Hi All,

since 4 weeks I am a (proud) owner of a second hand 2018 Disco V with 3.0l Tdi engine.

As I bought this car mainly for towing my box trailer I was studying the information on towing in the Operation Manual. There I came across the instruction to use low gear when starting to tow a trailer in excess of 2000 kg and, upon reaching appropriate speed, to change to hi gear. Also for longer distance towing at speeds below 20mi/32km/h (traffic jam etc.) one should use the low gear.

At the same time you are adviced to stop your vehicle and to put the gearbox into Neutral to change from Hi to Low and vice versa, which contradicts the before mentioned idea to use low to get going and later to change into Hi.

I still have to do the first test drive with car and trailer, so I have not tried myself, I was just wonderring as a manufacturer will only put such a instruction into a manual for a good reason - at least to avoid any transmisson warranty issue after having towed a heavy trailer. BTW the trailer will have max GVW of 2700 kg, so way below the allowed 3500 kg towing capacity.

And of course I am referring to on-road use here, highway, motorway, the like. Off-Road would be a completely different scenario

How do you overcome this issue? Or do you feel no need for that, as the car can easily manage the extra load without any side effects?

Cheers

Hokewe

 

I may be wrong, but going into low range for towing, your max speed will be 20-30 mph. Prolly not good on highways. It will tow just fine in normal mode. Hope this helps.

 

Hi gmfain,

of course „top“ speed in low will be in the 20 mi/h range. But the way I understand the OM is that it suggests to use low from stand still until the pack is moving. maybe up to a.m. 20 mi/h and then to switch to hi and to proceed down the highway in Hi-gear. Exception is extensive slow moving like in a traffic jam.

I assume it is to avoid overheating the transmission with excessive torque converter slip and thus generating heat in the T/M oil.

Unfortunately the T/M oil temperature is not shown in the display (would be nice) but maybe a OBD adapter to a separate display might help.

Cheers

Hokewe

 

I would assume they mean a low gear and not low range. Does the manual use those interchangeably? It doesn't make sense to start off in low range, then while moving, switch to Neutral, switch off low range while rolling, then back into Drive, which requires a brake pedal push.

 

Hi geekinc,

yes, this exactly is my point. But wouldn’t a automatic transmission start in first gear anyways or maybe in second, providing the resistance against accelleration is not too big (like uphill...)

And yes, at first I was assuming a translation error myself (reading the German OM) hence I checked with English version. Here it clearly refers to the transfer box, which should be in low range for a smoother pull away from standstill. Change to Hi when the vehicle is moving.....

My LR dealer could not explain it - he even was not aware of that instructions in the OM

Strange

Cheers

Hokewe

 

Can you change from low range to high while moving?
I know it doesn’t let you do the opposite but...

 

Hi LoneStarLR,

cannot say for sure, even OM differs in that matter. Hence my question how others are doing while towing a heavy trailer.

Cheers

Hokewe

 

I took a look at the manual which I've reprinted below, and underlined in bold the important line:

So while it does say the vehicle should be stationary, it then goes on to say that it it can be done from low to high while on the move at a speed of less than 37mph by following the same procedure which to me means:

Pull away in low range until your speed is up to say 30mph (but less than 35mph) and the ground is flat, let off the gas and move the shifter into neutral, then press the button to select high range, then once high range confirmed move the shifter into drive and now you can get back on the gas.

That's how I'm reading it anyway...

 

Hi LoneStarLR,

thanks for the copy of OM.

I am using the downloadable OM of LR. After your remarks I rechecked with the English version and, no, the English OM does not state that, but strangely the English USA/Canadian version includes the remark on shifting lo to hi below 60 km/h. Hmmmmm, looks like I have to cross-read also the USA Version.

So back to square one. Looks like it‘s possible but does one need to? How do you do when pulling a heavy trailer?

Cheers

Hokewe

 

The above came from my 2019 USA manual.
I didn’t check any other years or regions (like the UK), I guess the manuals could be different...