neotim Posted February 17, 2017 Hey all,I currently have a 2015 NV SL. We've had it for 2 years and it works pretty good for towing our 7,000# travel trailer. Our current NV has a hard time with transmission shifts when towing the TT. At 65 mph or so (going up hills), the tranny will frequently shift to 3rd gear and hold it there much longer than it needs to. I sometimes have to go to manual mode to get it to shift back to 4th. I see that the new '17 model has a bit more HP and a new 7 speed tranny. How much better will the new NV tow compared to my '15? Is it worth the major $$$$$ to upgrade? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neotim Posted February 17, 2017 I've also considered getting a Bully Dog tuner, thinking that might help with towing shift points. How might that compare with the new 7 sp tranny? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ASD Dad Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) Nobody will know until it actually comes out and gets driven. Your best bet would be to go to the new Titan forums for the new model and see if you can dig up reviews by owners who had the original Titan. Your engine shifting to 3rd is not unusual in the least. You're towing a heavy box while driving a large box. The engine computer wants to keep things in the meat of the torque curve or even the peak if you're going up a steep grade. I am in 3rd all the time when towing our camper. My Tundra was the same and it had a 6 speed. You have to remember that more gears will keep the lower gears spaced better but they are normally just for MPG on the highway. On the Tundra both 5th and 6th were overdrive meaning 1st through 4th were the "power" gears. I only briefly looked over rations on the new 7 speed but I would bet that at bare min 6th and 7th are overdrive. Where you will see gains in towing is with the new motor. It has a wider and higher torque curve vs. our old tech motor. Nissan in their infinite wisdom has gimped the NV version vs. the Titan model so you wont get quite the same gains but they are gains. As for the Bully Dog - it will not help much with shift points or transmission hunting. It will remove your throttle restriction from a dead stop (which is huge when towing) and you can change how the throttle actually responds, engine timing, and to a point how hard the transmission shifts but that is it. You can make small gains in HP and TQ but nothing huge. All that being said I cant stand driving my NV without the BD tune programmed. It just feels kind of flat and dead to me without it now, the tune really wakes it up. Edited February 17, 2017 by ASD Dad Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NVAir Posted February 18, 2017 Some thoughts here. http://nissannvforum.com/topic/1248-where-is-the-2017-section-at/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
