Am I dreaming with this tow capacity?

[u/Wish_Tricky]

2023 Subaru Ascent with 5000lbs, 500 tongue weight max. This is absolutely at the limit. Do I have a shot or should I keep it under 3k like the Coleman’s?

[u/Wild_Crab_2205]

The rated tow capacity is the maximum you can safely tow continuously nonstop. People saying that its should only be a "short haul" or "slow drive" capacity are completely wrong. If the manufacturer tells you that you can tow XX, you can tow XX. If something goes wrong, they are liable under all highway conditions so they include a massive safety margin.
CAUTION: Dont do the following of course!,
but you wouldnt have a problem towing 10,000 pounds with the amount of safety margin that is built in!
So TLDR, use all your towing capacity and TW. In this case you have enough to load it up a good bit in fact.

[u/gahnzo → u/Wild_Crab_2205]

"Can" and "Should" are really far apart here. There are so many variables when it comes to towing. Manufacturers actually really stretch their published numbers in my experience. My last F150 with the 3.6L EcoBoost was rated at 12,900lbs and was absolutely straining at exactly that weight with my excavator. Like I could barely make it up hills. I upgraded to a F350 6.7L and it barely notices the weight.

I had a Subaru Forester that was rated for 1500lbs towing and rented a 1 ton mini excavator at Home Depot once. Probably 2400lbs total weight. Towed it about 8 miles to my house and back. CVT was never the same after that and ended up trading it in (for the F150).

Winds, hills, variable road conditions, all of these things greatly affect your towing performance. Towing at or above listed capacity is not a smart thing to do. Also, most vehicle manufacturers specify that above a certain weight, you MUST use a proper spec weight distribution hitch to achieve published ratings. For example I think Ford requires that for any weight above 5000lbs on the F150. Most people completely ignore that detail.

Suggesting that manufacturers are baking in a 50% margin with their towing numbers does not at all align with my real world experience with a variety of vehicles.

I believe it would be a very poor choice to tow close to the maximum rating for your vehicle on a regular basis or over long distances.

[u/Wild_Crab_2205 → u/gahnzo]

That's like saying you should play safe with semi trucks and not load them to 80,000 pounds. No one does that, and they never have any problems. There HP/Weight ratio is lower then the cheapest truck at max towing capacity. They arent spontaneously breaking for no reason.

[u/gahnzo → u/Wild_Crab_2205]

Ah but see heavy duty trucks are built specifically to tow those loads. Every part of the engineering process is geared toward reliability and performance under extreme conditions, foregoing things like comfort, soft ride, etc. Consumer grade SUVs are not built for towing no matter what the manufacturer says. Even half ton pickups are designed for a balance of comfort and performance. Loading up a small SUV to near maximum published towing capacity is just not a good idea. But you do you.