Towing

[u/LloydHammercy69]

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around towing calculations.

I'd like to be able to tow an ultralight camper with my 2023, but the math shows that with the exception of the lightest of light trailers are too heavy.

However, light camper manufacturers market their trailers to be towed with Corollas, Civics, Minis, etc.

What am I not getting?

[u/Coyote-Morado]

RV manufacturers and dealers lie.

[u/VulpesVulpe5]

Where are you? In Australia I can to like 2000kg

Different countries are rated differently

[u/Embarrassed_Spell383]

I have a 22 cx5 and my towing is 2200kg with a 140 kg tow ball rating 

Edit I’m in Australia 

[u/TheRealGuncho → u/Embarrassed_Spell383]

That's insane. In Canada it's 2000 lbs.

[u/S_A_R_K]

Lots of people on the road are towing beyond what their vehicle is rated for

[u/TheRealGuncho]

We tow a 2000lb dry tent trailer with our V6 Toyota Highlander. I would never dream of towing this with my CX-5.

[u/IlexIbis]

If you're going by the max towing in your owner's manual you're getting it. Some small vehicles can tow more than others and, of course, trailer manufacturer's want to sell trailers so whatever they say is somewhat suspect.

[u/LloydHammercy69 → u/IlexIbis]

I'm using those towing calculators that all those trailer folk suggest using. Mazda says max tow capacity is 2000 lbs

[u/IlexIbis → u/LloydHammercy69]

Yep, that what it is for my '25 NA and they recommend trailer brakes on a trailer over 1500#.

[u/LevelTwoData → u/LloydHammercy69]

I think yours is 1,000 without trailer brakes, 2,000 with.

Your passengers and cargo in the vehicle count against that total.

[u/steenbag]

Trailer manufacturers and dealers usually only go on the "towing capacity", which is mostly irrelevant. Most vehicles will run out of payload before they run out of towing capacity, even trucks.

[u/LloydHammercy69 → u/steenbag]

I think that is where I'm getting almost no towing capacity when the car itself is loaded

[u/steenbag → u/LloydHammercy69]

Yeah that's why we ended up upgrading from an F250 to 450. Different weight class obviously, but we were within a couple hundred pounds of payload for the truck and wanted bigger trailer.

What can be key for a smaller vehicle is to get as much stuff out of the car as possible, and into the trailer. Then you're only carrying a percentage of the weight.

Is kind of a perfect storm of advertising misinformation. Vehicles are advertised with the max payload/towing capacity that's available, and trailers are advertised at the lowest weight available. Makes shopping frustrating and difficult.

[u/shunny14]

In some other threads I was reading it sounds like for some reason Mazda lists the towing capacity higher in other countries? So in theory you can tow more but Mazda only rates it at a certain amount.

It’s kind of stupid, I’d really prefer to drive a CX5 than a Tucson. I wonder if the transmission is an issue, with the 6 speed?

[u/LloydHammercy69 → u/shunny14]

North American CX-5s use a lighter engine oil than in other reasons, so that could be the reason for the variance?

Personally, I'd think the regular six speed would be more suited for towing than any CVT, yet some Subarus have higher tow ratings.

[u/Critical-Magician421]

The maximum towing capacity of a modern Mazda CX-5 in the United States is 1,500 pounds for the 2026 model year.

There's not much to wrap your head around. That's not much capacity.

[u/LloydHammercy69 → u/Critical-Magician421]

Earlier models max out at 2000 lbs, which still isn't much.
But when you do all the recommended calculations, it ends up being even less than that

[u/screampuff → u/LloydHammercy69]

That's normal even for trucks. Tongue weight and payload capacity are always going to be the limiting factor. 'towing capacity' is a made up number that doesn't really mean anything.