auto box pain in arse towing in cruise

Hi all ive towed my caravan for the first time last weekend and its a pain in the arse on the hills with the cruise on but ok with it off. Can I put it in manual or is it best to just leave the cruise off.

:doh:

you nonce

I guess I must be knackered, but I don't understand the OP's query and I don't understand why he's a nonce...

it doesn't climb well on hills with cruise control and a caravan on the back but it climbs fine when in manual mode and using the pedal.

He's asking can he drive in manual and is it best to leave the cruise control off on hills………..I think

Either way he's answered his own question

My previous disco did fine on steady hills on the m/way with two big horses on the back, in the trailer of-course, I wouldn't attempt to leave cruise on anything steep tho as I wouldn't imagine it would cope.

Anything very steep like the drive to our stables I use low range too but that's obviously well below setting point of cruise.

I don't tow but the max towing speed is 60mph is it not, how can staying at that speed be a problem.
It must be a Tdi thing as hills are never a problem with a V8 disco cruise control on or off.

simon6949 said:

Hi all ive towed my caravan for the first time last weekend and its a pain in the arse on the hills with the cruise on but ok with it off. Can I put it in manual or is it best to just leave the cruise off.

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Don't use cruise control while towing. If you can't work that out for yourself maybe you should consider whether you are sufficiently competent to tow or not.


Dave

thebiglad said:

Don't use cruise control while towing. If you can't work that out for yourself maybe you should consider whether you are sufficiently competent to tow or not.


Dave

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Perhaps you'd like to enlighten us as to why you say that?

thebiglad said:

Don't use cruise control while towing. If you can't work that out for yourself maybe you should consider whether you are sufficiently competent to tow or not.


Dave

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I have been towing since i got my license mainly my caravan but also IFOR box and my old car transporter flat bed trailer and consider myself competent with a trailer, on all my previous cars if they have cruise control I use it when towing and so far never had a problem.

Sounds to me like the cruise control doesnt compensate quick enough for the extra weight of the caravan maybe just use it on the flats. Not sure if its a landrover thing specifically as mine does not have cruise control.

Mine was the same towing our twin wheel van until I had it remaped and its know a different vehicle

iansoady said:

Perhaps you'd like to enlighten us as to why you say that?

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I would be delighted to, without the merest hint of sarcasm:

1. Max speed for towing is as Discool said 60mph;

2. Speed at which a DII TD5 goes into Torque Converter lock-up is between 52 and 55mph;

3. At this speed the std. TD5 is really below it's best area for torque;

4. As a result of points 2 & 3 the CC pushes harder and harder to maintain it's speed when attempting hills and towing to the extent that it forces the gearbox to jump out of TC lock-up so drive reduces, revs fly up and speed reduces, so it just gets worse and worse.

5. When driving with CC, most drivers don't know/use the overide function whereby you can accelerate above the set speed, to attack a forthcoming hill. However if you were to drive without CC it would be a natural part of driving to push on a bit, to "take that hill"!


Now, as DarrenM said if the TD5 is re-mapped all this lack of low-end torque disappears so it's romp up hills when towing.

However I would still say that when driving with a trailer or caravan, you need to apply more concentration and control, not less. Hence I would NEVER advise using CC when towing.

thebiglad said:

i would be delighted to, without the merest hint of sarcasm:

1. Max speed for towing is as discool said 60mph;

2. Speed at which a dii td5 goes into torque converter lock-up is between 52 and 55mph;

3. At this speed the std. Td5 is really below it's best area for torque;

4. As a result of points 2 & 3 the cc pushes harder and harder to maintain it's speed when attempting hills and towing to the extent that it forces the gearbox to jump out of tc lock-up so drive reduces, revs fly up and speed reduces, so it just gets worse and worse.

5. When driving with cc, most drivers don't know/use the overide function whereby you can accelerate above the set speed, to attack a forthcoming hill. However if you were to drive without cc it would be a natural part of driving to push on a bit, to "take that hill"!


Now, as darrenm said if the td5 is re-mapped all this lack of low-end torque disappears so it's romp up hills when towing.

however i would still say that when driving with a trailer or caravan, you need to apply more concentration and control, not less. Hence i would never advise using cc when towing.

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+1

+1 Well said

Interesting.

I was responding to your statement:

If you can't work that out for yourself maybe you should consider whether you are sufficiently competent to tow or not.

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I've been towing for years using CC with no problems. However, if approaching a significant hill I do take matters into my own hands and use the accelerator in advance of the hill as you suggest. I also change into 3 if it seems necessary.

I totally agree that you need to concentrate more not less when towing but I do not consider that using CC causes this - in fact, as you're not constantly adjusting the throttle position it leaves more processing bandwidth for observation etc.

Your point 4 is in fact valid whether you're using CC or not - it's a function of the torque curve of the engine and the way the transmission works. So what you are perhaps arguing is that you shouldn't use an auto for towing.

My TD5 hasn't been remapped and never struggles with a 1400 Kg caravan on the back.

simon6949 said:

Hi all ive towed my caravan for the first time last weekend and its a pain in the arse on the hills with the cruise on but ok with it off. Can I put it in manual or is it best to just leave the cruise off.

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What does the owners manual say.............. All here say never tow with cc as it will mess the transmission up.

iansoady said:

Interesting.

I was responding to your statement:



I've been towing for years using CC with no problems. However, if approaching a significant hill I do take matters into my own hands and use the accelerator in advance of the hill as you suggest. I also change into 3 if it seems necessary.

Your point 4 is in fact valid whether you're using CC or not - it's a function of the torque curve of the engine and the way the transmission works. So what you are perhaps arguing is that you shouldn't use an auto for towing.

My TD5 hasn't been remapped and never struggles with a 1400 Kg caravan on the back.

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I obviously wasn't clear enough - you asked me to enlighten you which is what I was doing, the points are intended to be seen as cumulative, not just in isolation.

There is nothing wrong at all with using an auto TD5, as you know. It's just that when 'driving' you can make adjustments, whereas when 'cruising' the system is not sufficiently intelligent to do that.

As you know, if the hill is sufficiently demanding you can shift into 3rd and still get TC lock-up at 48mph, which is actually extremely useful. Try getting your CC to do that for you.

I'm still at a bit of a loss I'm afraid.

The engine and transmission have no knowledge of whether cruise control is in operation or just that the driver has a heavy right foot. I fully accept that under certain circumstances (eg long hills) CC will tend to try too hard to maintain speed but that's exactly when I would knock it off and take control myself. You can of course use CC in combination with selecting 3 (or even 2 although I can't imagine when I'd want to do that). Under normal motorway / dual carriageway towing (especially in France where it is less congested) CC is fine for 80% of the time.

It could be we are agreeing furiously - intelligent (ie knowing when and when not to use it) use of CC is of great benefit to me and I don't think it has any negative effects on either safety or mechanical longevity.

Cant see what the arguements about tbh

nathan5346 said:

Cant see what the arguements about tbh

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We're not arguing, we are discussing a matter with which we both are experienced, with passion and knowledge.


And in any case Ian knows I'm right really, he just doesn't want to admit it.