Towing vehicle

Automatic or Manual. Which is the best?

On Friday, April 5, 2013 9:17:42 AM UTC-5, Colin Roney wrote:
Automatic or Manual. Which is the best?

not a lot of options for manual transmissions anymore anyway. i've always towed with an auto. not a bad idea to have a transmission cooler installed. tow away.

On Friday, April 5, 2013 9:17:42 AM UTC-5, Colin Roney wrote:
Automatic or Manual. Which is the best?

If you have an automatic, good to have a tachometer so you can see what is going on. If the torque converter won't stay locked up, your transmission will not last long. You can see this if you have a tach. And an extra transmission cooler probably can't keep up with that much added heat generation.

On 4/5/2013 8:49 AM, Steve Leonard wrote:
On Friday, April 5, 2013 9:17:42 AM UTC-5, Colin Roney wrote:
Automatic or Manual. Which is the best?

If you have an automatic, good to have a tachometer so you can see what is
going on. If the torque converter won't stay locked up, your transmission
will not last long. You can see this if you have a tach. And an extra
transmission cooler probably can't keep up with that much added heat
generation.

If the torque converter unlocks, you will see a 100 to 150 RPM increase.
Based on what I have seen with my full size Chevy/GMC Vans.

Lordy, I love religious questions on RAS!!! :-)

Dunno your location/country/towing geography, but I'm a fan of KISS (as a
philosophy, I mean :-)). Others have noted availability (possible lack of
manual tranny-ed vehicles), and heat generation (in automatics) as potential
realities.

If your geography and personal philosophy permit, there's little actual need
to buy into the "massive vehicle is massively better for towing my 15 (or even
18 nowadays) meter baby," in which case a whole world of manual transmissioned
vehicles opens up to you. It's hard to get much simpler than a manual
transmission driving rear-wheels. This from someone who towed all sorts of
gliders (including 2-seat Schweizers) throughout the intermountain western
U.S. behind a 3-speed manual transmissioned, 2,600 pound, rear wheel drive,
unibody vehicle for 37 years, using the same transmission that never needed
any maintenance beyond (one time) topping up the gear lube (after 30+ years).
It got replaced - body rust - with a 4/RWD Toyota pickup (4WD insisted upon by
my wife for her donkey trailer...which the first vehicle towed just fine, too,
with both critters in it).

The 2600 lb vehicle never towed a trailer with electric brakes, and only
rarely one with a surge brake (Twin Grob factory trailer). Drum brakes all
around. I replaced brake linings approximately every 60,000 miles IIRC.

Never had an accident towing. Was rarely alarmed by the towing vehicle
dynamics. Never overheated. Rescued more than one immobilized buddy towing
with newer, more complex, vehicles. Never needed rescuing myself.

The 37-year vehicle wasn't rated for towing (I've no idea why) and - other
than the aftermarket (non-)universal trailer hitch & self-added trailering
pigtail(s), had zero mods for towing.

Bob - if it ain't there, it can't fail - W.

Oh, Bob. Nothing on a religious level. So far. The OP asked "Manual or Automatic?" Tony said "I have only towed with an automatic. Best to get a transmission cooler." And I added "A tachometer is nice so you will know what is going on because a transmission cooler won't save your transmission."

Nobody was saying bigger is better. The only reason you would need a big crew vehicle is if you have lots of support equipment that won't fit in the trailer with the glider. That is why I have a full size van. The gas mileage sucks, but I deal with it. And, I just got done removing the extra transmission cooler the previous owner had added to my van. He use to pull travel trailers and guess what? I got to have the transmission replaced. Even with his added cooler. The van also now sports a tachometer. Those who are unaware laugh at this add on.

I agree with you and much prefer a manual transmission. That way, you KNOW what is happening in that part of the drive system. Pulled all sorts of things all over with my V-6 Camaro with its 5 speed manual. In and out of fields, up and down hills, and all around. Never any brakes on the trailers.. And only once was there ever a problem. Not transmission related.

Originally Posted by Steve Leonard[_2_]

Oh, Bob. Nothing on a religious level. So far. The OP asked "Manual or Automatic?" Tony said "I have only towed with an automatic. Best to get a transmission cooler." And I added "A tachometer is nice so you will know what is going on because a transmission cooler won't save your transmission."

Nobody was saying bigger is better. The only reason you would need a big crew vehicle is if you have lots of support equipment that won't fit in the trailer with the glider. That is why I have a full size van. The gas mileage sucks, but I deal with it. And, I just got done removing the extra transmission cooler the previous owner had added to my van. He use to pull travel trailers and guess what? I got to have the transmission replaced. Even with his added cooler. The van also now sports a tachometer. Those who are unaware laugh at this add on.

I agree with you and much prefer a manual transmission. That way, you KNOW what is happening in that part of the drive system. Pulled all sorts of things all over with my V-6 Camaro with its 5 speed manual. In and out of fields, up and down hills, and all around. Never any brakes on the trailers.. And only once was there ever a problem. Not transmission related.

I have towed various objects on trailers with both manual and automatic transmission vehicles...both transmission types have worked fine.

One observation I've made is that having more weight in front of the hitch is preferable to having it behind the hitch. Driving a 4,500# vehicle in front of a 4,500# sailboat was a real treat in a crosswind!

On Friday, April 5, 2013 9:17:42 AM UTC-5, Colin Roney wrote:
Automatic or Manual. Which is the best?

- Accord automatic - just change the transmission oil once a while. Did a major cross country with a asw19 trailer a couple of times. Reached speeds of 85 mph and 100K and absolutely no issues.. Fellow club member has one with 240K regularly towing different trailers - including Blanik. 4 bangers of course. I think the fact that this was the last year produced in Japan had a lot to do with it. So a Acura TSX is the last one from the family still produced in Japan. Jetta TDI with a double clutch transmission should work well too - fast shifting transmission and lots of low end torque should be ideal for this purpose.

On Friday, April 5, 2013 9:17:42 AM UTC-5, Colin Roney wrote:
Automatic or Manual. Which is the best?
- Accord automatic - just change the transmission oil once a while. Did a major cross country with a asw19 trailer a couple of times. Reached speeds of 85 mph and 100K and absolutely no issues.. Fellow club member has one with 240K regularly towing different trailers - including Blanik. 4 bangers of course. I think the fact that the car was produced in Japan had a lot to do with reliability. So a Acura TSX is the last one from the family still produced in Japan. Jetta TDI with a double clutch transmission should work well too - fast shifting transmission and lots of low end torque should be ideal for this purpose.

Jetta TDI with a double clutch transmission should work well too - fast shifting transmission and lots of low end torque should be ideal for this purpose.

NOOOOOOOOOO !!! ;-) VW does not recommend any towing with vehicles using DSG transmissions. While I agree that the TDI equipped (Turbo Direct Injected Diesel engines) are ideal towing vehicles - I have one myself - I would always opt for the straight manual 6-speed transmission. BTW, in Germany, the Jetta TDI station wagon is certified for towing trailers around 1,700kg if they are equipped with a surge brake. That should take care of most glider/trailer combinations I know.
For the long hauls, I use a Passat SW (2L, 4-banger gasoline engine) which only comes with a 6-speed automatic (in the US). I went from SC to Parowan, UT twice now and had no issues. Of course on the steepest and longest climbs, one has to make an allowance for having only 4 cylinders on duty but so what.

Uli

On Saturday, April 6, 2013 8:12:22 AM UTC-4, GM wrote:
Jetta TDI with a double clutch transmission should work well too - fast shifting transmission and lots of low end torque should be ideal for this purpose.

NOOOOOOOOOO !!! ;-) VW does not recommend any towing with vehicles using DSG transmissions.

Regarding DSG, there are numerous reports of people "chipping" their VWs to increase power output and then promptly toasting their DSG transmissions. Not exactly the same strain as towing, but instructive. The DSG have some reputation for self-immolation with normal driving and stock power output, so I tend to agree that towing with a DSG is penny-wise and pound-foolish. The DSG on the Golf TDI is otherwise a real pleasure to drive.

The towing recommendations of different brands cannot be compared because there is no cross manufacturer accepted SAE performance standard for towing. I believe that towing recommendations are largely influenced by marketing.. For pickup trucks and such, towing recommendations are clearly a liar's contest. There is a proposed SAE towing performance standard, but I believe that only Toyota has adopted it.

Curiously, the VW Golf is rated to tow 3000 lbs in Great Britain, but only 1000 lbs in the USA. That may be because towing is longer, steeper, and hotter in the USA or it may be that the Golf is marketed as a youthful and sporty car in the USA and VW does not like the marketing image of youth passing grandpa towing his trailer with Golf at 60 mph. The weight of the Jetta and Golf are nearly the same. The rear axle of the Jetta is farther in front of the tow ball and that would make it less stable for towing.

The VW Golf TDI won "tow car of the year" in GB. Go figure.