Hi,

As you can see from the sidebar, I have a 2.0 TDI PD Octavia with the DSG box. I am thinking of getting a tow bar fitted to pull a small caravan, weighing about 800kg. Is there anybody out there who pulls a caravan with their Octavia, preferably same spec as mine who can tell me how their car performs with the weight behind it and any pitfalls that they have discovered.

Thanks, Ian

We tow a 23 foot bailey ranger that weighs 1280 kg and we find it good. the only thing i would say is put as much in the car as poss to give the car a bit more weight (weight meens stability) Our only gripe with our rig is cos our van is so long when there is any exessive side winds we do get a bit of buffeting but apart from that its good. my car is a octy vrs tfsi so not the same as yours but its about the same weight, and if the van you are looking at is smaller then happy days. i dont think you would regret towing with your octy at all

The Octavia with the 2.0 PD engine is a great tow car. Lots of power and torque makes for easy towing up to and beyond the the recommended 85% ratio. As you intend to tow a caravan of only 800kg then I think your main problem will be remembering that you are towing anything at all!

I tow a van of 1360kg with my Scout (same engine but no DSG) and have no problems at all.

I tow 1310 KG with my Octavia vRS TDi. It is the perfect towcar - a big part of the reason i'm on my second.

I don't think 800Kg will worry an Octy.

Hi,

As you can see from the sidebar, I have a 2.0 TDI PD Octavia with the DSG box. I am thinking of getting a tow bar fitted to pull a small caravan, weighing about 800kg. Is there anybody out there who pulls a caravan with their Octavia, preferably same spec as mine who can tell me how their car performs with the weight behind it and any pitfalls that they have discovered.

Thanks, Ian

Hi,

My 1.9 TDI PD pulls a 1350kg caravan with no trouble. In my case I fitted MAD auxiliary springs to stiffen up the rear suspension a little which improved the tendency of the caravan to pitch slightly at around 60mph. Much better now. Hope this helps.

I tow a bailry olympus, think its about 26 feet long. I tow at a 93% ratio and the car is great. Its a diesel DSG and holds the torque well. Can accellerate easily and hills arent a problem

Thanks for the replies guys, it seems that I will only be scratching the surface of the Octys towing ability, I wasn't too concerned from a power and torque point of view, more about how the DSG works with the extra weight behind. Judging by Rob JS's reply I don't think it will be too much of a problem.

Rob, or anyone else who has towed with a DSG, could you tell me how the car/gearbox copes with manoevering?

Ian

really well, nice and controlled. Reversing was easy too.