Thread: D2a Manual vs Auto

For your use, Auto and diesel every time.

The manuals are much faster and more fuel efficient towing, We used to tow with a manual D2, but we use the Navara now, the chassis is nowhere near as good as the D2 for towing, but the power is better. in answering your question, i would have a manual any day of the week.

Cheers
Will

Hi Steve,

I have had several of both.

The manual is faster, better on fuel and better/stronger for towing.

But the td5 power band is much more suited to driving with the auto.

Once you have driven/owned both the manual feels, hard to use and cumbersome to drive. The auto does it smoother.

I have towed with a td5 chipped with lpg gas injection aswell. With the auto it was smooth and very easy to tow. I owned at the same time a td5 manual chipped and jumping into the manual it seemed like a chore.

But for braking with a heavy trailer, fuel economy on a long run and being able too choose the gear when towing i still like the manual.

If an auto has done alot of towing without a larger oil cooler or frequent changing of the oil, it is common for them to die. So you may be up for a new auto if you buy the wrong car. Also stalling them up at the lights or continually trying to pull off on hills with a heavy trailor also kills them.

So if your wife is driving the car in and out of carparks during the week the auto is the go.

If its only a go fishing car/ tow the boat on the highway the manual is good.

And don't forget, in lo range the auto can function as a manual, and does it very well.

Auto all day for me.Hard to beat in the bush,particularly in the sand.

Sure,the manual will be slightly better on fuel,but the turbo lag can be a PITA at times.

The auto needs to be serviced properly regularly,and will be very reliable.

The TD5 clutches are very expensive to repair,if they do fail.

Hey Rok Dr.
I have a D2a manual. Before it was modified, it was a bit of a slug; especially off boost. After the mods, it is still a bit dead until the boost kicks in. My wastegate is wound up to 21psi and it is great on boost. With my 2400kg van behind it, the aceleration is at best lesurely but what can you expect?. With the van, hill starts sometimes requires low range, which is no problem because of the gears depth and the ability to operate without the diff locked (take note Toyota and Mitsubishi). Only driven an auto once when I test drove it new so memories a bit fuzzy but and auto is a good thing. Like superchargedsport said, an auto is a good daily driver for the missus, a manual is good for a "lifestyle" .
Regards
Robbo

Yes i forgot about that.

Thank you 'alpick'

You can also put it in low range diff lock. Turn the car off, turn it back on and traction control is now off.

But i prefer traction control on i think it really works well.

A tune and a VNT turbo from here http://bellautoservices.co.uk/produc...vnt-vgt-turbo/

And lag will not be a problem.

Originally Posted by SuperchargedSport

Yes i forgot about that.

Thank you 'alpick'

You can also put it in low range diff lock. Turn the car off, turn it back on and traction control is now off.

But i prefer traction control on i think it really works well.

A tune and a VNT turbo from here TD5 Defender and Discovery Vnt Hybrid VGT Turbo | Diesel performance tuning and economy remap chip tuning for Landrover Defender Discovery TD5 Puma TDV6 TDV8

And lag will not be a problem.

Pardon my ignorance, but for a TD5 auto, given the auto revs up to 2,000 rpm + before anything much happens, even on lightish throttle, is the VGT type turbo better off in a manual, or does it make significant improvements for the auto too? I get that it works better right across the rev range, but wonder if the auto configuration is a limiting factor?
Cheers