D4 towing, gear selection

[unhurry]

Hi guys, I am bringing my question to this forum after having no joy calling dealers in Perth and Albany with my query - in hindsight I should have posed the question here first but I did not want to trouble all you busy people (;) .
I have doen a targeted search of this forum for the past 1 hour but I cannot find the specific answer 'though I am sure it has been discussed in the past.

anyhow, after that ramble .....

I have a disco $ TDV6 3.0 and frequently tow a 2 ton boat/motor/trailer rig.

I always tow in Drive and have never had any problems with this - the gear selection is smooth and intelligent. I have never used sports mode.

I am wonderign though whether it would be better to use sports mode for towing as - if I am not mistaken - this mode holds the gears for a tad longer which I expect means more torque though marginally poorer fuel consumption.

I know there are very wise disco owners who contribute to thi forum and I would appreciate any forthcomng advice.

Cheers.

[101RRS]

There is no problem towing in drive afterall the gearbox ecu is sensing load and other things and selecting the appropriate gear.

Personally I find that towing in sport seems to be a little better - all of the above still applies but the changes etc seem to better suit the load of towing. Unless you drive foot flat to the floor you shouldn't notice any worse fuel consumption and on a steady flat run it will still get into 6th subject to load.

Garry

[mikeford]

I have a D4 and tow a 2.5 ton caravan, on flat ground I use normal auto mode but change to sport mode when going up or down hills

[Fatso]

I tow in sport mode in my RRS TD6 , just seems to feel better as sometimes in drive it can a bit laggy in changing down on a hill etc . if I get into the good stuff with my camper I use the manual mode .

[mowog]

I tow a 3.5t caravan and I just leave it in drive. The gearbox is pretty smart in figuring out what gear it needs

[unhurry]

Yes Mowog, that is my thinking too - this is meant to be an intelligent vehicle.

[unhurry]

I have a D4 and tow a 2.5 ton caravan, on flat ground I use normal auto mode but change to sport mode when going up or down hills

Interested in your reasoning for this; if, as Mowog suggests, the D4 is an intelligent car :) then why bother with the change to sports mode?

Whilst on the topic, exactly what does sports mode do? Do you agree with my understandign that it merely holds the gearing longer before changes?

Thanks mate!

[gghaggis]

It also changes up a gear earlier. It may be an intelligent car, but it can't yet determine what you've got attached to the back of it, in terms of weight and balance, so it's prudent to use sport when towing heavier loads. The car will react faster, ergo safer driving ;)

Cheers,

Gordon

[camel_landy]

Stick it in 'D' and it'll be fine. If you want the car to react quicker, push the throttle further (after all, you've got an extra 2t on the back!).

The only time I take it out of 'D' when towing is when I drop it into 'CommandShift', to get the engine braking down hill.

M

[discotwinturbo]

I always use sport mode when towing. There is a noticeable difference in the way my 2012 D4 reacts. It will not change down as quick as I would like it to. I prefer once it gets down to around 1800 rpm on inclines to kickback, but in normal drive it will go lower.

Have just towed only a 1.5 tonne max trailer over the last 5 weeks and 10000km and sport mode is better for my style of driving. The more instant response from sport mode is better too.

I also tow a 3.5 tonne horse float every other weekend to events, and sport is more comfortable....for me.

Just don't like the way normal mode will use the torque and labour it's way along, which actually uses more fuel....instant readout confirms this.

Brett...