towing with automatics

[JTQ]

With the predominance now of "dual mass" flywheels in manual gearbox transmission diesels to achieve refinement; going torque converter based auto is an easy and wise choice for towing.

Let the oil "take the strain"; it copes far better than the damping springs.

 

[Ivorwetwun]

Just about every police car in the country is a manual. Traffic cars are also taken to the limit on occasions and every traffic driver I know, (including myself) would prefer to drive a manual "on a shout"

 

[Sedo]

Kelvin

Never seen a police car 'out on a shout' with a caravan on the back.

Perhaps you want something different out on a shout to towing a caravan on the back?

Tomo

 

[xtrailman]

Articule in the latest issue of Whatcar page 84.

Nissan Murano's auto box, cost to replace

 

[Guest]

Sounds a bit OTT.

We've not had problems towing with auto's. More thn I can say Family friends mercedes has done over 220000 miles on it's auto box and has towed cravans and trailers most of its life.

Some of the latest cars have auto's that are faster and more economic than manuals. If you are going to keep a car long enough to expect auto problems on a manual you would be likely to have had clutch and other problems if you tow a lot.

As mentioned ,dual mass fly wheels. Friends son has had two go within a month of one another on a Mondeo. Had new fitted and it failed three weeks later. Lot of expense, 2nd one replaced by Ford dealer and the car does not tow.

 

[Chris_374224489]

Driven both for many years & would always go with the auto PROVIDED that the whole outfit is not underpowered. All the autos that I have driven have been fine except those that had an auto fitted to a car/engine combination that I would not have chosen as a manual.

The point about enjoying driving is relative. I enjoy being relaxed whilst driving, I enjoy the easy slow speed & hill driving that autos give & I enjoy the reliability that I have found. I have never heard of anyone burning out an auto reversing a caravan.

I also enjoy having a manual on the very very very rare occassion that I can drive like a police driver on a call but as I am not buying a track car I will stick with autos out of choice.

I would also not buy a car without cruise control which combined wonderfully with an adequately powered auto & having driven one with adaptive cruise control recently I would add that way up my options list and totally above auto wipers, lights & the hated - by us - electric windows which never seem to work when I dash into the shop automatically taking the keys with me & leaving the car hermetically sealed for whoever is left in it.

Auto every time.

 

[hogrider56]

I towed last week with auto...tried to get the caravan up on levelling blocks on very uneven site....nightmare....this week, auto up for sale. Never never again do I want to tow with one of those.

 

[Guest]

It would seem that you still really have no experience of auto's.

You should not be writing off something based on one experience. Most modern auto's can be locked in one gear or have winter mode setting for use in slippery conditions.

Auto 1st every time. Advice from and inexpereinced 1st time user, sorry no!

 

[Heethers]

l agree with euro should have selected 2cnd gear and switched to snow, never had a problem.

NigelH

 

[Sedo]

Phil

Sorry to hear about your troubles with an auto, can I humbly suggest you try driving with lighter shoes, such as trainers on.

I've towed with an auto for a year now (right through winter including a Christmas stay) on hardstanding and grass and have found it to be great, in fact an absolute joy and so relaxed.

In fact had to throw my copy of Nick Low's 'I love the smell of burning clutch' away last month.

Best regards

Tomo

 

[Guest]

I fall into the auto supporter's camp. but I have other reasons for doing this as my wife only has a licence allowing her to drive automatic cars. When she took her test our car was a Granada estate with auto box and she sailed through the test. But of course her licence was restricted to them. Now you cannot do this which is a shame as all she wanted to do, was get from A to B as easily as possible and her 'pedal car' is ideal.

We therefore always have had auto cars and the last 2 have been Volvo's which are excellent tuggers in auto format. There is a built in oil cooler and the box has a sensor which measure the oil temperature so if it gets too hot, I am advised. This has never happened even in 40 plus degrees in the Med with the van on the back. Hill starts are a doddle and my wife enjoys driving with the van on the back. She states it allows her to concentrate on the road, not the damn clutch. When you are towing there is no fuel difference between auto and manual.

Of course if the car breaks down you can only tow it for a short distance and of course you cannot 'bump start ' it. But all in all, I would not go back to a manual through choice.

 

[hogrider56]

It would seem that you still really have no experience of auto's.

You should not be writing off something based on one experience. Most modern auto's can be locked in one gear or have winter mode setting for use in slippery conditions.

Auto 1st every time. Advice from and inexpereinced 1st time user, sorry no!

Actually, I have quite a bit of experience with driving autos, since I was a driver attached to the Foreign Office. Most of the big limos had an auto box. But we were all trained on manual vehicles. So don't be so patronising and write off my experience as nothing.

 

[Guest]

Having returned from my first long journey with an auto the south of France driving with auto was a doddle compared to manual especially through Paris & various heavy traffic. The auto coped well with the Cevennes, I reverted to tip use only twice,once on the long bendy climb up after Salagou coming back and once on a long incline when I wanted to pass a lorry. After years of manual towing I enjoyed it.

 

[ScouseIan]

In 1993 my boss asked me to park his car. A 2.l vauxhall carlton with an auto 'box. It was a revelation. From that day I asked about switching from company car to cash alternative. I did and bought a rover 820 auto. This was one of the most comfortable cars I've ever driven and so effortless. The extra cost of fuel was so worth it to travel so comfortably and effortlessly, especially when going through the M6 in Birmingham pre M6 toll days.

At 27 I was hooked. My work colleagues sneered as though this made me less of a man. A prevailing opinion at the time of what an automatic meant. An attitude that still remains today with some of our older drivers, maybe some of them are on this forum...??? This is of course an understandable one given that they grew up with old mechanical 3 speed autos that not only broke down but did not give great economy.

A modern auto box these days has many more gears. The Mercedes has 7 although I have read that this is possibly too much. The Audi Multi-tronic gearbox is effectively one gear that slips as you accelerate. The astounding thing about this is that the economy and performance are comparable with the manual versions on their A4/A6 cars.

Its got to be a no brainer. Surely 200m americans can't be wrong? Actually don't answer that one....

Ian

 

[Guest]

Nephew told me that David Coulthard said at the weekend that he had not driven a manual box for 15 years or more.

I guess with his line of work that he always likes to be in control of the car and enjoys his driving ;-)

 

[Sedo]

Hi

A friend recently said driving a manual is like going back to washing with a tub and dolly peg.

Best regards

Tomo

 

[Leo2]

Those who posted favourably for driving an automatic - - -

"your are through to the next round"!

Leo

 

[xtrailman]

To the next round of "why i prefer not to be in control of my car"?

 

[ShadySadie]

Are you suggesting that we get rid of ABS and the other computerised aids Ray?

Your a little behind the times Ray, with modern auto's you are more in control.

 

[RogerP]

How are you not in control of an auto car? The only thing an auto does is change gear without the need for human input via clutch pedal and gear stick.

Surely being in control of a car in also about the steering , the breaking , the accelerating , positional awareness and hazard awareness.

Why does an auto box suddenly take those away?

I'm as equally in control of a car no matter what gear box it has. Yes a manual can hold a gear longer if you want , but so can a tiptronic which most modern autos seem to have.

Even the wifes lowly 05 Ford Focus has tiptronic.

 

[Chris_374224489]

The auto driver "not being in control of the car" is a very old red herring.

I would not want an automatic track day car but for a road car there is no contest - an auto every time. I can honestly say that in a road car I have NEVER found an auto to put me in a position where my control of the car has been compromised.

I have taken some manual control of my auto when necessary - for example long alpine descents or when swift overtaking is necessary - but this is all there for you.

The one complaint I have funnily enough is about some of the autos that others have raved about. The worst example I know is a XC90 Volvo driven solo in a semi urban situation where the car often felt to be in a lower gear than I would have chosen and then kept changing gear for little apparant reason. It took away the restful feeling that I find most autos give & became "tense". As it was a dealer demo car I assume it was working properly

 

[Lutz]

This thread has centered around a comparison of manual and automatic boxes. However, I would be interested in comments from owners of cars with CV transmissions rather than auto boxes regarding their experience of towing with these. Do they behave any different to automatics (other than that they obviously don't change gear)?

 

[Guest]

I've driven solo and towed a trailer with an A4 Avant 2.7TDI with Multitronic CVT Auto. It towed well and I remember seeing an Audi blurb that said it was suited to towing.

The car progression was silky smooth and no sign of any changing of gear of course, but my friends had some trouble with the Mutitronic getting very noisy and again with the replacement car at low mileage. The second Audi was traded for a BMW 5 series touring auto.

 

[Jo-AnneFairway5402010]

hi, i tow my 2008 wyoming with a 57 plate hyundai santa fe cdx7 auto. I wouldnt be able to tow with a manual because thats multi tasking and i just dont do it lol.

jo

 

[Jo-AnneFairway5402010]

hi, i tow my 2008 wyoming with a 57 plate hyundai santa fe cdx7 auto. I wouldnt be able to tow with a manual because thats multi tasking and i just dont do it lol.

jo