[Busyguy4]

Hey all!

My wife and I are mildly curious about hitting the road for some adventures around North America and wondered if anyone has experience towing a small camper the size of an Airstream Basecamp or Sport 16'. Or any info on towing in general with the XC40. I wished the retractable tow hook was available in North America, so I'm looking at the 'Stealth Hitch' which hides under the rear bumper.

 

[sbixby]

My wife and I have been pondering a small trailer for our use with our Honda Ridgeline (5000 lb rating) and I've been idly exploring towing needs, so I thought I'd have a look at your choice.

The Airstream Basecamp has a weight of about 2600 lbs before adding water and "stuff" (dishes, food, etc, etc, etc). And a tongue weight of about 400lbs. So I'd guess at around 3000-3100 ready to roll and I'm pretty sure our XC40s aren't up for that. (The P8 manual allows for 2000 lbs with trailer brakes, and only 200lb tongue weight and I understand the gassers get a bit more.) From what I know, towing trailers at or over max weight ratings is a risky move, especially for long-range highway use.

But... my towing experience is with my family as a teen, and my father did all the legwork on what we could/couldn't do with our equipment. (We used an F250 or a Ford Bronco from the 80's with much more towing capacity.)

Not to dampen anyone's wishes, but... towing is a tricky thing, lots of factors involved in getting a stable towing arrangement, and a small car like the XC40 is probably not the best bet for anything but local utility-trailering.

Just my two cents, though! I know towing in Europe with smaller cars is more prevalent than in the US and they seem to do fine, so I might be off-base.

 

[AlanKilian]

I'm looking at the 'Stealth Hitch' which hides under the rear bumper.

If what I've read is correct, the stealth hitch is only for a bicycle rack-type things and is specifically not for towing.

Our 2021 XC40 Momentum with the factory hitch is rated at 3,500 pounds and 350 pounds tongue weight, so it will tow our little 13-foot Scamp all day long.