Kuga,manual or auto?

[Brasso530]

Hi all,probably going to change tow car in next few months.Obviosly(as the title suggests ) it's a couple of year old Kuga,the dilemma is I want a manual and the wife wants an auto.Has anyone got an auto and how does it tow in the real world,or are you all manual.Our van is only 1300 kg max so well within safe towing weights,I'll test both before I buy anyway just thought I'd ask as it's unlikely they'll let me test tow with it.
Thanks in advance .

 

[Hutch]

Hi Brasso, I gave up Driving and towing with a manual gearbox years ago, 3 and a bit years ago almost bought a manual SanteFe, then as I was reversing into the storage with the caravan thought, why bother with the throttle , brake , clutch , hassle and bought an Auto again.
But thats my opinion. Good luck.

 

[otherclive]

For towing I much prefer auto gearboxes. But with the modern dual clutch types such as VAG DSG and Ford Powershift you have to recognise that they are really automated manuals with clutch packs. As such you drive them a bit differently to the conventional torque converter auto box, otherwise the clutch packs can wear out just like a manual. Ford are discontinuing Powershift and going across to torque convertor autos. But saying that I like my DSG auto which has wet lubricated clutches and makes driving solo and towing quite relaxed.

 

[Craigyoung]

Hi brasso ,
Our kuga is the 2.oL TDI Ztec 2wd manual , on a 65 plate . There is more than enough punch in it for what we need . Our van slightly heavier so whatever model you'll get it will have no problem pulling your van. The space internally is great to as with it being high its got a good size boot . My friend also has the kuga titanium awd version and he likes his and pulls his Bailey Pegasus van no problem .
P.s Good luck for a test tow

Craig .

 

[Dodger524]

As one who escaped from the drudgery of manual gearboxes 30 years ago I'm possibly the wrong one to advise. My last car was a VW Passat with a DSG gearbox which I found a pleasure to use. I especially liked the gear change paddles on the steering wheel that made towing in hilly areas so much easier. Unfortunately the rest of the car wasn't to our liking so I now drive a Volvo XC70 with a torque converter box. It's a much more comfortable drive but fuel consumption is higher but it does have a gear stick to waggle if I ever feel the need.

 

[Craigyoung]

We have just done a 3 hour run up the old military road from Newcastle to Scotland on hill inclines and descents , lots of gear changes and I must say our Kuga performed well for me on 5o mile per hour roads I was getting just under 30 mile per gallon just chilling out steady away , we had every bit of weather going there , snow Sleet hail fog and rain and some floods on the road but the car sailed through everything quite a bit different from going to and from Holland on the flat ! It's passed its test this weekend and I am happy with the choice we made for a tow car !

Craig

 

[Martin24]

Okay so now I'm medically only allowed to drive adapted auto's but I started with them long before that. Towing or not, auto all the way for me.

 

[Craigyoung]

Okay so now I'm medically only allowed to drive adapted auto's but I started with them long before that. Towing or not, auto all the way for me.

I'll let you off !

 

[Anseo]

Auto for me, makes towing and reversing so much easier and is a more relaxed experience compared to manual transmissions.

 

[Brasso530]

Quick update,only went to look at a manual Kuga today,right money and 13pin electrics towbar fitted,now picking it up Friday.
Thanks for all your input,but after speaking to a gearbox specialist,who said the ford powershift are nothing but trouble,manual it is.

 

[otherclive]

Quick update,only went to look at a manual Kuga today,right money and 13pin electrics towbar fitted,now picking it up Friday.
Thanks for all your input,but after speaking to a gearbox specialist,who said the ford powershift are nothing but trouble,manual it is.

Ford are moving away from Powershift and probably back to the more conventional torque convertor autobox. There have been successful class actions in the US and Australia against Ford. The most recent settled last September. My daughter has a Focus with Powershift and she bought it at three years old and less than 20k on the clock. It juddered on take off and she wont test drive a car, and so she relied on the salesman driving her around. So the first action was to re install the software, a marginal improvement. The second was to try burning the clutch packs in by doing some rapid fast starts. No joy there. So Ford took it in to replace the clutch packs and some other parts that were potentially troublesome. It now drives fine with very rapid and smooth gear changes. She was "informally" told that Ford will look after these gearboxes for 5 years or 100000 miles providing that they have a Ford service history. But Ford haven't made that public in UK. VAG also had some problems with their DSG gearbox but they were mainly related to the lower power dry lubricated units. They are now moving across to all wet lubricated units.

A lot of drivers don't realise that these twin clutch autos need to be driven differently to a conventional auto otherwise the clutches will wear out.

 

[xtrailman]

"A lot of drivers don't realise that these twin clutch autos need to be driven differently to a conventional auto otherwise the clutches will wear out"

How are you expected to drive them then?

Interesting that Ford are dropping the DSG, I've not read that before.

 

[otherclive]

"A lot of drivers don't realise that these twin clutch autos need to be driven differently to a conventional auto otherwise the clutches will wear out"

How are you expected to drive them then?

Interesting that Ford are dropping the DSG, I've not read that before.

DSG. is a VAG gearbox only the Powershift is Ford. Although it was fitted to some Volvos and Citroen’s too.

Holding on the foot brake will disengage the clutches but not fully. So putting in neutral is better. Leaving in Drive with handbrake on is a no no. Slowly inching forward not recommended espescally uphill or under load. Slowly inching back the same. Generally just think of it as an automated manual. Of course the owners manuals don’t tell you this. Wet lubricated twin clutch gearboxes are less susceptible to problems. There’s lots on the Internet especially the two class actions.
The dry clutch variants were more efficient having no churning losses. The very latest units are now all wet clutch and have their clutch lub system separate from the gearbox lub system.