Superbs equiped with a tow-bar fitted in the factory are equipped with ESP with TSA (trailer stability assist). But what about the Superbs which are upgraded with a tow-bar later? Is it possible to activate TSA than? Or is it activated automatically as soon as the tow-bar is activated (and the rear parking sensors are turned of for example).

Superbs equiped with a tow-bar fitted in the factory are equipped with ESP with TSA (trailer stability assist). But what about the Superbs which are upgraded with a tow-bar later? Is it possible to activate TSA than? Or is it activated automatically as soon as the tow-bar is activated (and the rear parking sensors are turned of for example).

I ordered my Yeti sans factory towbar prep and then had a Škoda Westfalia detachable towbar installed at Allams Škoda. This included plugging the car into their computer and upgrading the software so that the TSA worked properly. You can have this done for about £50 or so at any dealer apparently (if you not have your towbar installed at Škoda dealer).

Just plugging something into the towbar socket will not deactivate the rear sensors or indeed automatically activate the TSA.

Thanks for that info, my tow-bar will also be a detachable Westfalia and it will be installed by the dealer. I will ask them to correctly code it, so all will be fine.

It's the electrics kit you have installed, not the tow bar that will define whether your on-board computer knows that you are towing.

"Universal" electrics cost about £15 in parts, and an extra £20 for a bypass relay needed for the superb.

If you go this option your computer does not know you are towing, and cannot be coded!

You can pay about £200 for "Dedicated Electrics". an example would be the kits available directly from Skoda, These connect to the Data Bus in the car, and contain a small microprocessor. They also take longer to install, as wiring needs to be routed to the front of the car where the computers are.

My local dealer reported that some people have bought what they thought were "Dedicated Kits" which did not meet specification and the on board computer could not be coded.

If you want the auto switch off of the rear sensors, and the TSP to be activated, you MUST buy the Dedicated electrics, and I would recommend getting it fitted by someone who can do the coding themselves, otherwise you will have 2 companies arguing over why the system dosent' work when inevitably you bring the car to your Skoda dealer who then say they cant do the coding.

I have chosen not to spend this extra money, but I will only have the car for another 2 years. I will pay for the Dedicated electrics when I replace the car if I can possibly afford it. As the tow bar can be easily transferred accross to a wide range of VAG cars, I wont need to pay for a new tow bar, so will save money there.

Anruari

Hello.

Have a 2010 Scout and a towbar fitted from the factory. Can the ESP be upgraded to include the TSA? I do around 20.000km/year with a trailer and think it's interesting.

Thanks.

Just to revive my own old thread:

One and a halve year ago, I successfully mounted a Westfalia tow bar, with the official Skoda electronics. At the dealer I could verify that TSA was working.

Yesterday, however, I found out that there was another, much easier way to verify that TSA works:

 

Normally, when you switch on your ignition, the ABS and ESP lights turn off simultaneously. When a trailer (or bike rack) is connected AND TSA is active, the ESP light only switches off about 2 seconds after the ABS light.

So simply connect your trailer and check the lights in your instrument cluster to check if TSA works!

This was found in the instruction manual of an O3, and it was also found in the manual of an O2. The manuals of my S2 don't mention this, but it works exactly the same!

Edited 19 August, 201312 yr by andrehj

Brilliant update andrehj. Thanks. I'll check next time I plug my trailer in.