The Hyundai Tucson is a smaller SUV and it's probably more well-known for its economy pricing, so I wanted to see if it had any kind of towing capacity attached to it and from my research, I found out that it actually did!
I looked through Hyundai's website and looked through the various owner's manuals to conduct my research and posted charts to specific model years to create a resource page. Hope you like it.
Overview of the Data For the Tucson:
Engine Choices: There weren't many different engines use for the Hyundai Tucson's over the years, in fact one of the engines, the 2.0 liter engine was used in almost every model year, with additional engines offered four different model years.
The engine you had equipped didn't make too much of a difference when it came to the overall capacity numbers, and in some cases it didn't make any difference at all. There were a couple of different circumstances where the engine you had equipped did make a slight difference, but only to the tune of 150–500 lbs.
Configurations: I did notice that in some of the charts I posted had 2-wheel drive and all-wheel drive models listed, along with automatic transmission and other types of transmissions that were available for these vehicles, but when I compared the metrics it didn't make any difference at all.
What really made the difference was whether you had trailer brakes installed on your trailer, and this made quite a significant difference in some cases, ranging from 350 to 1,000 pounds!
Towing Capacity: The towing capacity numbers really didn't change over the years, except for the later model years from 2018 on. Prior to that, the capacity numbers ranged between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds, in general. The newer models saw an increased capacity of between 1,500–2,000 pounds.
Some of the models below shared the same data and the same charts, so I posted one chart that applies to many different model years, but the data was exactly the same for all of the models in that section.
Always read your owner's manual to be sure you have all of the information that Hyundai recommends when it comes to hauling anything.
2021-2019 Models:
The 2021-2019 models had a towing capacity that ranged from 1,650–2,000 lbs. and it didn't matter whether you had the 2.0 L or 2.4 L engine equipped, as both metrics in the chart below were the same for either engine.
I'm not really sure why they actually split up the two different engines in the chart, when they could have just stated the braked and unbraked maximum trailer weight ratings instead, like they did for earlier model years.
If we look at the chart below, we can see that none of the different variations for this vehicle made any difference when it came to the maximum trailer weight rating specified in the chart. The only thing that mattered was whether you had a brake system installed on your trailer, and if you did, it gave you an extra 350 lb. capacity.
2021-2019 Charts
2018 Models:
The 2018 Tucson's had a much different chart than we saw for the 2019–2021 models, and there were three engine choices instead of two. The overall towing capacity was a little bit different as well, ranging from 1,500 pounds on the low end and going all the way up to 2,000 pounds on the high end.
If we scroll down and take a look at the chart I have posted for the 2018 models, we can see that the 1.6 liter engine had the least amount of pulling power, 1,500 lbs. max., no matter if you had a brake system on your trailer or not.
The other two engines were identical when it came to the trailer weight rating specifications, and these were the same specs that we saw for the 2019 and 2021 models. At the low you can expect to see a rating of around 1,650 lbs. and of course, that goes up to that 2,000 lb. maximum trailer weight rating.
2018 Chart
2017 Models:
I could not find any owners manual for the 2017 models or any other literature online that specified the maximum trailer weight ratings, so I could not post a chart, unfortunately, for this model year.
I was however able to find what engine options were available for the year and these were identical to the two engines offered for the 2016 models, so if I had to guess, the specs would be similar to what we see in the 2016 chart, that I have listed below.
I'm not 100% sure though and cannot post any definitive answers until I have a chart of some sort to reference and I will keep an eye out for any available resources that may become available and if they do, I will update this post as soon as possible to keep everything as accurate as I can.
2016 Models:
Hyundai Tucson's made in 2016 had their own chart, along with their unique towing capacity, which ranged from 1,000 lbs. and only went up to 1,500 lbs. This is quite shocking to me as the earlier model years had a 2,000 pound rating and so did the later model years.
By glancing at the chart below, we can see that the two engine options that were available for the 2016 models were the 1.6 L and 2.0 L engine. It didn't really make a difference which engine you had equipped though, seeing as how the specifications on the chart were the same for both the 1.6 L engine 2.0 L engines.
2016 Chart
2015-2010 Models:
The 2015-2010 models had a very simple chart, as you can see below, and they were all identical and is why I have the one chart posted for all model years in this category. As you can see, the towing capacity ranged from 1,000 lbs. for trailers without their own braking system installed and went up to 2,000 lbs. if you had one of these systems installed on your trailer.
Other than the maximum trailer weight ratings and the maximum tongue weight ratings, the charts did not refer to any engine or two-wheel drive/AWD variations and was in fact very simple and easy to understand.
2015-2010 Charts
2009-2005 Models:
The 2009-2005 models also shared the same chart, that I have posted below and as you can see, the lower end of the towing capacity for these model years started at 1,000 lbs. and went all the way up to 2,000 lbs.
Now the engine options for the earlier model years were a little bit different than we see in the later models, and you had a choice of either a 2.0 L engine or a 2.7 L engine.
If your trailer did not have a brake system equipped, then it didn't matter what engine you had, the maximum trailer weight rating was still the same, specified at 1,000 lbs. max.
If your trailer did have a brake system installed, then you can see that there was a 500 lb. difference between the two engine options, with the 2.7 L engine having the greater 2,000 lb. capacity.
2009-2005 Charts
GVWR, GCWR and GAWR Specs...
The gross vehicle weight rating and gross axle weight ratings were not listed in any of the owner's manuals for the Tucson's but like most vehicle manufacturers, you can find this information on the certification label that is located on your vehicle.
The certification label is usually in the same place for every vehicle, and Hyundai puts theirs on the driver side door or driver side door pillar. Below is a screenshot of an example certification label, and it contains not only the gross vehicle weight rating and gross axle weight ratings but also other useful information like the VIN, paint colors, etcetera.
Hyundai Certification Label
A Note On Trailer Brakes...
I was not able to find a specific recommendation from Hyundai that states what trailer weight would justify having trailer brakes installed, but by looking at the charts I can see that unbraked trailer weight ratings were given for every model year and this ranged from 1,000 lbs. and went all the way up to 1,650 lbs.
The older models (2005-2016) had a lower trailer weight rating for unbraked trailers that was set at 1,000 pounds and later model years had the 1,650 lb. unbraked trailer weight rating.
Mopar's GVWR and GAWR
In general, most manufacturers have a 1,000 lb. limit for unbraked trailer weight, but you will always want to check your local laws to see what they recommend, as the weight ratings could be lower or higher than what your vehicle manufacturer recommends.
Resources For This Article:
This article and everything I have posted came from the owner's manuals that I found on Hyundai's website. All of these screenshots for the charts that I have posted came directly from the specific model year or model years of the vehicles, and I wanted to make sure I was as accurate as possible, transcribing the information.
I was not able to link to each individual owner's manual, like I normally do because not all of the owner's manuals were loading correctly, or I just wasn't able to find them anymore.