MORE INFO :

my towbar dealer tells me the aftermarket bars have been delayed until april !! he says the wiring kits are available but not the bar. so now we are looking at him fitting the skoda one for me. As one poster already mentioned - coding is the key. he is pretty confident he can code the car so that the parking sensor cut out and the fog lights are off. Plus he shoudl be able to activate TSP (trailer stability program) which is available in most VAG cars now. He sounds like a very knowledgable chap. i could not beleive his price - about £100 to fit the bar and about £30 to sort the coding. He says he never uses bypass wiring. he also reckons the prices charged by skoda for the parts are pretty reasonable.

does anyone know if the underneath panel for the bumper has to be replaced ? he says on many VW cars he replaces the underneath section with a new one from VW that has a removeable panel. If not he can cut the bumper (he says he does a very neat job with bevelled edges). this might not be necessary, just trying to get as much info as i can

Not sure if this is of any use, but the warning next to the cartoon character suggests you'll need a genuine bar for it to work.......

the towbar dealer says it can be activated using a VAG COM. its a function that most VW cars have already - you just need to know what code to put in to activate it. he says he has done it on other skodas so should be no problem. he uses a "vehicle specific wiring kit" so it should be as good as a skoda one. (we might even end up with a skoda one)

I fail to see (when using TSA) how braking the front wheels of the car will help anything.

When a trailer starts to sway it is the trailer that needs breaking FIRST, this can be achieved (not with fly by wire cars though) by left foot braking to activate the trailers brakes whilst as the same time accelerating the car - this will pull the trailer back in line, once it has stopped swaying reduce the speed and stop braking.

All this TSA device will do (if it actually works in the way described) is to aggravate the sway = jackknife trailer.

I fail to see (when using TSA) how braking the front wheels of the car will help anything.

When a trailer starts to sway it is the trailer that needs breaking FIRST, this can be achieved (not with fly by wire cars though) by left foot braking to activate the trailers brakes whilst as the same time accelerating the car - this will pull the trailer back in line, once it has stopped swaying reduce the speed and stop braking.

All this TSA device will do (if it actually works in the way described) is to aggravate the sway = jackknife trailer.

no offence - but i am sure the guys who designed the TSA are probably more knowledgeable than you and i suspect it has undergone rigorous testing !!

The Superb 140 CR is tested in the latest Caravan Club mag ... it mentions the towbar prep kit as an option but not what it does!

As for stability assist on cars ... I guess it is designed to work but who knows! I have Alko ATC fitted to my latest 'van, it operates the brakes on the caravan should it show signs of instability. The only time I have been AWARE of it cutting in is pulling out of roundabouts too quickly! With the vRS that is all too easy!