[michelprevost]

Hi,

The dealership told me that no brake controller was necessary, the car would handle the extra weight without it.

Are they right? I am a little suspicious.

The towed equipment dry weight is 1800 pounds, can go up to 2400 once loaded. The tongue weight is 145 lbs dry.

Thank you,

Michel

 

[Kevin Williams]

The Ascent does have some nice beefy brakes, but regardless, once over about 1,000 lbs, you want some of the braking force coming from the trailer to prevent the "wobble" from the trailer as it's trying to stop, especially if you have any hills/mountains near you.

The Tekonsha P3 is an excellent brake controller and with the provided harness to plug into the Ascent it is a very quick job. Get some an inline connector pack (red and yellow sizes) and a crimper. I put mine on the shelf just left of the steering wheel. I screwed mine into the shelf, but others have used industrial velcro. Then just fed the Tekonsha wiring harness under the steering column and then crimped onto the factory wiring harness. Colored wires match up, red to red, etc. Then just plugged it in and cabled tied up the excess wire. Took me under 30 mins.

Towing a 3,500 lb camper up and down the mountains was no problem with this setup. Highly recommended!

(Will post a full report on the trip in the Towing section once I get some time... hopefully this week)

 

[Robert.Mauro]

Agreed.

Get the Tekonsha Prodigy P3. It's ridiculously easy to hook up and use, and works phenomenally well. Just match the wire colors when attaching the Subaru supplied pigtail (should be in the glove box unless you moved it) to the controller. The harness connector is behind where the fuse panel is on the driver's left side. Just reach behind the trim piece and grab it. I didn't even have to look.

I can confirm that this version P3 works perfectly with the Ascent:
Tekonsha 90195 P3 Electronic Brake Control
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P17NXQ/

 

[Subiesailor]

Under 2000lbs doesn’t matter a whole lot. But 1800-2000lbs trailer brakes start to make a noticeable difference in stopping distance. If your trailer has brakes just add the controller. Subaru set up the Ascent in a way that makes it pretty easy to add it. Unlike many other brands.