First time out with the galaxy and very impressed apart from the the need to change gear manually so much. I dont waht to rush off to the dealers until I've heard other peoples experiences. The galaxy was either holding gears in sport mode or labouring in normal mode. My last two tow cars were a discovery and a jeep commander and the only time I touched the lever was on steep descents. The reason its giving me problems is that I'm disabled and drive with hand controls. Caravan only weighs 1300 kg so only 70 percent weight of car and with 140bhp I wasnt expecting the galaxy to be working too hard. Cheers
Galaxy 2.0 TDCi 6 speed auto fussy gears
- Thread starter Watty1
- Start date
Watty.i have been towing with a s max 2.0tdci auto for two years.which is virtially the same as the galaxy.i tow a 1600 kg with no problems.i just put it on cruise control on the motorways and it changes up and down maintaining the set speed.it is very rare i get a steep hill where i have to go to sport mode and manually select the gears.the smaxownersclub.co.uk have a few members that have the mk 3 galaxy and tow with them.it also has a towing section.you can browse the site as a guest,but if you want to get into the technical section its
Hi Watty,
I tow with a 2.2 Tdci Manual Galaxy, but my brother tows his twin axle Lunar with a 2.0 tdci 140 auto and he raves about it. In fact he claims it tows better than my manual even thugh my Caravan is lighter and my Car has 35 hp more.
I tow with a 2.2 Tdci Manual Galaxy, but my brother tows his twin axle Lunar with a 2.0 tdci 140 auto and he raves about it. In fact he claims it tows better than my manual even thugh my Caravan is lighter and my Car has 35 hp more.
- Mar 14, 2005
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Hi Watty,
I don't have your car so I cant be specific, but one of the reasons that car manufactures are in creasing the numbers of gear ratio's is to reduce the cars carbon emission.
It does this by trying to match the cars speed with the optimum efficiency band of the engines power delivery. The gear change points will have been optimised for the solo vehicle, and even though you caravan is quite light, it still represents a significant increase in load the engine has to move. Consequently the gear box computer will be shunting up and down the ratios in an effort to find the best gear for the job.
This is largely confirmed by your comment that its seems ok in sport mode, where the engine management is looking for slightly less frugal settings.
I suspect thee is nothing wrong with the car, and it may be better to tow with the sports setting.
I don't have your car so I cant be specific, but one of the reasons that car manufactures are in creasing the numbers of gear ratio's is to reduce the cars carbon emission.
It does this by trying to match the cars speed with the optimum efficiency band of the engines power delivery. The gear change points will have been optimised for the solo vehicle, and even though you caravan is quite light, it still represents a significant increase in load the engine has to move. Consequently the gear box computer will be shunting up and down the ratios in an effort to find the best gear for the job.
This is largely confirmed by your comment that its seems ok in sport mode, where the engine management is looking for slightly less frugal settings.
I suspect thee is nothing wrong with the car, and it may be better to tow with the sports setting.
Thanks everyone, im sorry Ive not made myself very clear on here, the galaxy is fine at higher speeds and on cruise control, the problems are when negotiating islands or traffic around 20- 40 mph when theres a combination of deceleration braking and acceleration, the gearbox appears baffled and chooses the wrong gear hopelessly leaving no power or the engine reving very high. Thanks
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