Kia Sportage 2023 Manual page 262

Driving your vehicle
Turn signals when towing a
trailer
When you tow a trailer, your vehicle has
to have a different turn signal flasher
and extra wiring. The green arrows on
your instrument panel will flash when-
ever you signal a turn or lane change.
Properly connected, the trailer lights will
also flash to alert other drivers you're
about to turn, change lanes, or stop.
When towing a trailer, the green arrows
on your instrument panel will flash for
turns even if the bulbs on the trailer are
burned out. Thus, you may think drivers
behind you are seeing your signals
when, in fact, they are not. It's important
to check occasionally to be sure the
trailer bulbs are still working. You must
also check the lights every time you dis-
connect and then reconnect the wires.
Do not connect a trailer lighting system
directly to your vehicle's lighting system.
Use only an approved trailer wiring har-
ness.
Have yourself assisted by a professional
workshop in installing the wiring har-
ness.
Kia recommends to visit an authorised
Kia dealer/service partner.
WARNING
Failure to use an approved trailer wiring
harness could result in damage to the
vehicle electrical system and/or personal
injury.
Detection of trailer light connec-
tion
This functionality is only given with gen-
uine accessories (tow bar and wiring
harness) that recognise when a trailer is
connected and consequently inform the
6 56
vehicle systems. Trailer recognition
works as follows: when a trailer socket is
plugged in, either the brake pedal shall
be pushed or turn signal lamps acti-
vated; the electronic control unit will
then detect the trailer because of the
power consumption by the trailer light-
ing and inform the vehicle systems.
When the trailer is disconnected, the
brake pedal shall be pushed again or
turn signal lamps activated for the con-
trol unit to be able to detect that there is
no power consumption anymore by
trailer lighting; the assistance systems
that were turned off will automatically
turn on again.
It is the driver's responsibility to ensure
that all electrical connections are work-
ing and all trailer lights are operating
before and during towing. You must per-
form manual checks.
CAUTION
Use only genuine electrical connections.
Do not attempt to arbitrarily splice or
directly connect the trailer wiring using
any other methods. Doing so may dam-
age the vehicle's electrical system,
resulting in malfunctions.
Driving on grades
Reduce the 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 transmission overheating.
Trailer towing