Hi all,

 

just joined the forum so a bit green, I currently have an Octavia Elegance 1.6 tdi 2012 hatch and was wondering what it's like as a towcar, having just purchased a small caravan maxing at 1144kg and 13 ft long. Thanks

IMHO you should have no problems towing that mass.

You will however know it is there.

Do use extended mirrors and obey the speed restrictions.

There should be no need for a sway bar or anti snaking device.

Enjoy plenty of holidays.  

I have the same car, just from 10/2012, which was already sagging in the rear in unloaded state, so I purchased and installed heavy-duty LESJÖFORS springs, part. no. 4285720.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Lesjofors-Coil-Spring-Rear-Axle-for-Skoda-4285720-/400952911988 (cheaper elsewahere)

 

The Octavia II is notorious for dragging its tail while towing, and I had excellent results on my previous Fabia by changing the weak factory installed rear springs. I own a caravan with data similar to yours.

 

On both vehicles, no significant loss of comfort was noted from the stiffer springs, in fact driving over speed bumps is much more comfortable, since the rear end doesn't bounce up an down.

 

Tight cornering and roundabouts are also more pleasant, because turning the steering wheel makes the car actually turn, instead of first making the body sink down over the outer rear wheel and losing grip on the inner front wheel.

 

If you have a decent jack, vehicle stands and some spanners, you can switch the springs at home,

Just jack up the rear of the vehicle and set the stands under, loosen nut 10 and pull out bolt 11, push swing arm 9 down and switch out the spring. repeat for other side.

Examine how the rubber cushions at each end are installed and make sure the locating knob is inserted into the hole in the swinging arm.

 

Even if you don't plan to do it yourself, now you know how little is involved, so the workshop can't rip you off by charging hours of labour.

 

We have been considering a small-ish caravan at some point and that one was area of concern is the back end being too low!

 

A few times we've had the car loaded up and it scrapes very easily at the back on speed bumps etc.

 

Interesting about the uprated springs though.

 

In terms of the car overall and the 1.6 TDI you should have no problems. Just be kind on the engine, gearbox and flywheel. Let it rev out a little bit as the common rail engines don't have that low down grunt of the old 1.9 PD engines (same peak power and torque but just spread differently over the rev range).

Strange how a correctly loaded caravan on my Octavia's does not cause the sagging that is mentioned.

How much force generally does a caravan put down on the tow bar?

 

I assume that if loaded correctly all the weight should be over the caravan wheels and not exerting any force down on the tow bar?

 

The only time I've had a saggy rear end (so to speak!) is when carrying a lot of weight (5 adults and 5 suitcases for instance). But I imagine with a caravan on the back and some bags etc in the boot it must get pretty low at the back.

 

We are looking at getting a convertible and found a perfect car the other day that would cover both bases. It was a Volvo C70 D5 and it had a tow bar. So that would give us our desired convertible and also something to tow the caravan with! the 2.4 D5 with 177bhp and 295lb-ft of torque is certainly up to the job!

Edited 7 January, 201610 yr by Phil-E

Octavia's have a maximum 75kg noseweight limit, this is the weight the caravan hitch puts on the tow ball. Get a Milenco noseweight gauge to get the correct weight, just adjust the load in the caravan, do not put too much weight in the front caravan locker. Heavy items you do carry in the caravan place over the axle low down, at 60mph on motorways my unit is very stable.

 

Mine has 75kg nosweight, plus a good bit of weight in the car rear, then estates have heavy duty shocks.

 

The Octavia is well documented for being soft on the back end, only the 4x4 and Scout seem to avoid it.

Uk Tow have all weight charts etc. 1300 for an octy i think.

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Just Google 'uk tow'

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I tow a Lunar caravan with an Octavia you will be fine just go slow over ramps and the like.

 

Best of luck enjoy.

 

 

Steve