Thread: D4 towing, gear selection

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

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

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 .

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

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

Originally Posted by 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

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!

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

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