Kia Niro: Driving with a trailer / Driving on grades

Reduce speed and shift to a lower gear before you start down a long or steep downgrade. If you don’t shift down, you might have to use your brakes so much that they would get hot and no longer operate efficiently.

On a long uphill grade, shift down and reduce your speed to around 70 km/h (45 mph) to reduce the possibility of engine and transaxle overheating.

If your trailer weighs more than the maximum trailer weight without trailer brakes and you have a dual clutch transmission, you should drive in D (Drive) when towing a trailer.

Operating your vehicle in D (Drive) when towing a trailer will minimize heat build up and extend the life of your transaxle.

CAUTION

• When towing a trailer on steep grades (in excess of 6%) pay close attention to the engine coolant temperature gauge to ensure the engine does not overheat.
  If the needle of the coolant temperature gauge moves across the dial towards “H (HOT)”, pull over and stop as soon as it is safe to do so, and allow the engine to idle until it cools down. You may proceed once the engine has cooled sufficiently.
• You must decide driving speed depending on trailer weight and uphill grade to reduce the possibility of engine and transaxle overheating.
• When towing a trailer on steep grades, the clutch in the transmission could overheat.
  When the clutch is overheated, the safe protection mode engages. If the safe protection mode engages, the gear position indicator on the cluster blinks with a chime sound.
  At this time, a warning message will appear on the LCD display and driving may not be smooth.
  If you ignore this warning, the driving condition may become worse.
  To return the normal driving condition, stop the vehicle on flat road and apply the foot brake for a few minutes before driving off.