Community Forums

richardgood · 02-04-2023, 01:04 PM

Its anyone out there flat towing a Kia Forte GT with the manual transmission? I have a 2015 Fiat 500 now which I love, but the Kia Forte is a better all round vehicle and Blue Ox makes a baseplate for it. Sadly there doesn't seem to be any other cars made to be flat towed, only trucks and SUV's. A new 2023 can be had for less than $30k It is also less than 3000lb curb weight, and though I have a brake buddy, I typically only use it where required and in the mountains. I could look for a newer Fiat 500 manual with low miles, but they are becoming few and far between.

Mighty_J · 02-04-2023, 01:46 PM

Might want to also check out the manual 2023 Subaru Crosstrek. The owners manual puts no distance or crazy speed restrictions on flat towing.

Subaru went away from explicitly calling out recreational towing in the manual, but it doesn’t say not to and does have a four down section.

theroc · 02-06-2023, 12:39 PM

And another car you might want to consider that is approved to be flat-towed is the 2023 Nissan Versa with manual transmission if you desire something really simple and cheap. The Versa's price is even below the KIA with the base trim at slightly below $16k (manual transmission only available with the base trim). It's curb weight is listed at 2,599 pounds so I believe is even lighter than the KIA too.

The Versa's performance is rather anemic but it gets better MPG than the KIA. It is also not quite as fancy as the KIA so again, if you're looking for just basic transportation and nothing fancy, the Versa is a good choice for economy and reliability.

The Versa is approved by Nissan to be flat towed with a manual transmission and is front-wheel-drive. Page 10-19 of the 2023 owner's manual gives approval and partial instructions. The drawback is that they do require an engine re-start at every 500 miles and to be idled for 2 minutes ...but 500 miles is still a lot of time and most would probably stop for fuel or want to take a quick break from driving at that point anyway.

However, I'd be almost certain that hamsters would not approve of the Versa at all ...not cutting edge or hip at all.

I agree with Mighty J, as I also really like the Crosstrek and have flat towed several Subarus. However, the Crosstrek is quite a bit more expensive than the Versa and also much heavier ...I believe the MSRP at base is around $26k (so $10,000 more than the Versa) and its curb weight is over 3,100 pounds with lower MPG. Plus, as noted, Subaru no longer approves any of their cars for flat towing but there is nothing mechanical that prevents it so you still see some newer Crosstreks (with a manual transmission) being towed. However, you still get AWD and a lot of safety features.

Mighty_J · 02-06-2023, 01:03 PM

I you want to have some fun, the new manual Nissan Z is also approved for flat towing (as was the previous model). So that’s 400hp of RWD impracticality as a toad, but man it would be fun! Oh manual mini’s are also flat towable (but not factory approved for it) and there’s a number of people on here that have used them for years without incident.

Chevrolet spark manual transmission models are also approved for flat towing. They’re small and light