Heading to the Rockies for 5 or 6 weeks.
Well we have been traveling all over the place and I found out how my 3.5 EcoBoost would handle the Rockies. Going up hills I have no problem with power at all. I slow for the corners and speed back...
Forum Discussion
profdant139 wrote:
OK, I am going to reveal my ignorance -- how is tow/haul different from manually downshifting? On long steep downgrades, I select second gear and just let the compression do the braking for me. My Tacoma does not have a separate tow/haul setting, as far as I know.
(Don't be too hard on this naive question -- I did say I was ignorant, right?) ;)
No harm in asking...
Engaging the Tow Haul, that is now found on most late model trucks and SUV's, tells the ECM to adjust the shift points making them more efficient. You will notice a tendancy to hold each gear a little longer - to a slightly higher rpm. It also locks up the torque converter eliminating any slippage which = friction, which = heat.
If you manually shift to a lower gear it simply stays there whether or not that is the most efficient selection. TH will continue to shift up and down as is appropriate for your driving situation. As noted another plus is that on long downhill grades the engine compression gives controlled braking while burning no fuel... win - win.
On older vehicles having a manual Overdrive button, the {off/on} accomplishes much the same thing just not as efficiently as a dedicated TH. Turning OD off locks out your highest gear. I always figured the engineers that built my vehicles have forgotten more than I ever knew about getting optimum performance so I tend to read the owners manual and pretty much do what they recommend... but then that is just me.
:C
