chimaera

Your Octavia uses halogen bulbs which are a completely different technology to the bulbs discussed on this thread. OSRAM Nightbreaker is available in halogen bulb types and is a good improvement over standard halogen bulbs. Don't fit a HID conversion as this will dazzle other drivers around you.

I'm going from what's in the link I gave in the post, but you may be right. I'm not that familiar with UK licencing. The weights will still be relevant in any case depending on what licence you qualify for.

There are a few limits which apply to towing, technical, legal and advisory. Technically the manufacturer will specify a limit for the vehicle and this must never be exceeded. This will be in the handbook, and in this case is 1800 kg for a braked trailer or 750 kg for an unbraked one. This is the maximum weight Skoda rate the vehicle to tow under any circumstances. Legally there are different limits depending on the driving licence you hold. UK licence categories are here and it comes down to what licence you have and when you got it. Before getting into licence particulars, some terminology: DGVM = towing vehicle's Design Gross Vehicle Mass i.e. maximum plated weight for the car. For the Superb Combi CR170 with DSG this is 2157 kg (check the plate on the driver's side B-pillar on your car to be sure, this is what's on mine) This can also be referred to as MAM = Maximum Allowable Mass MTPLM = trailer/caravan's Maximum Technically Permissable Laden Mass i.e. the maximum plated weight of the trailer. You will need to know this for whatever you are towing. Most legal towing limits concern the combination of these two, often known as maximum train weight or combination weight. All legal limits are subject to manufacturer's technical limits: the lower of the two applies. If you don't have a BE licence (i.e. only a B licence), there are two scenarios: whether you passed your test before 1st January 1997 or after. If it's before, you can tow any combination weight up to 8250 kg If it's after, you can only tow up to a combination weight of 3500 kg, meaning you're limited to a trailer MTPLM of 3500 - 2157 = 1343 kg Irrespective of vehicle DGVM, you can also tow a trailer with an MTPLM of 750 kg or less If you do have a BE licence, there are also two scenarios: whether you passed your test before 19th January 2013 or after: If it's before, you can tow any trailer regardless of its MTPLM provided the towing vehicle DGVM is 3500 kg or less (which it should be for category B anyway) If it's after, the trailer MTPLM must be 3500 kg or less For any Irish readers who see this thread, our rules are a bit simpler (and the same comment on legal vs technical limits applies): If you only hold a B-licence, you can only tow up to a combination weight of 3500 kg, meaning you're limited to a trailer MTPLM of 3500 - 2157 = 1343 kg Irrespective of vehicle DGVM, you can also tow a trailer with an MTPLM of 750 kg or less If you hold a BE licence, you can tow any trailer with an MTPLM of 3500 kg or less The final limit, which is not really a limit so much as a rule of thumb is the 85 % rule you've mentioned. As others have commented, this is a guideline for drivers with less towing experience to avoid running into difficulties when towing, especially with high-sided trailers like caravans or horse-boxes. It is based on the vehicle's kerb weight and this is going to vary depending on model and load. The figure on the V5 is the minimum kerb weight, and realistically the car is a good deal heavier (my car clocks in around 1700 kg with a driver and full tank of fuel). Based on the 85 % rule, and the V5 kerb weight, the OP has calculated 1354 kg, which is very close to the post-1997 B licence limit of 1343 kg, so isn't a bad figure here. Something that will help with towing on the Superb is getting OE or equivalent towing electrics (Westphalia is the only one I'm aware of but there may be others). These integrate fully with other vehicle systems and enable some useful features for towing. The most useful on the road is the ESP towing mode which can use the ESP system to detect and help correct sway. The engine also detects when a trailer is detected and changes the mapping slightly to help with the load. Beyond that you get deactivation of the rear parking sensors and alarm activation if the trailer is unplugged while the alarm is set.

There's a pad wear indicator but it's not triggered until the pads are very worn.

Bad quality electrical elements shorting out would be most likely.

Worst that can happen is that the ballasts or controllers get blown by crappy bulbs, and while that's relatively unlikely it'll be very expensive if it happens.

Probably worn shocks. I hadn't realised mine were noisy until I replaced them and the car was suddenly much quieter.

Get a proper diagnostic scan done and go from there. There's a thread in the diagnostics forum which has a list of people with VCDS who are willing to help other members - you may find someone near you.

Second post on this thread:

If you have access to VCDS, you could use 235/45/18 and recode the cluster to suit.

If you get the OE Skoda kit all that is wired in at the fuse panel in the dash, no messing with extra wiring needed. The Westfalia kit is the same.

I'm talking about OE Skoda and its equivalents. Everything is there in one setup with all the correct connectors and terminals to slot into the fusebox and BCM plug.

The Skoda kit includes everything, no need for extra wiring. The Westfalia one is pretty much the same.

Bumper must come off. You remove the crash bar and replace it with the towbar. If you use Skoda electrics (the best option IMO) then there are two possibilities. If your car has factory towing prep then there will be a connection in the boot for the remaining (new) harness to connect to. Otherwise you have to pop out the sill trims along the driver's side to rum the full harness to the fuse panel. Given that the full current draw for the 13-pin setup is around 60 or 70 amps, you're not going to find a good power source in the boot and will need to run a cable from the battery anyway. The Skoda electrics integrate with other vehicle systems, alarm (unplugging the trailer while the car is locked sets it off) , ESP (towing mode to help if the trailer starts snaking), disabling rear parking sensors while the trailer is hitched up. Much better than a universal canbus kit.

Which unit do you have? Amundsen or Columbus?

I'm pretty sure these tensioners are not sprung. You rotate it into position and secure it with a nut.

Unless you live somewhere with very bad winter weather, you're probably better off getting a set of decent all-seasons. Michelin CrossClimate2 would be the best in that category right now.

Not really. Much too tall for one thing so your speedo/odometer will be wrong. Offset is also quite a bit different to what's recommended so the steering will be a bit weird.

We have 2 Britax Kidfix seats and both fit fine in the Fabia and Superb.

They're not that bad. Most cars might need one replacement in their lifetime due to wear.

Looking up the part number listed here suggests that it's still a single mass for 2014: https://skoda.7zap.com/en/cz/superb/sup/2014-768/1/105-105010/#7

IIRC the 1.6 got a single mass flywheel.

If you're not sure, replace them. They're not that expensive compared to the cost of the repair if they fail.

Make sure you have the lockdown tools too or you will have problems.

Petrol is by far the more volatile component in the mixture, so increasing ethanol content will reduce evaporation.