We've had the car for maybe 6 weeks now and managed to put 1100 miles on the car before needing to tow. We'd opted for our dealer to fit the dedicated electrics and OEM Westfalia detachable towball which we're very happy with.The car helpfully turns off the reverse parking sensors and changes the image on the columbus when hitched up.

 

The noseweight limit of 80kg meant that we had to shift stuff further back in the van, but the flipside was that the twindoor boot is absolutely massive (compared to the mk1 superb) which meant that we could load up the car with all the heavy stuff including the awning etc which would help with stability.

 

I think having the automatic made towing relatively effortless, though we paid heavily on fuel consumption (indicated 22 with vs 45 without). We noticed that the auto box seemed to hold on to D5 rather than change up for longer than we felt was necessary so there were occasions when we knocked the gear stick left and forced it to change up (which the box was happy to remain in) before returning to D. This made a huge difference to the fuel consumption.

 

I'm now looking to buy a towball bike rack - anybody got experience of Thule vs Atera?

A couple of friends of mine use the Atera ones. The Thule racks are a little bit nicer, especially if you have weird shaped full suspension bikes as you can detach the bike clamping arms from the rack to thread through bikes already on the rack while with the Atera you have to do a bit more planning to get 3 bikes on easily. In terms of value for money Atera wins, which is why they went for Atera rather than Thule. Both clamp reliably to the towball, both have their own light bar and number plate space, both are lockable to the car and lock the bikes, so very little else to pick from.

my guess is that once summer holiday season is over there will be plenty to chose from on ebay if you're patient.

Yeah, when we had the caravan we found putting the heaviest stuff in the boot as close to the back seat gave the best stability.  22MPG seems quite low. We got 26/30 mpg in a car which normally gave 45 mpg solo, with manual gearbox. Wasn't a big van mind you.

 

We have the Thule 9708 4 bike hang on rack (£100) which worked great with the swan neck towbar on the Octavia we had. Didn't seem a particularly secure fitting sysytem but it never budged. Only issue is bikes are quite close together so you have to slack the handlebars and spin them round 90 degrees so they are parallel with the frame on one or two of the bikes which is a pain. Also need padding between contact points of the bikes (pipe insulation is ideal) and bungee ropes round the whole lot to hold them close to each other to limit bounce. Complete pain really but worth it when you get a really nice day's family cycle down a tow path or the like. Never seen the Atera racks.

 

Priced a detachable towbar for our Superb. Over £400 without the dedicated can bus electrics, just the bypass relay 7pin steup. Do you mind me asking how much (roughly) the dealer supllied bar and electrics were?

I agree that 22mpg is low, but it was improving once we settled down to driving a little slower and making more use of D6 vs D5.

 

Looks like we paid £760 inc VAT for decidated electrics and OEM detachable towball. It's the same one as detailed in the handbook from p163 and thus has a dedicated storage space just under the jack. We get 13pin electrics which can be pushed up out of the way. When connected, the reverse parking sensors are disabled (and the graphic on Columbus changes showing a trailer) and I understand that the stability program is altered to help reduce swaying (TSA on p168).

I agree that 22mpg is low, but it was improving once we settled down to driving a little slower and making more use of D6 vs D5.

 

Looks like we paid £760 inc VAT for decidated electrics and OEM detachable towball. It's the same one as detailed in the handbook from p163 and thus has a dedicated storage space just under the jack. We get 13pin electrics which can be pushed up out of the way. When connected, the reverse parking sensors are disabled (and the graphic on Columbus changes showing a trailer) and I understand that the stability program is altered to help reduce swaying (TSA on p168).

 

Ref. MPG we still got 26 hammering down through France at about 70mph on their super smooth motorways. I wonder if the gearbox sotware alters ratio selection in the DSG through the can bus interface when towing?

 

That's a properly integrated system and worth it for towing the van. It just covers all angles (battery charging, parking sensors, looks, stability control etc). Hard to justify though for half a dozen days out with the bike each year for 3 or 4 years for me. Might just run with fitting one myself to my wife's car for a couple of hundred quid. I understand fitting in the superb is quite time consuming (according to our local fitter). Thanks for the info and happy towing :yes:

I agree that 22mpg is low, but it was improving once we settled down to driving a little slower and making more use of D6 vs D5.

 

Looks like we paid £760 inc VAT for decidated electrics and OEM detachable towball. It's the same one as detailed in the handbook from p163 and thus has a dedicated storage space just under the jack. We get 13pin electrics which can be pushed up out of the way. When connected, the reverse parking sensors are disabled (and the graphic on Columbus changes showing a trailer) and I understand that the stability program is altered to help reduce swaying (TSA on p168).

Aha didnt realise there was a space in spare wheel holder till i read this cheers. 

I've a 170DSG estate and our caravan's MTPLM (ie. max weight) is 1350kg.  With that combo I get just under 30mpg when towing on a mix of motorways (56 to 60mph) and A roads (as near to 50mph as possible).

 

I run a noseweight of between 75 and 80 kg and find that it makes a stable towcar. However our trip down the A1 en-route to Norfolk in very high side-winds made it feel a bit floaty and I had to slow down to 50 on some gusty stretches.

 

What are your thoughts on front-end grip when towing?  I run the rears at 46psi and the fronts at 35 (up from 32) and occasionally lose grip when trying to make a quick start on roundabouts.  That's typically when I've got extra weight in the boot that I can't avoid and the long rear overhang makes it act a little like a see-saw.

Ideally self levelling suspension. Realistically spring assisters - the inner coil type secondary springs inside the main back springs. Good job. Got mine from MAD suspension when I had the Laguna sport tourer.