Tip for Towers
08-13-2018, 09:17 PM
#1
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
Tip for Towing
Once you get out on the highway/interstate and get up to speed, Put current fuel economy up on MFD, slap it to manual mode and spend some time there driving for best fuel economy.. for my TDI it was 1800-2200 RPM, give it some time after changing gears you might see FE display plummet for a moment but then recover, dont think that gear is worse until things settle down.
I dont know how many miles it takes, but its not much.. I was only in manual mode for half an hour tops, when you take it out of manual mode it will have adapted to your manual shifting and try to replicate it..
I discovered this because I had put it in manual mode driving through the mountains for more engine braking, then when I got to flat land my fuel economy was crap (down 100 miles a tank, worse FE yet @ <10mpg).. watching the engine I noticed it was staying too high of RPM, likely from me teaching it to rev high down the mountains to limit speed.. So I put it in manual mode again, put it in 8th gear and settled it down at 1800rpm @ 70mph... I left it here and shifted down every once and a while when I needed some ponies and sometime later put it back in auto to pass someone.. after that I achieved the best fuel economy towing this trailer to date, went from 10-12mpg to 14-16mpg with the same load at the same speeds on the same roads (1200 mile trip this last weekend).. Wish I'd of discovered this earlier.
TLDR: dont be afraid to use manual mode more when towing, train it to drive at the RPM you want and dont trust it to always pick whats best for your situation.
I dont know how many miles it takes, but its not much.. I was only in manual mode for half an hour tops, when you take it out of manual mode it will have adapted to your manual shifting and try to replicate it..
I discovered this because I had put it in manual mode driving through the mountains for more engine braking, then when I got to flat land my fuel economy was crap (down 100 miles a tank, worse FE yet @ <10mpg).. watching the engine I noticed it was staying too high of RPM, likely from me teaching it to rev high down the mountains to limit speed.. So I put it in manual mode again, put it in 8th gear and settled it down at 1800rpm @ 70mph... I left it here and shifted down every once and a while when I needed some ponies and sometime later put it back in auto to pass someone.. after that I achieved the best fuel economy towing this trailer to date, went from 10-12mpg to 14-16mpg with the same load at the same speeds on the same roads (1200 mile trip this last weekend).. Wish I'd of discovered this earlier.
TLDR: dont be afraid to use manual mode more when towing, train it to drive at the RPM you want and dont trust it to always pick whats best for your situation.
Last edited by dreadlocks; 08-14-2018 at 07:36 AM. Reason: fix title
08-14-2018, 12:54 AM
#2
Good info! Thanks for sharing.
08-14-2018, 04:35 AM
#3
AudiWorld Member
Ohh Tow-ers as in towing. LOL When I first read your title I thought it was going to be about shock towers or something
This is good and really interesting information, going to try this out. Thanks!
This is good and really interesting information, going to try this out. Thanks!
08-14-2018, 05:03 AM
#4
AudiWorld Senior Member
Once you get out on the highway/interstate and get up to speed, Put current fuel economy up on MFD, slap it to manual mode and spend some time there driving for best fuel economy.. for my TDI it was 1800-2200 RPM, give it some time after changing gears you might see FE display plummet for a moment but then recover, dont think that gear is worse until things settle down.
I dont know how many miles it takes, but its not much.. I was only in manual mode for half an hour tops, when you take it out of manual mode it will have adapted to your manual shifting and try to replicate it..
I discovered this because I had put it in manual mode driving through the mountains for more engine braking, then when I got to flat land my fuel economy was crap (down 100 miles a tank, worse FE yet @ <10mpg).. watching the engine I noticed it was staying too high of RPM, likely from me teaching it to rev high down the mountains to limit speed.. So I put it in manual mode again, put it in 8th gear and settled it down at 1800rpm @ 70mph... I left it here and shifted down every once and a while when I needed some ponies and sometime later put it back in auto to pass someone.. after that I achieved the best fuel economy towing this trailer to date, went from 10-12mpg to 14-16mpg with the same load at the same speeds on the same roads (1200 mile trip this last weekend).. Wish I'd of discovered this earlier.
TLDR: dont be afraid to use manual mode more when towing, train it to drive at the RPM you want and dont trust it to always pick whats best for your situation.
I dont know how many miles it takes, but its not much.. I was only in manual mode for half an hour tops, when you take it out of manual mode it will have adapted to your manual shifting and try to replicate it..
I discovered this because I had put it in manual mode driving through the mountains for more engine braking, then when I got to flat land my fuel economy was crap (down 100 miles a tank, worse FE yet @ <10mpg).. watching the engine I noticed it was staying too high of RPM, likely from me teaching it to rev high down the mountains to limit speed.. So I put it in manual mode again, put it in 8th gear and settled it down at 1800rpm @ 70mph... I left it here and shifted down every once and a while when I needed some ponies and sometime later put it back in auto to pass someone.. after that I achieved the best fuel economy towing this trailer to date, went from 10-12mpg to 14-16mpg with the same load at the same speeds on the same roads (1200 mile trip this last weekend).. Wish I'd of discovered this earlier.
TLDR: dont be afraid to use manual mode more when towing, train it to drive at the RPM you want and dont trust it to always pick whats best for your situation.
08-14-2018, 02:47 PM
#6
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
mine is an unfixed/prefix stock TDI but it should work on really anything with the Aisin in it.. I've seen alot of reports that post-fix transmission behavior gets better if you drive it around in manual mode for a bit indicating they are still capable of learning, fixed or not.
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