I have a GUIII ZD Auto at present and I love the auto in the bush. Just traded it on a Spankin ZD CRD Manual...
After towing with the auto you will find that it is not up to speed at all. Allot will disagree but I found that with my camper trailer on the fuel consumption went up and the speed came down. Granted I had 33's (who doesn't). Any sort of wind and it started to struggle. Dropping out the "lock-up converter"all the time. I know you guys will say there is mods for that converter but there is a good reason thta the Auto is rated to tow 2500kg and the Manual 3200kg (there are Kia's that can tow more). Don't get me wrong it was a really big deal for me to get rid of the auto, even thought of getting rid of the camper. I love the auto in the bush. Made the manuals look stupid every time (except when pointing down hill). But they are not up for towing in my opinion. The fuel stats above tend to agree. Is a real shame they are not the same rating. The other thing is you loose allot more power in the auto than with manual. Another thing is my mate blew his clutch the other weekend halfway down mundering powerline track. Had 50 km's of track and nearly 100km's home. He drove the lot, all 150. Just ment he had to hit each hill first go and I had to push him off every light on the way home with my bull bar. An auto looses fluid or cooks what then??? Seriously look at this before buying.
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