low 3rd/D
 

I have an auto HDJ81 and have driven in low D quite a lot. With centre and rear diff locks on it is wondefully powerful particularly if you have a heavy right foot. With the front diff lock on, it is even better but only in a straight line - great for getting out of trouble when there are no bends around.

Starting off in low D in my car is fine, but if I want the box to change up, it responds best to a heft boot from the right foot. Once in 3rd, speed and power is excellent.

This auto box is one of the reasons I went for an HDJ81. The thread started with a q re the pros and cons of auto v manual and whether a Patrol is a 'close equivalent to a Toyota Landccruiser'. Chacun a son gout...but as my car has to get me about back here in London traffic and the UK and do the trips I want to do, I went for auto.

Hi NCR,
You have more experience with TLCs than I do - Ive driven a few VXs/80s we had in the Military (hired) -they are very good.
Maybe the TLC is the exception - but every other auto I have ever driven when compared to a manual has this traight of running faster due to the torque converter.........



......Maybe the need to start in a specific gear does not exist for you - but believe me, on the terrain I drive it is a big help - and has got me out of many a bogging - if im working vehicles in tight slippery woodland with very steep slopes, here in the UK or Canada - I need to be in low range for control....and selecting a higher low range gear does work a treat....reducing torque to the wheels...especially on a slippy hill start, a long slippy hill climb or on ice......or soft sand.....when your transmission is hot beceause you are in high range maybe ?
Next time you are climbing something slippy, try a higher, low range gear....you might be suprised how well it works...and if you fail the climb you have the control of low range reverse to bring you back down.....instead of coming backwards in high range.

Im trying to highlight the pros and cons of autos IMO and experieces as per the original question......the torque and power you have in the TLC means you can be 'lazy' with using gears - but is not something that every vehicle has...so making use or the ability to use all the gears IMO is a big advantage.

Hi,

Probably true...I've never offroaded another auto.



The need to start in a specific gear always existed for me when I drove previous owned 4X4s. When off roading, most of the time I used low range and started in 2 or 3, as everyone else. I'm not a "clutch killer" as you pretend. I've never burned a clutch or transmission before and have drived very heavily loaded 4X4s in the Sahara in high temperatures.

When I bought the auto 80 I found that if I used low range as often as before, I'd be revving the car almost to the red zone everytime I needed to change from 1 to 2 or 2 to 3 low, as gears only change - in low range - at about 3000 RPM! I thought it wasnt normal and inquired in LC specific forums - as automatic cars are rare in Portugal - and it seems it's not a problem with my driving - as you are insinuating - or my auto box.
The fact is that with my auto 80 I use much less low range then I used before with other cars. Why should I use low range (and stress the engine) if I can use high range without stressing the engine or the gear box??
Other users may have diferent experiences, as stated in an above post.



My transmition isnt hot. In fact it runs very cool - 60ºC most of the time. It heats up if one uses D (high range) in the sand for the reason Matt explains in another thread. That's why you shouldnt drive in D in deep sand (or mud, or snow).
I'm not stressing the transmission using high range (2 or L) in the sand.


I think I said that I use low range when doing slopes (Synonyms: abruptness, bank, bend, bevel, bias, cant, declination, declivity, deflection, descent, deviation, diagonal, downgrade, gradient, hill, inclination, incline, lean, leaning, obliqueness, obliquity, pitch, ramp, rise, rising ground, shelf, skew, steepness, swag, sway, tilt, tip).

And, of course, I use it in mud, rocks, and whenever the situation requires it. My point is I use it less often then before with other previously owned 4X4s.



I believe I mentioned that your observations were true, in general, but not aplicable to every car, namely the 80. Also, the original question mentions Nissan Patrols and Toyota Land Cruisers. I believe the thread owner is interested in the pros and cons of auto Patrols and LCs. I simply stated my experience with an auto Land Cruiser.

And yes, if one drives a land rover, I absolutely agree one must use every trick in the book ;-)

EASY TIGER - Sounds Like your AT Fluid is Boiling over !!!.....I havent accused you of being a 'clutch killer' or that you have a problem with your driving .....so dont bite like a starved piranha ;)

The ONLY trick I used was to winch recover chubby TLCs with my nice light nimble 90.....we'd just driven over the same bit of sand...maybe he had it in the wrong gear ???

Im off for a Beer..why dont you have a nice cold Super Bock and relax....
Grif

This is down to the gearing on the Auto box.

One of the standard 'upgrades' for an 80 is to fit a Centre Diff Lock switch - this will enablle you to engage the centre diff lock in high range.

If you do a further tweak you can also use the switch to disable the centre diff lock in low range (useful for slow towing on tarmac) - there are two ways of doing this, either the 'pin 7 mod' where you disconnect one of the pins on the wires going in to one of the diff lock ECUs or you can simply disconnect one of the connectors on the transfer case.

The second option gives you full manual control over the diff locks as well as it alters the gearing in low range so that the change points are the same as in high range - so basically you no longer need to rev the nuts off the engine in order to change gear.

The Centre Diff Lock switches aren't cheap from Toyota (although you can rip one out of a Rav 4) however it is a mod that it well worth doing.

Hi Julian,

Thanks for the tip. I've already installed a center diff lock switch, and would like different gearing in low range...Where can I found out wich connector we are talking about?

Maybe the TLC owner was following your advise and using first low! ;-)

PS: Piranha was, in fact, my youth nickname ;-)

When I give driving advice I do it when Im at work in the UK.......in these places.....

http://www.lre-malverns.com/

http://www.lre9.com/

maybe youd like to take a course sometime ?

That is a good mod for the TLC CDL - makes it more like the Land Rover..... ;)

I would love to. Maybe when you give a course here, in Portugal.

You will find an electrical connector and wire at the back of the transfer case at approximately 1 o'clock you will see a connector with a yellow and blue/black wire attached.

Disconnect the connector and protect it in a small plastic back with a zip tie around it. You may also want to put some grease into the socket to keep the damp and dirt out of it.

That will give you 100% control of the centre diff lock via the switch as well as improved gearing in low range.

Naaa... the only mod making the LC more like the Land Rover is drilling a hole in the oil sump....
;-)

Im Sure LRE will open an Experience Centre in Portugal in the next few years...


Joke away.....my last trip around WA - 30,000km and 5 months - the only thing that broke on the Defender was the tip the left windscreen wiper.....

As a Brit, (and personally for me) its nice to buy a Land Rover that is made in the UK (good,bad or indifferent as it may be) and support (whats left) of our motor industry....I dont buy anything else.............apart from Austrian and Japanese motorbikes......DOH..........!

...and yes they might be owned by Ford....but LR are helping THEM at the moment........

the bit above about being able to use low ratio without the diff lock is often overlooked and is a good thing in landrovers favour if you do a lot of towing. for difficult or uphill reversing you can engage low ratio even on grippy tarmac and avoid slipping the clutch. This is a trick I have used many times on landies, and miss a lot on other 4x4s, including my TLC H60 which is only a part time 4x4

and before any snappy types jump in I spent many years driving artics so I know how to reverse a trailer!!

THATS JUST SILLY!!!

OH YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!