Hi everybody, don't normally venture into these part's with myself owning a Mk1 Fabia vRS, but since I bought my Skoda, my father has taken an interest into them, since he is going to have to soon travel further to and from work, he is looking for a replacement for the old and tired Vauxhall Frontera Trans Globe which has done 100k most in our 16 years of ownership.

Anyway, he has his heart set on a MkII vRS estate TDI (In blue I might add) but I'm after people opinions on them when being used as towing car's. How do you find they drive and handle on the road?I know the towing weight is 1400kg, but I'm after real world reviews, one of the main reasons we still have the Frontera is because of towing with its 2800kg limit, but it's time to upgrade now it's showing its age.

What weight van's are you pulling and how do you find they behave?Any issues with towing at all?

Regards

Adam

I've not towed a caravan before, but my VRS has been used to tow a race car on a trailer, approx weight 900kgs, the car is more than capable of this and tows without effort, the MPG return averages about 30-35MPG on a good run. However I have found a downside with the VRS, with its large wheels and low profile tyres makes it a poor performer on damp grass, a common habitat to park a caravan . I now use a 4x4 as most of the venues I visit are on grass.

Used the old cr vrs to tow my trailored willys jeep to holland a couple of times, just scraped under the 1400kg limit but drove perfectly.

We tow a 23 foot 2010 swift freestyle 520 with a mtplm of 1450kg with our 61plate vrs estate cr and its very good. Power wise its awesome and pulls well in all gears (it pulls well in 6th but thats wanting to go over 60mph) fuel economy is also good with figures around 30 to 32mpg. The only drawback is the cars weight as its low with a max laden weight of 1960kg so my advise is load the car up and he will be ok. We were told by a reputable caravan dealer who used a website (cant remember which one at the momment) for towing weights that the newer octavias could tow up to 1600kg? All modern cars are now getting lighter thus towing weights are comming down.My personal thoughts are for the money its a very good modern tow car. Phil.

Towed a 1300kg Bailey with a 2.0TDI 140 bhp.

Hated it.

Plenty of power but no grip and unstable. I got wheel spin in 3rd (Michelin tyres with 7mm tread)

I put this down to the saggy rear suspension and the fact that 2 wheels can't accelerate 3 tonnes.

MAD springs are what I will use when the 4x4 is finally taxed off the road (getting close to that day).

Edited 24 February, 201313 yr by Web Ferret

My caravan has a MTPLM of 1,230kg, 82% towing ratio and get 34-37mpg (37 German / Czech motorways using Ultimate Diesel 50mph) pulls with no problem at all, also a towing limit of 1,600kg and very useful on a muddy field, another option to consider if you can find one!:

Towed a 1300kg Bailey with a 2.0TDI 140 bhp.

Hated it.

Plenty of power but no grip and unstable. I got wheel spin in 3rd (Michelin tyres with 7mm tread)

I put this down to the saggy rear suspension and the fact that 2 wheels can't accelerate 3 tonnes.

MAD springs are what I will use when the 4x4 is finally taxed off the road (getting close to that day).

I tow with a Skoda elegance estate 2.0 tdi and tows really well, as so do many others, do not understand the symptoms described by this poster, for more info Google TOWCAR.EU

Mellyboy - I too read all that there was to read before buying my Octy!

But I towed for a year with it and hated it. Tyre pressures adjusted, nose weight checked etc, etc but still bouncy and wheel spin.

Tried extra weight from van to car and vice versa but still never felt in control. Weights on paper all well within recommendations.

I ended up putting a tow hook on a petrol 4x4! I bought the Octy to save fuel lol.

Thanks very much for your feedback everyone. I found a website earlier which you can work out if the car is fine too tow on certain caravans but ours isnt on the list being an older Avondale Leada Pennie XL. Weight of the van is 1250kg though so under the max towing weight but gwtting towards the top limit.

Noticed the newer ones had a higher towing limit, unfortunantly he only has 10k to play with so not enough for a new model estate.

Mellyboy - I too read all that there was to read before buying my Octy!

But I towed for a year with it and hated it. Tyre pressures adjusted, nose weight checked etc, etc but still bouncy and wheel spin.

Tried extra weight from van to car and vice versa but still never felt in control. Weights on paper all well within recommendations.

I ended up putting a tow hook on a petrol 4x4! I bought the Octy to save fuel lol.

Strange I have towed from Norfolk to all over the uk , honestly never had a problem , I am towing a Bailey Senator Vermont Tow car eu rates max loaded 94 % and rates performance as perfect, there are many reviews on this site of these model and all seem to be positive, I shall be touring around Spain for two months soon am confident with regard to the stability of my outfit. As there is just the two of us I do carry awing , loungers, etc etc in the car maybe this extra weight helps with stability. I have spoken to many guys on sites towing with Octys and no one has never complained about stability, Hope you are ok with your present van and happy caravanning

Web ferret one the many positive review on Tow car eu which I totally concur with . Hi i tow my caravan with a Skoda Octavia 2.0 tdi 140 bhp 16 valve Caravan is a coachman Amara 380 /2 the car has so much power and torque that i can keep to the speed limit almost any were on the level and up hill. The outfit is very stable and not affected by large lorries buses etc when overtaking me. fuel economy is good solo approx 50 mpg solo at 70 mph and approx 30 mpg when towing dependent on conditions .overall i am pleased with my out fit and i recommend both car and caravan to any body

Believe the Passat CR 170 won a towing award (caravan club maybe), not into this sort of thing but given the power and torque on offer a vRS estate with the same engine should make a very good tow vehicle for a caravan.

In fairness a 1.6 CR and 2.0 TDi CR 140 would also tow a van with little problems, be a bit wearing with the 1.6 I'd have thought though.

Something to bear in mind.....DSGs apparently very much favoured amongst the towing community; the automated clutch control and debateably stronger nature of the clutch packs make it useful, particularly lower speed manouvers. Not gospel but lots of praise if you look around.

Have to say my last two cars have been DSG and Ive always favoured manual gearboxes; would be a push to go back to one now though.

What about a 4x4 Octavia of some description? Maybe a scout?

If he can in his budget and he likes it then maybe a DSG as suggested above.

Phil

I would personally go for a Superb CR170 as the best tow car but that's in an ideal world.

This picture put me off the Octy estate freaked me out some time ago on here!

I would personally go for a Superb CR170 as the best tow car but that's in an ideal world.

This picture put me off the Octy estate freaked me out some time ago on here!

To me thats got to much weight over the back end, the octy has a max tow hitch limit of 75kg so if you are unsure how it will look just get someone of around that weight to sit in the boot and see what it looks like, Our van sits on the back of our octy and doesnt drop it that much even when the boot has stuff in it.

I would personally go for a Superb CR170 as the best tow car but that's in an ideal world.

This picture put me off the Octy estate freaked me out some time ago on here!

Looks about ready to tip over backwards!

Must have been even worse with some people in too. Must have been on the bump stops!

Reminds me of my Felicia. 2 adults in the back and it would be hitting the bump stops on any bumps in the road.

Phil

Just looking at the technical specs of my car (2006 2.0TDI PD140 DSG estate)

It states 1600kg as the maximum towing limit as long as you don't go up a hill greater than 8% gradient. It goes on to say with a 1400kg limit, you can go up hills of up to 13%.

My car has towed a 1550kg caravan on a couple of occasions, and it was great. The only slight problem was manoeuvring on a hilly, damp grass site....lack of traction was a problem. But you'll get this on any front wheel drive car.

Having read the above comments on towing with an Octavia , if all weights are well within the cars specification i can see no reason why you cannot have happy towing , OK we are not up with the big boys and for those who may want to tow with an Octavia Hatch 16tdi 105bhp manual (2012) i can recommend this car ( we tow 1110kg ) we keep the ball weight to 60kg , the car sits level with the caravan on , no sagging , you have watch you speed , the car tends to creep over the legal limits ( 60mph ) on motorways , reversing !! no problem , treat your tow car with respect and you will not be disappointed

Error !! should read "you have to watch your speed " sorry

I have used my octavia vrs estate (2011 CR) and went with oem tow bar and wiring.

Towed my trailer (small but wide twin axle) and race car which is about 550kg and a dream to tow. Also towed my VX220 turbo which is more like 940kg and again no trouble at all - not weighed the trailer

I did trailer a friends VX220 last week using his brian james sprint shuttle beastie thing (1000kg on its own) and could def feel the drag but still towed fine but killed the mpg

I do find 60mph loaded is 34-38mpg - 70mph when empty is 38-low 40's mpg all day...I mean 60mph

Power fine but can induce wheelspin on hills if I get all cant be bothered to wait but adjusting driving style as with most situations solves the issue

Steady as a rock and has the TSP in backup - never towed a caravan though

Looking forward to dragging the car to Spa

Oh silly rubber band tyres seem to be crap for anything other than dry roads anyway - look good though lol

DG

Everyone keeps talking about saggy spec Octavias whereas the OP asked about a VRS which has a firmer setup.

Have a look at this thread of mine from a couple of years ago, there are a few people who have commented they use Octavia vrs's for towing and even enclude details about their outfits.

http://www.briskoda....owing-caravans/

While we didn't have a vrs we did have an estate with sport suspension which is known to be a firmer ride than the vrs and I still felt the need for some Spring Assistors, this is due to being a family of 4 and while the nose weight of the caravan was never heavier than 70kg the overhang of the boot and what you can fill it with is where our problems were, this was easily solved by fitting some Graystone GE14 Spring Assistors.

Never had any issues with traction or stability and the grunt from the pd140 (standard/remapped) never left me feeling inadiquate.

Hope this helps

Matthew

The vRS should be Ok but what I would say is don't exceed the maximum kerbweight of the car when towing. If he is concerned then perhaps he should try a Superb 4x4, that will sort out the traction issue.

"whattowcar.com" is a good tow car matching site. I tow a caravan at about 89% kerbweight and although the car knows it is there it tows it just fine.

What is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT is correct loading. I wonder if that was the cause of web ferrets bouncing issue. The towbar capacity of the Octavia is 75 kg and I try to keep the noseweight of the caravan around the 65 kg mark, I have no problem when that happens, one time coming back from British GP I only had about 30kg noseweight and th ecar felt horrible bouncing and pitching until I moved the weight around and got it correct.

if the car doesn't have a towbar fitted then get an independant specialist to fit it and find one who will fit a vehicle specific kit and does the coding as well, may be more expensive but worth it I think as there are other features activated.

Ian

I have an 07 vrs hatch tdi. My vans a coachman amara 520/4 so quite a big van. No problems at all, stable and pulls it easily and smoothly. Maintains a nice speed up hills thanks to bags of torque. I think its a great towcar.