Some Observations Between Drive, Drive Sport, and Tow Mode

[Grumpaw]

I recently had to take a 50 mile run between Staunton Va and Monterey Va via a 2 lane road, US 250. About 25 miles is thru some mountain's where there are numerous up's, down's, and 15 mph hair pin curves.
Had a chance to play with the 3 trans shifting modes, especially entering and leaving the hair pin's.
In drive upon exiting the turn at slow speed there was the expected slight shudder and lag until speed picked up.
In sport mode, upon exiting the hair pin and accelerating, no hesitation and no lag, just get up n go. But noticeable was the fact that I had to brake a lot sometimes hard, prior to entering the turn.
Tow mode reacted the same as sport mode, the big difference being the automatic braking when entering the hair pin from a downward grade into the hair pin, then accelerating to the upward grade upon exiting the turn.
In tow mode it was almost a pleasure as it required much less application of the brake, and almost immediate/no lag acceleration upon exiting.
Did experiment and find out that when in tow mode, if you manually downshift via the shifter buttons, it takes the trans out of tow mode.
Heading home I left it in tow mode the entire way. This is one of those roads where you cannot take your eyes off the road for a second, and between the auto braking sequences and acceleration, was really fun.
Just throwing this out for some that wonder what the difference is between the different shift patterns.

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[Grumpaw]

did the fuel economy suffer when in tow mode

To be honest, I didn't pay attention to mileage/fuel economy. I usually don't concern myself with the fuel mileage unless on a long trip where there are long gaps between gas stations. Also, I was having fun using the go pedal exiting the turns, so the mpg would have suffered in any event.
Once I learned how the truck would react, on the way back, I drove in a "spirited" manner. It was actually a lot more fun than the same drive I'd taken in my past 2007 Mustang GT with a 5 speed...had to constantly brake and downshift entering and upshift exiting the turns. Had an upgraded clutch pack and short throw stiff shifter in it...got tiring after awhile.

 

[YaBoiNewton]

Did experiment and find out that when in tow mode, if you manually downshift via the shifter buttons, it takes the trans out of tow mode.

I have also found tow mode to be the best performer in the mountains, but are you sure down shifting with the manual button takes you out of tow mode? It has been my experience that pressing the downshift button locks out the highest gear with each press. So pressing the downshift button once removes 10th gear, so 9th is the highest allowed gear and so on and so forth.

You can essentially coast down a mountain in first gear while in tow haul mode if you wanted to.

 

[Tom_C]

I've been using tow mode when driving to our mountain property, and it helps a lot in mountainous areas. Can't say I've noticed any difference in mileage, but on my last trip my mileage was the best it's been yet. I'm just shy of 3k miles on the truck so I was curious if the mileage would ever get better and it appears to be inching up a bit.

I have a heavy foot on the highway, so I'll probably never see the 25+ mileage some people report, but I got 23 this last trip, and that was at 75mph in the mountains, so I was happy.

 

[Grumpaw]

I have also found tow mode to be the best performer in the mountains, but are you sure down shifting with the manual button takes you out of tow mode? It has been my experience that pressing the downshift button locks out the highest gear with each press. So pressing the downshift button once removes 10th gear, so 9th is the highest allowed gear and so on and so forth.

You can essentially coast down a mountain in first gear while in tow haul mode if you wanted to.

When I was in tow mode, and downshifted via the shifter, the tow mode icon on the dash would go out, so I am assuming the tow mode was by-passed. But when I shifted back up to #10 speed, the tow icon would come back on.

 

[Tom_C]

When I was in tow mode, and downshifted via the shifter, the tow mode icon on the dash would go out, so I am assuming the tow mode was by-passed. But when I shifted back up to #10 speed, the tow icon would come back on.

Sounds like you were in sport. In sport, tow mode is turned off, I think, and you can manually shift. In drive, all you can do is lock out gears (as far as I know).

 

[YaBoiNewton]

When I was in tow mode, and downshifted via the shifter, the tow mode icon on the dash would go out, so I am assuming the tow mode was by-passed. But when I shifted back up to #10 speed, the tow icon would come back on.

Well now I'm wondering if I just missed it lol I'll have to check again later, but I'm pretty sure mine doesn't do that. Maybe this just comes down to 2019 vs 2021 programming.

 

[Grumpaw]

Sounds like you were in sport. In sport, tow mode is turned off, I think, and you can manually shift. In drive, all you can do is lock out gears (as far as I know).

You know, I don't know if the tow/haul will engage when in sport mode...my playing around with the tow/haul was when trans was in the regular drive mode. In that mode, if the tow/haul is on, when I downshifted the icon would go out, and when I upshifted back to 10 the icon came back on.
I would guess that running in sport mode, and manually downshifting to a much lower gear would do essentially the same as the tow/haul braking mode, but for the most part I just left in in "regular" with the tow/haul engaged.
I'll have to play some more when I get the chance.

 

[Ranger_Pawl]

For me, it's been mainly tow mode since I started using it. I liked S mode, but now I reserve that only for "necessary moments". I rarely use D any more. R is reserved for backwards only.

Humor aside, I am really liking the 10 speed trans, and the many different modes and different functions with the plus/minus buttons. Some may like to put it in D and back in P when finished, but I like maintaining a feeling for my vehicle as I'm driving, and using its abilities in different conditions. Sorta like the old days when you had to pay attention to your vehicle, and that 3rd pedal, and what your engine and trans were doing.

 

[outdoorphotog]

Sometimes in tow mode if I stop really short it will screech a rear tire downshifting - not sure if that’s normal or not. But on the freeway I beilive it to get better MPG then standard “D” on the real-time mpg readout

 

[jblc]

This is great info, thanks.
Question: did you shift in/out of these modes while actively driving, or stop and then shift? I had thought Sport could only be engaged from Drive (and vice-versa) when the vehicle is stopped.
The manual isn't clear on this, though.

 

[tfisher15]

This is great info, thanks.
Question: did you shift in/out of these modes while actively driving, or stop and then shift? I had thought Sport could only be engaged from Drive (and vice-versa) when the vehicle is stopped.
The manual isn't clear on this, though.

You can shift into Sport mode while moving. It just changes the software parameters the computer uses for the engine and transmission. I often “downshift” to Sport when merging on the interstate.

 

[gwhalin]

This is great info, thanks.
Question: did you shift in/out of these modes while actively driving, or stop and then shift? I had thought Sport could only be engaged from Drive (and vice-versa) when the vehicle is stopped.
The manual isn't clear on this, though.

You can switch between while driving.

 

[Elgorr4]

I often drive up and down a 7 mile, 6-9% canyon road and have found sport is best for the climb and tow mode is best for the descent.

 

[jblc]

whatever you do.....

DO NOT PULL THE BUTTON IN WHEN GOING FROM SPORT TO DRIVE

you might just rip past neutral and reverse (It wont go into reverse btw fancy programming there too) and start grinding away on your parking pawls.

Thanks Ah, I had no idea that you could shift D <--> S without the button. Good to know.
<Sigh> the manual is so unclear.

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