fuel economy when towing

[mary]

I was advised to get an automatic because I tow a lot (horse trailer). Beautiful drive but poor economy. Someone has told me that economy is better when towing with the ECT in 'power' mode instead of normal. This almost makes sense if the engine has to do a lot less straining at lower revs, but I'm not sure. Does anyone have any experience of this? Any advice appreciated.

[TonyN]

Switching the ECT on will let the motor rev higher before changing gear, for MPG reasons I'd leave it off, and go easy on the throttle, let the revs build as you squeese the throttle gently, don't boot it and wait for the revs to catch up. If you feel the truck slowing despite pressing the throttle, knock the O/D off, or if your already in third, manually put it in second, and wait till you can change gear without it lugging down again.

The trick is to be as light on the go-pedal as poss, while still maintaining road speed.

If you want tow quicker, have the ECT on, them it will get higher into the powerband before changing gear. but I think you'll get crappy MPG.

Any trailer of a reasonable weight (and Horses cirtainly are!) will kill your MPG, no way round it really. Just take it easy and enjoy the ride.

[robnw67]

Amazed

It seems that we have had several threads regarding economy of Surfs and quite a number concerning towing large objects. To me, it seems reasonable that high fuel consumption would be experienced/expected when you attach an object weighing 2 tonnes (with the aerodynamics of a brick) to another object weighing 2 tonnes (similarly aerodynamically challenged). This being especially so when the drive is via a conventional auto gearbox.

I have owned a few 4x4 vehicles, and they tend to be heavier than normal cars, and all have returned 23 to 30 mpg-ish.

Since there seems to be a lot of surprise when Surf fuel consumption appears high, are people saying that there are large 4x4 vehicles out there which can tow a 2 tonne trailer and still return good mpg?

Baffled!

Rob