Hello I am new to all this please can I ask someone about towing my small 2 berth caravan I have a forester 2.5xt automatic am I ok to yow the van in automatic mode

It should be fine for towing a small caravan but be aware that auto transmissions can overheat if you're driving up hills non-stop - so that's Devon off the cards then :-)

Using an enhanced Trans Oil Cooler would improve this so a 'fit and forget' solution

41 minutes ago, benderdave said:

Hello I am new to all this please can I ask someone about towing my small 2 berth caravan I have a forester 2.5xt automatic am I ok to yow the van in automatic mode

Thank you very much for your reply I will have a chat with my mechanic as its taken me years to get my hands on a nice 2.5xt automatic and I really font want to naff it up I would be gutted again Thanks for your reply and advice

On 2/3/2026 at 11:37 AM, SOC Admin said:

It should be fine for towing a small caravan but be aware that auto transmissions can overheat if you're driving up hills non-stop - so that's Devon off the cards then :-)

Using an enhanced Trans Oil Cooler would improve this so a 'fit and forget' solution

a lot of the time heating up of the transmission is being in wrong gear. Never let a car get in to 6th gear overdrive, will heat up the transmission. I always tow in 3/4 depending on how many gears in the autobox. So if it was a 6 speed then I would be running in 4th. Dont let it run in Overdrive. 5/6. Yes spunks the fuel but rather it do that than burn out the transmission.

Do a youtube search on this. The ozzies have a few vids on this. They proved it by show temperatures at both 4 and 6th

Drive in S mode on my Toyota Tow car.