgrade for these three trim levels.
How About The GVWR, GCWR and GAWR Figures...
GVWR & GAWRs: The gross vehicle weight rating and gross axle weight ratings were not found anywhere in the owner's manual or any of the other pieces of literature I looked through, but I was able to find information on where you can find these figures.
Both of the gross vehicle weight rating and gross axle weight ratings can be found on the certification label, which is located on the center pillar of your vehicle, if you open the driver side door. This label looks like the image shown above and towards the top of the label you will see both figures listed.
GCWR: I was not able to find the gross combined weight ratings anywhere online or through any of my resources I've listed at the bottom of this article so that was kind of disappointing as these figures are very important. If I do end up finding out what they are, I will post them as soon as possible in order to keep this article as up-to-date as possible.
Additional Notes Worth Mentioning:
There were also a couple of other pieces of information that I found in the owner's manual that I wanted to post because I thought they were important to touch on and is a good example of how reading the owner's manual yourself can prove to be very useful.
Hyundai talks about using sway control on these vehicles, which would equate to a sway control device for your trailer or something else and they recommend talking to your dealer about one of these. They also mentioned the break-in period for these vehicles and how you do not want to do any type of trailer pulling with your vehicle for the first 1,200 miles.
The last bit of information talks about additional equipment that you may need installed on your vehicle that may come in a tow kit. They also mentioned different driving speeds for different conditions or road conditions that you might encounter, which is always important to read up on, especially when pulling additional weight behind your vehicle.
