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Post Info TOPIC: Towing and gears.
rockylizard


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Towing and gears.
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Aus-Kiwi wrote:

Find above hard to believe if van is decent size .

Gday...

I tow with my 2006 Discovery 3 in Drive - never cruise control. I was told to leave it in Drive and let the computers make the decisions.

I have now been towing 2,600Kg with it for over six years - 140,000Km (216,000Km on the clock now). At 88-90Kph it is on 1,900rpm (where max torque is produced) it chooses 5th gear. It goes back to 4th up 'normal' hills ... back to 3rd for 'steeper' hills ... making the decisions all by itself.

It only goes up to 6th if on the very flat, with a bit of tailwind. It drops back to 5th at the slightest incline. It is programmed to NOT go into 6th (with or without van) until it gets over 90Kph. 

I use it 'manually' if going up a very steep hill - eg up to Toowoomba - on that hill, I put it into 2nd, holding about 2,500-3,000rpm. It goes up quite steadily with no fuss.

Similarly, going down hills - eg 5% or greater incline - I use the box 'manually' holding 4th, 3rd or 2nd depending on the gradient.

I have a Scanguage - so monitor temperatures, boost, load, and Ltrs/100Km consistently. None of these show any adverse numbers.

I have the ATF changed - incl flush - (and filter) every 50,000Km.

I guess it depends on how much 'welly' one uses - I like to think that I am a very 'gentle' driver and 'coax' it along rather than 'booting' it up hills etc. Even going up the Toowoomba hill it only shows 70% load.

PS - and I average 14-15Ltr/100Km when towing ... best was 12.1ltr/100km Canberra>Sydney ... worst 16.9ltr/100Km Normanton to Mt Surprise sitting on 80kph pushing a strong easterly headwind.

[edit: actual litres and actual Km - not vehicle computer figures]

Cheers - John



-- Edited by rockylizard on Monday 6th of February 2017 08:25:10 PM

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Aus-Kiwi


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Modern trans ECU's should work it out .. But if it's fitted with a sport mode ? In most cases it'll work better . At 80 Mile Beach WA there was a 3 tow vehicle requiring auto trans repaire . A Mazda, Nissan and Toyota . All the drivers said they towed in drive .. Lucky I think under warranty . In any case an engine on light throttle with a few rpm will do better fuel consumption towing a load that low rpm on heavier throttle . Going slower doesn't help either . In this case when it comes to hills the auto will kick down anyway from 6 th gear . You may not even notice. Infact the slower you go the more important it is to kick down or do it manually if it doesn't !!

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