6x10 or 6x12 camper towed with sports car?

[RedruM7]

Ok call me crazy but I'm in that rare minority that really wants to tow a camper with my sports car.
I have quite a few questions on camper design but my first post will focus mainly on the first step which is practicality/safety of towing with my main vehicle.

Now I may be crazy but not completely mad. I own a large very capable/powerful and relatively reliable sports car.
I bought a top of the line 2019 Kia Stinger V6 GT2 a year ago, I'm just going to rattle off some specs before anyone asks or googles it up.

365HP / 376TQ / Twin Turbo V6 AWD (RWD bias)
4023 lbs Curb / 114.4" Wheelbase
Brembo brakes

Now I've searched high and low to find a tow hitch for my car which exists but was discontinued around the same time I bought my car, but recently I finally got my hands on one and just need to install it.
I've also started already on my camper design, I'm very likely going with a converted 6x10 or 6x12 cargo trailer, with a starting weight of around 1000-1200lbs and by my rough estimates may end up around 1750-1900 lbs fully loaded.
Here are some of the important towing specs.

Tow hitch max tongue/trailer weight: 200 lbs / 2000 lbs
Kia Stinger max tow braked/unbraked: 3300 lbs / 1600 lbs (These ratings are australian/UK, NA does not give official ratings. Locally in Alberta I do not need trailer brakes if under 2000lbs)

Just to further give the Stinger its credentials this gives me the most confidence in towing with it.
https://www.thetowcarawards.com/tow-car/kia-stinger/

I'm completely new to towing however I have been watching many informative videos and reading into the subject lately especially when it comes to the cargo trailer conversions and camper conversions in general. Just wondering what you guys think about towing with a sports car and most importantly towing close to the max ratings, working in design and with engineers I know there are built in safety margins and I find a lot of towing numbers can be a bit on the loose side. The generic unbraked tow rating looks to be the lowest rating, but not sure how accurate that as I've heard trailers my size very rarely have brakes.

Suggestions would also be very much appreciated. I of course do not plan to drive like a sports car while towing and I'm thinking of ideas to make towing safer and reduce wear and tear/damage. One thing I'd like to add is a transmission temperature gauge/sensor to keep an eye on it incase of overheating, however I've read the Stingers come with stock coolers. Ideally I hope I could use a bluetooth ODB reader for this but not sure yet. Regarding the weight I also plan to lighten the tow weight by moving heavier items to the Stinger if possible such as water tanks, batteries and ebikes (~200l bs) so hopefully that also helps.

[Pmullen503]

Before you build/buy a trailer could you borrow/rent a similar sized trailer and tow it around for an afternoon? You may find it fine or a problem. Better to find out before you get a trailer.

Monitoring your trans temp is definitely a good idea. The weight comes into play primarily during braking and acceleration. I'd plan on brakes for the trailer. The trailer drag will be the thing that stresses your car. Most TVs are larger and punch a bigger hole, if you will, in the air leaving much of the trailer in their slipstream.

My van gets 10% worst mileage towing a 4"x4"x10" at 70 MPH. I can't even see it in my side mirrors. I know my van would have to work much harder to tow a 6x6x10 trailer, even if it weighed the same just because of increased drag.

[pchast]

It would take a little research. There are products like 'scangauge' that can be used to monitor temperature values. You would have to verify that it will work for that Kia.

[CaptKidd]

I towed my teardrop behind my PT convertible. Did the Lincoln highway SF to NYC then route 66 from
chicago to LA.

[twisted lines]

Moderation Not Motoration Dam

[jandmz]

With that kind of rig, I would strongly recommend two things. 1- a weight distributing hitch (WDH) with sway control 2- an electric brake controller with trailer brakes. I drive an S10 Blazer and tow a 4000lb travel trailer. Even with WDH, sway control and electric brakes, it is "an adventure", and what you are proposing has a similar weight to size to tow rating ratio.

WDH/sway control will be much safer in windy conditions, and when semi rigs pass you on the road. You would be surprised how big a role wind and pressure waves play in initiating trailer sway. A WDH also evens out the load so your car's rear suspension is not as badly stressed. It also reduces the "lift" of the front suspension due to tongue weight,, so you don't loose as much steering control.

The brake controller is very important. With the amount of weight that you are anticipating, you will be surprised at how much longer it will take you to stop, even with the excellent brakes on the KIA. The trailer brakes will reduce that back down to almost stock. Also, if you get into an extreme downhill with wind situation, your trailer can start pushing the tow vehicle and in extreme conditions, your trailer can even try to pass you and drag the rear end of the tow vehicle around. The controller has a button that allows you to activate only the trailer brakes, and straighten the rig out.

A few years ago, Gulfstream RV was demonstrating one of their travel trailers, towing it around Canada with a Jetta, so it can be doe safely.

Good luck.

[RedruM7]

Sorry a lil late but some really good info here, thanks for the comments.

I really want a WDH seeing how they work I wish all hitches were built with them but unfortunately the only hitch I could get my hands on is a class 2, 2000lbs, 1.125 tube which I don't think they have WDH for sadly. I don't think its common at all for the small/lightweight trailers which kinda makes sense sadly.

But the real news and reason I'm back is because I indeed finished installing my hitch and than rented and towed a small fiberglass trailer on two separate trips, honestly the Stinger handled it like a champ. Highway speeds were no problem, I couldn't feel drag or anything, pulling the fully loaded trailer up and down long, steep mountain passes with no issue. The only thing that bothered me were the sounds and bobbing feelings of the trailer weight over bumps. On smooth roads it was awesome but hitting bumps gave these strange delayed bobbing sensations, never a control problem, you can just feel the weight of the trailer going up and down and also bigger bumps gave some somewhat loud clank sounds. Hard to say whats normal when its your first time towing, but the bobbing seems like a problem coming from using a sports sedan where your supposed to feel the road a bit more than most cars and are lower so I imagine I'm just getting more feedback from the road due to my sports suspension. The clanking I'm not too sure about, I even have a hitch tightener to reduce noise but still hear the clanking.

The other big thing is I'm on my next step, which is buying and building out my own custom camper/trailer conversion.
I'm quite lucky and there is a local super lightweight fiberglass cargo trailer manufacturer where I live and I snagged a used 5x12 cargo trailer that starts with a dry weight of only 600+lbs.

So just giving you guys the heads up I might be in here more often as I go thru building my crazy dream RV setup. I have been designing the trailer layout constantly over the past year or two and would like to see what you guys think.

Heres a pic of one of my trips so far, hopefully it works.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PvYuQA7fvSX2UjoJ6