Due to circumstances I need to do a little towing with my CRV. It is a 2020 model, awd, only 16k miles. It's rated to tow 1,500 lbs and I'll be towing ~1,200. Total distance is about 250 miles. It's mostly highway.
With my suburban with a 4l60 the conventional wisdom was tow in drive (when near capacity), my Escalade has a tow haul mode, the CRV has Drive, Sport and Low. It is a CVT so all these modes do is change set points. Should I be towing in sport mode to make it easier on the car? Sport mode almost acts like tow mode in the Escalade but I can't find any guidance or reference to towing mode or towing preference with this car.
What sayeth the hive?
Most vehicles without a tow/haul mode recommend using D. A quick check of the 2020 CR-V owners manual says the same. Turning off the auto-stop/start while towing is another recommendation to note.
In reply to Driven5 :
Thanks for that. I never could find that section when I was googling. The auto stop start is interesting. I wonder if that's just to keep fluid moving and cooling? With this trip I don't think it would ever go into an auto stop but better safe than sorry.
Modern stuff has so much protection built into the electronics, I wouldn't worry about it.
In reply to NY Nick :
Most transmissions newer than the 700R4/4L60 (or heavier duty 
) don't need to be manually limited to drive, like they did.
Although, I have a ton of experience towing with all kinds and sizes, I know absolutely nothing about durability of a CVT.
since it's rated for 1500, and you expect 1200, I would think you'd be fine. Since selectable programming has a sport mode, I would think raised "shift points" would be a plus.
But, disclaimer, I may know towing, but any of the earlier CVT were not rated to tow at all.
There in finishes my CVT knowledge
