2014 CX-5 Touring - Towing Smallest U-Haul Trailer

Good day, I have the 2015 2.5l and just purchased a new 5x8 cargo trailer (similar to U-haul) to move stuff back and forth more easily. Prior to this I've towed a 1500lb boat package for 250km, many times with no issues at all. The tow limit is certainly 2000lbs in Canada without trailer brakes in the equation.

The cargo trailer certainly acts like a parachute - towing 250km it was fine but higher RPM most of the trip of course. Vehicle didn't really find a sweet spot too often as it is a hilly drive and there wasn't any coasting! Mileage was much worse than with boat - about 17L/100km instead of my normal 7.5 on that drive. I didn't have much weight (spare tire and storm door). It's just the height of it (7 feet from ground to top) and a bullnose. The boat towed much easier being lower. I'll be doing 500km round trips with this trailer many times and hope vehicle can take it :)

If you can get a V-nose I think results may be better (this usually is extra space, doesn't take away from the 8x5 space).
 
If you're doing this to make things easier, it seems like letting the movers handle it would be the way to go, esp for such a small amount of cargo
 
Hard to believe all the cautionary tales on this post. Just load 'er up, hitch 'er up, put 'er in drive and go. The towing capacity of the US CX-5 is way underrated IMO. You're overthinking this - you'll be fine. Don't drive like a madman, give yourself extra room to stop and pay attention to the speed rating of the trailer and tires you rent. 400 miles just isn't that far, especially in Texas.
 
I'm more of a fan of those u-box or similar if not a truck, but I moved some fairly large things (but not heavy) on my hitch mounted cargo rack. Use straps from the roof rack to help secure the weight. It certainly won't help fuel economy but better than a trailer or roof rack.

I moved a recliner and bedding stuff and filled the inside with more stuff, every where but the front seats.
 
Hard to believe all the cautionary tales on this post. Just load 'er up, hitch 'er up, put 'er in drive and go. The towing capacity of the US CX-5 is way underrated IMO. You're overthinking this - you'll be fine. Don't drive like a madman, give yourself extra room to stop and pay attention to the speed rating of the trailer and tires you rent. 400 miles just isn't that far, especially in Texas.
I agree the majority of the responses are too cautious. FWIW: I occasionally pull a 1000 - 1500 lb boat trailer and a utility trailer <1000 lbs loaded.
Like ColtX-5 I'm impressed with the towing. The CX-5 feels adequately powerful and stable for the towing that I have done.
To the OP: the CX-5 will easily and safely pull a 4x8 enclosed trailer.
 
Thx the feedback everyone! I'll take it all under consideration. Bottom line: I'm fairly confident that I'll be fine with the light load and "short" 400 mile drive. 400 miles in Texas is semi-short. 🙂 I'll be going from sea level to 653' in elevation so not a huge uphill issue. Just going to poke along at 60mph and hope things go well.

I'll report back once the trip is done.
Thx! Bill
 
Post tow trip report:
Ended up with a 5' X 8' trailer to have a bigger loading door and a little more carrying capacity. That trailer weighs 900 pounds and we loaded about 400 pounds in it and another 100 pounds in my car. I was the only person (166 pounds) in the car.

The trailer bounced horribly on the ball on the drive to the house after I picked it up. Almost scary. Loaded it with most of the heavy stuff in the front of the trailer and it didn't bounce at all on the smoother roads.

I drove very tentatively starting out but honestly, most of the time I couldn't even tell I was pulling 1300 pounds in a trailer that was catching a lot of wind on the front of the trailer. I accelerated slowly to get to speed but it was easy to go 60-65mph on the highway. One time I looked down and I was doing 70mph on a flat stretch with no problem. Most of the trip I kept it around 65mph to be safe and had absolutely no worries about going that fast.

Outside temps were as high as 97 degrees so in the afternoon when it was hottest I kept my speed down around 62 to go easy on the engine and tranny.

Mileage was down but that's to be expected.

All in all, other than 9 hours of driving (with stops), it was a piece of cake to pull the trailer with our fairly light load. I wouldn't hesitate to pull 2000 pounds without trailer brakes and I could see pulling 3500 easily with trailer brakes. Probably not a good idea to pull anything heavier to keep from risking strain on engine and tranny.
HTH,
Bill
 
Might as well link the video of f150 towing one million pounds. Does that mean we can eliminate big rigs and replace them with f150? It's not safe or smart to tow above your rated capacity.
 
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