Modern automatic how to tow?

[ericmark]

I have towed with automatics many times, and reading the instructions there were some with special instructions for towing the Rover 3500 had two drive options one missed using 1st gear to give a smoother take off.

However the Jaguar XE seems to have 5 or so options, Sport, Normal, Eco and Snow, plus a paddle change. OK on a camp site off road then Snow option, but on the road reading the instructions can't really work out what or how the gear box should be used.

I read that the paddles can be used in Sport or Sport and Normal and it seems there is some menu to change it, I can see using the paddles could assist with engine breaking, but as yet not towed with it, and likely it will be some time before I do.

Main tow car is a Kia Sorento which as a tow car has many advantages to the Jag, easy assess and larger luggage space, can carry bikes and tow caravan, don't have to crawl on the floor to plug in electrics, and better view of country side while travelling.

However since the Jag is big enough to tow and we want to carry bikes we had a tow bar fitted, getting a little too old now to lift bikes onto roof, so tow bar bike rack required. The Kia is old so it will likely go well before the Jag, so Jag is ready.

However not a clue how good or bad they are for towing, so seems good idea to ask.

 

[otherclive]

I have towed with automatics many times, and reading the instructions there were some with special instructions for towing the Rover 3500 had two drive options one missed using 1st gear to give a smoother take off.

However the Jaguar XE seems to have 5 or so options, Sport, Normal, Eco and Snow, plus a paddle change. OK on a camp site off road then Snow option, but on the road reading the instructions can't really work out what or how the gear box should be used.

I read that the paddles can be used in Sport or Sport and Normal and it seems there is some menu to change it, I can see using the paddles could assist with engine breaking, but as yet not towed with it, and likely it will be some time before I do.

Main tow car is a Kia Sorento which as a tow car has many advantages to the Jag, easy assess and larger luggage space, can carry bikes and tow caravan, don't have to crawl on the floor to plug in electrics, and better view of country side while travelling.

However since the Jag is big enough to tow and we want to carry bikes we had a tow bar fitted, getting a little too old now to lift bikes onto roof, so tow bar bike rack required. The Kia is old so it will likely go well before the Jag, so Jag is ready.

However not a clue how good or bad they are for towing, so seems good idea to ask.

Unless your Owner Manual gives specific instructions I would just leave it in drive Normal when towing as Eco may be too high a gear, and use the paddles for hill descents or for a quick change down when overtaking. Although Sport + kick down will give you quick acceleration and responsiveness. Sometime with autos they can be a bit up and down on windy ascents so if that happens i just put it into manual mode and keep it in a suitable gear. Just try different options on different roads to see what feels best for you and the outfit.

Is it a double synchro clutch gearbox or torque convertor? If its the former you should read the thread on Powershift as double synchro clutch boxes are best driven differently to a torque convertor auto. In effect they are automated manual gearboxes and driving methods can sometimes lead to wear on the clutch packs. But oil lubricated double synchro gearboxes are less susceptible than dry lubricated ones. Just something to be aware of, although manufacturers are or have moved across to oil lubricated ones for the later models including lower torque petrol variants.

 

[Dodger524]

I don't have such a choice on my Volvo, its just normal, sports or manual override. I usually leave it in normal unless traversing hill terrain when I use the sport setting since this changes later. As has been said above I guess trial and error is the way to go, I'm sure it will soon be obvious which is the most comfortable setting for you.

 

[mogarage]

I just leave my X3 in normal "comfort" mode (there are four modes - adaptive, sport, eco and comfort). The car pulls well with a 90% match so haven't felt the need to change - IMO just try it and choose yourself because a lot depends on what you are towing.

 

[Danddandy]

It's definitely a case of try it and see. On my Discover I use the sport setting as coming out of a corner or on a gradient it always selects the right gear as if it knows that there's an extra 1750kg to pull.

 

[xtrailman]

Just drive it in normal. And use the manual to engine brake if required.

 

[Hutch]

Ericmark, Review here the only letdown is the 75kg tow hitch limit.

 

[waffler]

When towing use normal. Sport will stiffen the suspension, make the steering more precise and leave it later to change up. Eco changes early and slows acceleration. The only time I use the paddles are when in manual and I want to control slow downhill speed. The new car has hill descent so I shouldn't have to do anything with the padddles..

 

[otherclive]

Ericmark, Review here the only letdown is the 75kg tow hitch limit.

Based on the PC review and 85% caravan to kerbweight the noseweight of 75kg represents 6% of the 1254kg MTPLM which is within the recommended band. But what MTPLM is Ericmarcs caravan. I suspect since he’s been towing with a Sorento it’s heavier than 1254kg.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Like Clive, I'm not sure why Hutch thinks the cars nose load limit of 75kg is disappointing?

Assuming all other factors have been managed correctly, you only need as much nose load as the outfit requires to keep it towing sweetly.

Simply using more nose load than is required, serves no useful purpose, and of course you should never exceed the prescribed maximum nose load as that can be damaging to the tow vehicle and or trailer.

 

[jamestaylor18]

I have a got a Kia Ceed estate auto. This was my first automatic car. Mine does not have any options on the auto box, just auto or semi automatic using the paddles. If it was me, i would go for just normal auto. Lets face it, towing a caravan is neither sporty or economical, so don't see how sport/eco would get the best results.

With my Ceed, i find the auto pulls perfectly. The gearbox is fine tuned to know when to change gear and monitors torque to determine when to change gear. It also has engine breaking, so selects a lower gear on descents.

My thoughts are just put it in normal and let the car do the rest. On occasions I have used the paddles on mine thinking i knew best and attempting to correct the cars decision gear wise, it turned out the car knew best anyway and reverted back after my adjustment.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Thank you James for a well reasoned post.

It is one of the inevitable consequences of towing a caravan that both performance and fuel consumption of the tow vehicle will suffer. It's fortunate most caravanners only tow for about 10% (guesstimate) of their annual mileage, so the costs of the additional fuel used is not a large proportion of their motoring costs.

 

[ericmark]

Caravan not too heavy unladen 1250 laden 1350 I think, it was just too heavy technically for Kia Carens which towed it without a problem.

Not really worried about fuel consumption, actually found towing the Sorento better than Carens, clearly wind resistance behind the Jag will be a massive increase where with the Sorento it's not that much more than tow car. So although light the Jag is really good I don't expect it to be that good towing.

The Sorento is our preferred tow car, main reason is we can carry the push bikes as well as tow caravan, plus dropping seats means loads of boot space, however towing with an automatic does make life easy, and with the Jags direction indicator stalk being on wrong side swapping between the two means windows get wiped more than required.

However my experience with automatics in cars is mainly 3 speed, OK mini was 4 speed and fiesta was CVT but neither were tow cars. With larger vehicles CAT dump truck for example you could select highest gear to get engine braking, but with cars the lock option required the car to be in that gear to lock it, except for mini you could not force car to change down.

Going to Forest of Dean in the past Queenswood on A49 was considered as a long drag although the old well at time it was new, Standard 8 could pull the Sprite Aerial over it, we knew there was a heavy lump behind us. We did it twice this year towing with Kia Carens and Sorento and we wonder why we even regarded it as a hill. What was so daunting years ago today seems nothing.

However Sutton bank is still going to be avoided, towed a Musketeer up it once with Austin Gipsy and returned and towed a second caravan up it that was stuck, but today would avoid it, I would guess a caravan ban today? Going down steep hills I think is worse, one has no idea how hot caravan brakes are and even if you are using gears, over run brakes are likely still stopping some of the push from caravan, so likely no point using gears to ****** anyway, caravan brakes will still be on.

So having read the reports, I think using standard drive is the way to go, just the same as all the petrol automatics I have towed with.

 

[Hutch]

Eric Mark, Sutton bank now bans caravans, you have to follow the lower hill roads to get to Pickering. Try the Millaue bridge in France with 38c and heavy car and Caravan. Not good.

 

[otherclive]

Eric Mark, Sutton bank now bans caravans, you have to follow the lower hill roads to get to Pickering. Try the Millaue bridge in France with 38c and heavy car and Caravan. Not good.

We didn’t find the Millau Bridge a problem but some of the gradients onbthe autoroutes going south to Millau were a grind, apart from when we had. Saab 9000 2.3 turbo. But before the viaduct Bridge was built the narrow RN into and out of Millau wasn’t a nice experience due to HGVs moving so slowly on the steep sections.

 

[Guzzilazz]

It appears to me that the major issue with Dual clutch "semi-manual" gearboxes (I use the term to differentiate between that and a Torque converter box) is that people expect them to work like a TC box, rather than remembering that they are, mechanically, a manual box operated automatically. You have to remember that they have a clutch, just like a manual box, and have to be treated like a manual (i.e. don't hold the car on the clutch, put handbrake on and put in neutral)...

 

[otherclive]

It appears to me that the major issue with Dual clutch "semi-manual" gearboxes (I use the term to differentiate between that and a Torque converter box) is that people expect them to work like a TC box, rather than remembering that they are, mechanically, a manual box operated automatically. You have to remember that they have a clutch, just like a manual box, and have to be treated like a manual (i.e. don't hold the car on the clutch, put handbrake on and put in neutral)...

There is a long thread on Ford Powershift and quite early on in that thread I posted some information on the differences between Torque Convertor and Dual Clutch gearboxes, and towards the end of that thread I inserted a link to an excellent paper which gives a very good description of the Powershift box. But your are spot on in your comments re driving them, especially those that are dry lubricated clutches which are the more sensitive.

 

[Guzzilazz]

Wife has a knee problem, and her next car will need to be 2 pedal... I envisage severe domestic when I suggest how she approaches it... hmy:

 

[ericmark]

The picture of the Jaguar XE gear box to me shows a torque converter.

However as I said before when I drove automatic cars in the past they were mainly three speed not eight, and would not skip gears to increase fuel economy, and were not fitted to diesel cars. You had option automatic or diesel, not both.

The big question is do we keep the Kia Sorento as a tow car? Original plan was Sorento would be my car, as I don't drive much, and my wife would have a small car with good MPG, instead of the Honda Jazz, however she fell in love with the XE and MPG that good it's hard to find a small car to better it.

So the Sorento is only used to tow with, I use the old Jazz as every day car and wife uses Jag. OK Sorento handy for carrying large items, and the Jag can't tow and carry bikes. However I feel we don't really need the Sorento, but before getting rid what to be sure Jag can tow OK. And likely March before caravan used again.

 

[otherclive]

The picture of the Jaguar XE gear box to me shows a torque converter.

However as I said before when I drove automatic cars in the past they were mainly three speed not eight, and would not skip gears to increase fuel economy, and were not fitted to diesel cars. You had option automatic or diesel, not both.

The big question is do we keep the Kia Sorento as a tow car? Original plan was Sorento would be my car, as I don't drive much, and my wife would have a small car with good MPG, instead of the Honda Jazz, however she fell in love with the XE and MPG that good it's hard to find a small car to better it.

So the Sorento is only used to tow with, I use the old Jazz as every day car and wife uses Jag. OK Sorento handy for carrying large items, and the Jag can't tow and carry bikes. However I feel we don't really need the Sorento, but before getting rid what to be sure Jag can tow OK. And likely March before caravan used again.

The Jaguar has the right credentials to be a good tow car, but comparing the Jaguar and Sorento is chalk and cheese when their functionality is so different. I think only you can make that decision. If you don’t drive much why not ditch the Jazz and you run the Sorento? Having it laying idle for long periods could do more harm than good.

 

[Craigyoung]

Either put the bikes in the caravan when towing or get a bike rack for the roof if that's possible but i would think the jag would make a good tow vehicle .

 

[CustardAvenger]

https://www.practicalcaravan.com/reviews/tow-car/34632-jaguar-xe

 

[otherclive]

https://www.practicalcaravan.com/reviews/tow-car/34632-jaguar-xe

The OP has already seen this review which does give a fair indication of the Jag’s capability as a tow car. Over the past few months I seem to be more aware of saloons being used for towing and with family groups too. Apart from a Humber Hawk, M3 and Mk2 Cortina I’ve been firmly in the fold of estates and hatch backs. If only to be able to take my daughters junk to the skips ....., and the dogs on their trips out too.

 

[glenno]

The Jag has a strong ZF torque converter auto. Just leave it in auto unless you want engine braking or to be in the correct gear in advance of corners or hills in which case use the paddles. I have an XF and it's a fab car solo or towing my 1700kg van.