What will actually change on a bone stock 4L80E, like on my pickup, when you hit the tow haul button as opposed to keeping it normal? i have about 16,000 miles and have yet to mess around with towhaul mode, but sounds like id be able to tell a difference when flooring it? When i have put other vehicles into tow/haul mode, i have been in neutral...but does it really matter if im in over drive as long as im not moving? Thanks for answering my newb questions...

 

I think you can engage tow/haul any time you feel like it, moving or not. If tow/haul is not custom tuned in the PCM you will not feel all that big a difference at WOT but will notice higher shift points and firmer shifts at part throttle application.

 

Yea he takes more TQ management out in the TOW/HAUL *** button and firms up the shifts more. Thank goodness I asked for it. Can't wait for it to show any day.

 

Actaly with the stock tow/haul, you have higher part throtal shifts but lower WOT shifts and you can engage it at any time, moving of not.

 

it's just more of a marketing thing. i've seen some guys real excited about having a tow/haul *** button on their trucks now. i don't see any reason for it. the tow button should be set for towing. your normal should always be set for everything you can get out of it in the first place. why would you want to not drive around with the trans set to the best settings it can have all the time?

 

not everyone tows regularly... and driving around with minimal torque management all the time isn't great for the trans durability.

 

I can see the reason for having different modes. If you didn't want to run around with all of the Torque Management removed all of the time (due to wear concerns), you could have the Tow/Haul mode programmed to be more aggressive, so when you lined up with a prospective competitor, you could be at your best.

 

i run zero torque management in everything. if you're concerned about torque management, you're not concerned about performance. hell, it wasn't until about 10 years ago that anything even had torque management in it. i've never killed a trans yet by removing it.

 

Not going to argue with you on this, you're certainly more experienced and knowledgeable than I am in the area of automotive performance.

But, haven't there been some power gains over the years, which translate into more stress on the tranny? I was reading an engineering article the other day which stated that automotive engineers realize a 1.5% gain in efficiency every year, which they can then apply to three areas:

1) Horsepower
2) Gas Mileage
3) Emissions

Because of the relatively lax gas mileage requirements, and steady emissions requirements, engineers have been able to apply the gains in efficiency realized over the past few years into the horsepower arena. Wouldn't this translate into more stress on the tranny, and more of a need for TM?

 

there has always been 'torque management' per se, it just hasn't always been electronically controlled.

if you've built any race trannys, i.e. th350/400, you'll know that there are some parts and settings that aren't recommended for street trannys because they, while performing well for racing, deteriorate the tranny's lifespan.

also, it seams that none of the top tuners remove all of the TM by default, so there is some merit to it.