"Toad Away" gets pulled pretty nicely by our 2007 Honda Element. It has a 4-cyl, 2.4L motor rated at 166 hp with a 5-speed automatic and the aerodynamics of a closed barn door.
Went through a period of fighting with the cruise control downshifting and upshifting all the time, from 5th (OD) through to 3d and back up, and poor gas mileage.
Had an extended conversation with Craig and Cary about it. Craig's first suggestion was to turn off the OD, but the Element's set-up is that when you disengage OD with the little button on the shifter, it stays in 3d. Many cars' manuals will tell you to turn off the OD for towing; however, the Element manual doesn't address it.
Craig's second suggestion was slow down. Bingo. I now keep it btw 60-65 all the time, which seems to be the sweet spot for this rig. The nonstop up/down shifting on cruise control has gone away and gas mileage has come up to reasonable.
FWIW, I mounted a ScanGuage in the hope of being able to read transmission fluid temp out of the OBD2, but that data was not available; there's no sensor.
