Thread: D4 - TOWING IN SPORTS MODE

I towed a 1 tonne Camper trailer to Cape York and to be honest the 3 litre with all that weight in Sports mode outran my brother in laws GQ which although loaded had nothing on the back.. even up the steep climbs when you hang left before Mossman to head Norffffff

THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR REPLIES. MAJORITY OPINION APPEARS TO BE TO LEAVE IN DRIVE. HAVE BEEN OFF THE AIR AS HAVE JUST COMPLETED MY FIRST BIG TRIP TOWING VAN FROM MAROOCHYDORE TO MACKAY AND BACK. CAR WENT LIKE A DREAM. AVERAGE 17LTR/100K WITH FULL WATER TANKS SITTING ON SPEED LIMITS. DID NOT USE SPORTS ON THIS TRIP BUT WILL TRY ON NEXT TRIP. I DID NOTICE THAT WHEN GOING UP HILLS THE GEAR BOX WOULD NOT CHANGE DOWN FURTHER THAN 4TH GEAR AT ABOUT 3200 REVS EVEN WHEN TAPPING ACCELERATOR WHICH USUALLY DOES THE TRICK. IS THIS USUAL OR MAYBE THATS THE TIME TO USE THE SPORTS MODE? MAYBE I AM EXPECTING TOO MUCH FROM THE CAR. CHEERS BLOOZ

That's why you use sports mode

Having said that, above 3200rpm you're really just revving, all the pull is done below that!

Originally Posted by BLOOZ D4

I DID NOTICE THAT WHEN GOING UP HILLS THE GEAR BOX WOULD NOT CHANGE DOWN FURTHER THAN 4TH GEAR AT ABOUT 3200 REVS EVEN WHEN TAPPING ACCELERATOR WHICH USUALLY DOES THE TRICK.

What is this tapping the accelerator thing??

Simply, the computers are continually calculating load and adjusting the gearbox accordingly, so if it the gearbox didn't change down below 4th the load was not enough for it to do so.

Just leave it in drive or sport mode and drive it - use command shift if you need to hold gears going down hill - it doesn't need to be harder than that.

Garry

Hi Garrycol, Regards to tapping the accelerator thing! In my opinion automatic gear boxes are far from perfect, some change down too quick and some change down to slow. As you said they are governed by computers and computers are governed by human input. I find that sometimes when going up hills this gearbox has a tendency to labour in the top gears and by jabbing the accelerator it will change down quicker if you think you require it. When in 4th gear going up a hill I feel that the engine has a lot more power to use but will not change down and consequently could leave you stranded on the wrong side of road when overtaking. However I take on board what you and others have said about sports gear and that is probably the solution. I guess you get an ear for revs and changing gears after driving manual trucks for sometime which I have. Once again thanks for your replies. BLOOZ D4