Best Large SUVs for Towing in 2024

Even though many large SUV 4WDs now boast the 3500kg towing capacity that buyers want it doesn’t mean that they are actually good at it.

As more sophisticated entrants arrive in the market, car-makers have to not only cover the basics of a good towing platform but also the added easter egg features of towing safety and ease.

The big wagons nominated here – as wells as a few others -- will all tow around 2000kg like it’s not there. You would be surprised just how much more dynamically challenged a rig can become when there’s closer to 3500kg being pulled along.

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So we are assuming here that you want to know what vehicles can really tow 3500kg. What makes the list are those big SUVs that above all else make a good tow vehicle.

Good tow vehicle basics include a beefy kerb weight. While you might not be pleased when it comes to rego time (if your state or territory charges registration by weight category) you sure will appreciate the extra tonnage when a heavy van is getting pushed around in cross-winds or buffeted by trucks.

A vehicle with a longer wheelbase and shorter distance between rear axle line and the tow ball make a rig less prone to yawing.

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Not many tow vehicles permit a full 3500kg trailer and full payload in or on the tow vehicle at the same time. If payload or towing capacity isn’t significantly lower when you consider GCM, the vehicle might make this list.

Although most here allow a full 10 per cent of their 3500kg towing capacity  (350kg) on the towball, one here – the Volkswagen Touareg – doesn’t. However, given just how competent is it elsewhere – and that other vehicles here too have their compromises – we thought it worthy of being on the list.

Having the big engine torque numbers can be good, but how it actually performs when lugging a heavy load and how efficient that engine is also comes into play, as does the size of the fuel tank.

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You’ll want these figures to be good, when 500km between refuelling points in the Outback.

It’s pretty clear from our list that most of these wagons are not cheap. If you want a do-everything big 4WD (that is really good at towing too) in most cases you have to pay for it.

Here our best heavy-duty SUV 4WD towing recommendations.

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Ford Everest

With the choice of diesel bi-turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder or V6 diesel engines, the 2022 Wheels Car of the Year winner Ford Everest makes for a superb tow vehicle.

The Everest is a stable tow vehicle, with only high-wind conditions such as large trucks buffeting the rig on highways making feel a little unsettled. Ride quality can often become badly affected with a heavy trailer is hooked up but aside from slight pitching at the front the Everest is very compliant.

Towing performance is very good with the 2.0 engine, and even better with the 3.0-litre V6, albeit at a slight cost at the fuel pump over the smaller engine. Even so, the V6 will average less than 20L/100km when towing a heavy trailer, which is better than most of this size and ability.

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The Everest is one of few tow vehicles with towing-specific driver aids (in certain trim levels).

The infotainment screen houses the towing set-up guide, and blind spot monitoring to allow for the trailer – plus the trailer light check. There’s also an integrated electric brake controller, rounding off a towing-friendly package.

The downside? A compromise between ball weight and payload means less than 300kg payload is available when 350kg towball download is utilised.

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Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series

The superseded LandCruiser 200 became the gold standard for heavy duty towing, and the new 300 follows that tradition admirably.

With a hefty kerb mass from 2500kg and up (depending on model), the LandCruiser keeps planted on the road with all but the most poorly balanced trailers behind it. Ride quality when towing is also in the main, very good, the big Cruiser shrugging most big backroad potholes.

Added to that is a supremely confident towing performance, the LandCruiser 300 manages to make molehills out of mountains even with 3000kg-plus tucked behind it.

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While the LandCruiser comes with a towbar kit as standard, there are few driver-assist features specific for towing.

It’s also, like the 200 Series before it, quite thirsty when loaded up with a heavy trailer; you’d expect about 20L/100km on average, with a tall 3500kg trailer behind it. Luckily the ‘Cruiser has a relatively large 110-litre fuel capacity.

The cost of (and wait for) getting into a LandCruiser is the only sting in the tail.

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Isuzu MU-X

The quiet value-laden achiever of the group, the Isuzu MU-X offers a healthy and well-rounded towing performance and is one of the go-to tow vehicles for buyers wanting the best value of mainstream offerings.

The Isuzu is remarkably stable with almost any trailer thrown behind it, and performs well with a 3500kg load. While certainly not to the performance level of the V6 Everest of LandCruiser, the MU-X won’t often seem wanting for more power for hill-climbing or overtaking situations.

While it’s also quite good on fuel – around mid-teens, or a little higher if heading for the hills with 3500kg behind it -- the MU-X engine can be on the noisy side and feel a bit agricultural when trying to squeeze out the most from it, and there is little in terms of towing assist features.

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Nissan Patrol

Now approaching 14 years on the market, the grand old lady of big 3500kg tow vehicles is still very competitive for its overall towing abilities and when lined up against its traditional rival the LandCruiser 300, it makes good value buying.

If you love a petrol V8, you will certainly appreciate the Patrol, as the big 5.6 has a healthy set of lungs, making you want to find a highway hill to tow up with your 3500kg caravan.

The Patrol is not a light eater; it will devour unleaded at a rate of 20.0L/100km easily when towing heavy stuff. Unlike the fuel-sipping others here, you will not ever see anything like less than 10.0L/100km when driving unladen – it’ll be more like 13.0L/100km, on a good day.

One advantage the Patrol has in this company is that it’ll tow to its full capacity while at its GVM, but loses 130kg payload if a full 350kg of the trailer is its resting on the towball.

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Land Rover Defender 110

Well past the point of basic, military spec hardware we’ve become used to with the old Defender 110, the new model despite its bluff retro looks is very much a luxury 4WD wagon, and, as it so happens, one that can tow very well.

The Defender 110 is available in a variety of petrol and diesel powertrains but the D300 with its 220kW/650Nm six-cylinder diesel is the pick. Not only will the big six motivated the Defender with 3500kg rolling along behind on the towball with barely any effort, it is quite efficient while doing so, with around 15-18L/100km possible.

Stability is excellent (helped by the self-levelling air suspension), with the Land Rover very much able to stay in its own lane when cross winds or large vehicle disturbed air try to push it around. The Defender has the full GVM available when towing to its full 3500kg capacity.

The Defender’s suspension can feel too slow to settle on undulating roads when towing, and when the towing fun is over, at just a bit over 2.0 metres wide, the Defender feels incredibly big on narrow city streets.

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Volkswagen Touareg

The Touareg has been a go-to 3500kg towing vehicle ever since the first generation shrugged off its shipping wrap way back in 2003.

Now, a couple of decades and Touareg generations later, the big ‘wagen is proving to be just as good as ever at getting heavy trailers where they need to go.

The Touareg’s 3.0litre turbo-diesel is a cracker, with plenty of hill-climbing and overtaking power on tap when you’ve got everything including the kitchen sink behind.

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Fuel consumption with around 3000kg of trailer can reach about 17.0L/100km – not spectacularly good, but relatively parsimonious for a 2500kg SUV lugging 3000kg.

As for towing stability and ride, the Volkswagen isn’t the type to jack-knife on a whim – it feels rock-solid and devoid of any yawing. While there is some disagreement on the true benefits of air suspension for towing stability among the caravan set in particular, the Touareg has this feature as standard, if having bags of hot air is important to you.

The only really not so nice element is the Touareg’s light towball download maximum – it is limited to 260kg, despite the 3500kg trailer towing capacity.