towing in auto or sports mode ??

[pjgrandad]

I have a Discovery 4 HSE 3lt 8 speed and will be towing a van just under 3 tonne. Just wondering from people out there towing in same situation am I better to leave it in auto and let it do its own thing or is it better to use sports mode to keep it out of 8th gear while pulling heavy load? Advice greatly appreciated.

[Dudela]

Congrats on your purchase.

I purchased my HSE earlier this year and have been towing a similar sized van. Normal selection is "Drive" and there have been no issues to date, our last trip was to Pemberton thru some large hills around Bridgetown in WA. Load resistors are fitted on the LED lights and I have noticed the gear changes are at a higher RPM. I have also been using cruise control for normal operation but on ascending large hills have cancelled it to achieve the desired speed as I approach the crest.

When descending down large hills I have used the (-) paddle shift to the required gear. This takes a bit of trial and error as you get a feel for the vehicle speed over the crest and how steep and long the descent is. Some larger hills may require a shift back to 4 or even 3 to reduce the requirement for braking. As I descend may manually increase the gears or go back to Drive depending on the size of the hill.

I will be interested to see what others have to add who have been towing a lot longer.

Cheers
Craig

[RoverLander]

Hi, im no expert on this. I did 25k towing our 3500kg van with the 2010 HSE and now done about 3k with the new MY15 HSE.

I believe that as long as the car knows there is a trailer attached (indicated by little trailer symbol on dash when the blinkers are on), then the car changes the gear shift pattern and also avoids the restricted performance issue that some people have. I have never had that come up on either car.

I never use sport mode as i think the car takes care of selecting the right gears. I never use cruise control even on long flats. The dealer also stated not to use cruise control when towing although i dont put to much emphasis and that type of info. My logic is that it just reduces the risk of the car having an issue when it tries to accelerate and things dont do what it is expecting.

I use the paddles to down shift on longer hills just to aid the brakes and for towing stability.

Its a fantastic car to tow with and there is plenty of power. The air suspension takes care of leveling and no WDH to muck about with.

Pete

[Dudela]

Looking back on this thread I thought it would have generated many more responses and giving some good tips and tricks.

I have found that cruise control is not the best on and around hills as it does not have the forward loop feedback to anticipate a loss of speed up a hill and conversely increase down a hill. However on the flatter roads it works fine. I will use it as much as possible and override as required.

In saying this my job is working with industrial control systems and are aware of some of the limitations.

Regards Craig

[LRD414]

Looking back on this thread I thought it would have generated many more responses and giving some good tips and tricks.

Probably because the vehicle tows so well no special tricks are needed Craig. And I agree with you regarding cruise control. Intervention is best in hills.

Scott

[LandyAndy]

Having just dragged a 1500kg camper trailer 1400km,definaitly sport.It still uses 8th but downchanges to 7th and 6th much sooner than drive hence keeping the 100kmh setting pretty well spot on.I was using cruise most of the times as there werent many big hills.
If you do use the paddles in sport it doesnt revert to auto after some time like drive does.I found a couple of times I had upshifted into 8th,only to find it slowing on a hill later.The tell tale is the display reads s8 instead of S.To get out of it you hold the + paddle until the display reads S instead of s8 (or whichever gear is being manualy held).
I averaged 12.5/100 for the 1400km,the D4 was packed chockas with 1 adult passenger.
We both filled up at Geraldton,Aaron in his newer than my D4.Travelled to Horrocks Beach,75km.Then did 3 days of driving on beaches etc,drove back to Geraldton and fueled up again,both driving to the same places etc.The 150km of camper trailer towing lead to me SQEEZING in 4.5lts more diesel than Aaron,despite him having the advantage of sitting behind me at 100kmh.Was pretty impressed with that.
Andrew

[Piddler]

Having just dragged a 1500kg camper trailer 1400km,definaitly sport.It still uses 8th but downchanges to 7th and 6th much sooner than drive hence keeping the 100kmh setting pretty well spot on.I was using cruise most of the times as there werent many big hills.
If you do use the paddles in sport it doesnt revert to auto after some time like drive does.I found a couple of times I had upshifted into 8th,only to find it slowing on a hill later.The tell tale is the display reads s8 instead of S.To get out of it you hold the + paddle until the display reads S instead of s8 (or whichever gear is being manualy held).
I averaged 12.5/100 for the 1400km,the D4 was packed chockas with 1 adult passenger.
We both filled up at Geraldton,Aaron in his newer than my D4.Travelled to Horrocks Beach,75km.Then did 3 days of driving on beaches etc,drove back to Geraldton and fueled up again,both driving to the same places etc.The 150km of camper trailer towing lead to me SQEEZING in 4.5lts more diesel than Aaron,despite him having the advantage of sitting behind me at 100kmh.Was pretty impressed with that.
Andrew

Hi Andy, that's impressive.

Would be interesting to have a scagauge on transmission temperature.
A friend has LC 200 with a 20 ft Bushtracker.

Not towing tranny temp 55 deg, towing van in 5 or 6 125 deg.
Towing in 4th 2600 rpm and tranny temp 65 deg.
Hence he tows the van in 4th all the time.
Cheers
Peddler

[LandyAndy]

Hi Andy, that's impressive.

Would be interesting to have a scagauge on transmission temperature.
A friend has LC 200 with a 20 ft Bushtracker.

Not towing tranny temp 55 deg, towing van in 5 or 6 125 deg.
Towing in 4th 2600 rpm and tranny temp 65 deg.
Hence he tows the van in 4th all the time.
Cheers
Peddler

Is it correct the tojo trannies dont lock up in the top gears??? This would cause the heat.
D4 locks the TC,there is no exesive rev movement on the tacho when you squeeze the pedal gently at 100kmh,the torque sensor is bloody good,it slips you 7th in sport as soon as there is any extra load and 6th pretty soon after if the load doesnt deminish.
Floor it at 80kmh to overtake,WOW,is there a camper trailer back there still????

Andrew

[Dudela]

Having just dragged a 1500kg camper trailer 1400km,definaitly sport.It still uses 8th but downchanges to 7th and 6th much sooner than drive hence keeping the 100kmh setting pretty well spot on.I was using cruise most of the times as there werent many big hills.

If you do use the paddles in sport it doesnt revert to auto after some time like drive does.I found a couple of times I had upshifted into 8th,only to find it slowing on a hill later.The tell tale is the display reads s8 instead of S.To get out of it you hold the + paddle until the display reads S instead of s8 (or whichever gear is being manualy held).

Andy
Thanks that's great info I will do some experimenting on our next trip but it is only to Woodman Point for Australia Day weekend. Later In the year we are looking to go to Kalbarri so will play around more then.

I will be looking at getting a diagnostic tool beforehand then, with regards to tranny temps I assume that is available to read and display.

Regards
Craig

[LandyAndy]

If you havent done The Indian Ocean Drive yet you are going to love it,it was my second drive last week.
Stay at Horrocks for a few days,the van park is old but very clean,DO NOT GET FISH AND CHIPS FROM THE ONLY PLACE,ITS CRAP!!!!!.The sand is softer than White Hills,especially the Bowes River mouth to the south,its a great fishing spot.Little Bay north of town is fine at 20psi,another great fishing spot.
Its bitumen into Kalbarri,or a shorter gravel road to Port Gregory from Horrocks.
There is a shire camp ground at Little bay,better off staying at Horrocks.
Fishing WA catching tailor there,they call it Lucky Bay,its actually Little Bay.Due to the tides we couldnt fish black rocks just north of here.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eVWLuaUAis[/ame]
ENJOY
Andrew