Towing a caravan with the MKIII?

[YvesD]

Just getting back to the kerb weight issue on the Superb, after a bit of research I suspect these cars are actually significantly heavier than the sales brochure figure, especially if you've ticked most of the options list, like we do!

For example, the kerb weight doesn't even include the aircon system according to my owners manual, how strange is that?

Also, the manual helpfully informs me that the vehicle could be anywhere between 1656 and 1814kg depending on options fitted!

Think mine will be in the middle of that range somewhere.

All of this helps to explain why this is such a good towcar, not only is it a very stable and capable chassis, especially in 4x4 guise, it's also much heavier than the baseline figures suggest.

Happy days ????

Edited 29 October, 2016 by YvesD

[handyandy79]

Does anybody tow with the 220 petrol?

[skippy41]

Skoda themselves state 2000kg max towing weight for the 150 tdi, so a van up to a max of 1600 should tow well.

The 85% is just a guide, for novice towers

Edited 1 November, 2016 by skippy41

[nicknorman]

I have a 280 tsi with factory fit towbar. I don't tow a caravan, but a very large glider trailer. I'm not sure of the overall weight but the glider is 550kg, plus the trailer and various "accoutrements". It is a joy to tow with. The adaptive cruise and DSG makes it completely effortless, and yes plenty of oomph for hills and acceleration. It is more stable than my previous car, a 3.0 Subaru Legacy.

I also have the factory reversing camera which is great. There are different modes including a "look down" mode with orange aiming line. You just turn the wheel to put the orange line over the hitch and stop when the hitch is over the ball. It's also very quick to flip the towbar in and out. Of course when you plug in the electrics it knows to automatically disable the rear parking sensors, whether the trailer lights are working, and it know to display speed limit signs appropriatenfor towing.

It's my first car with a factory fit towbar so I was nearly caught out by the 13pin socket but now have a cheap adaptor from eBay.

Anyway, I love it!

[LakesPuma]

Does anyone know what the deal is with trailer assist, there is a video on youtube https://youtu.be/mQv_qQd6zn8

 

but I can't find any information about it anywhere?

[YvesD]

I don't think we can have this option on our Skodas yet?

[YvesD]

For interest, I'm taking my car to the local public weighbridge this week to find out what it actually weighs.

Will post up with findings asap.

[skidpan]

I towed a covered race car transporter from 1989 to 1997 originally with a Golf Mk2 GTi and then a Mk 3 TDi 90 PS. The fully loaded trailer was approx 1100Kg. The Mk 2 had a kerb weight of 970Kg and towing limit of 1200Kg, the Mk3 weighed about 1200Kg with a towing limit of 1300Kg. Clearly I was towing more than the 85% recommended by the Caravan Club but over the approx 1800 miles a year I towed I never had a single issue. The trailer always had the nose weight set correctly and I used a friction stabilizer at all times.

 

Considering how well both of those cars coped and how little power (and more importantly torque) both had compared to todays cars I would not expect any Suberb to struggle with a reasonable sized van.

[countryboy]

The 85% is merely a guideline issued by the caravan club, especially for novice towers. What you MUST NOT do is pull a trailer weighing more then the allowed towing weight found on the car's plate or handbook, i.e. for my Yeti 2000 kg. What is advisable is to not get a caravan which weighs more then the kerbweight of your car. Also carry a set of bathroom scales and a length of wood or a noseweight gauge with you. Get the noseweight of the caravan close to but not over the towbar limit of your car. My Yeti has a towbar limit of 75 kg and I normally set the caravan up with around 65 kg on the hitch, that along with the Alko stabiliser means that I barely get a wobble from the caravan at all.

Ian.

[YvesD]

Keep the advice coming please, it's very helpful to me.

Right, I've taken everything out of the car that it wasn't born with and run the fuel tank almost empty to get the most accurate lightest weight as possible.

Should be on the weighbridge at around 7am in the morning.

Exciting huh? ????

[YvesD]

Results are in....

Weighbridge operators found it quite amusing putting a private car on their rig were very helpful and didn't charge me!

As expected the car is quite a bit heavier than the marketing figures.

It weighed in at 1610kg with an empty fuel tank and no diver inside.

Add approx 40kg of fuel for a 90% fuel fill and 75kg for a driver and we have an operating weight of 1725kg.

Hope that's useful info for others too.

My car has quite a few options but not the sunroof, spare wheel or towbar which are the big ticket extra weight items.

[facet edge]

It weighed in at 1610kg with an empty fuel tank and no diver inside

Taking the diver out of the fuel tank should have got the weight down a bit!

[psycholist]

My Superb II combi came in at 1645 kg IIRC with about a half tank of fuel, 16" full size spare wheel and tools, OEM towbar and panoramic roof according to its NCT certificate. I didn't empty everything else out of the car either, so there's at least another 10 kg between jump leads (So far they've only been used to start other people's cars - they even got me a free swim last christmas after helping a guy who was stranded at reception because he'd left his lights on ), random maps, bike tools and a full glove compartment. I'm surprised there's so little difference as I thought the Superb III was supposed to be a good bit lighter than the Mark II. Maybe they only started really stripping the car down to ace the economy tests with the Mark III, but I doubt it.

 

I'd keep my divers elsewhere - they're divils for clogging the fuel filter if you leave them in the tank :P...

[GedDragger]

On 29/10/2016 at 10:10, YvesD said:

Just getting back to the kerb weight issue on the Superb, after a bit of research I suspect these cars are actually significantly heavier than the sales brochure figure, especially if you've ticked most of the options list, like we do!

For example, the kerb weight doesn't even include the aircon system according to my owners manual, how strange is that?

Also, the manual helpfully informs me that the vehicle could be anywhere between 1656 and 1814kg depending on options fitted!

Think mine will be in the middle of that range somewhere.

All of this helps to explain why this is such a good towcar, not only is it a very stable and capable chassis, especially in 4x4 guise, it's also much heavier than the baseline figures suggest.

Happy days ????

 

[GedDragger]

I plan to use my new Superb for towing a large twin axle caravan just as soon as I've had a tow bar fitted but coming as I have, from a very heavy (and thirsty) Volvo XC90 I was concerned that the car might be right in the limit with the van's mtplm being 1729kg.  So, today I took her to a the local weighbridge. Sadly, unlike YvesD, my local operators were experienced in weighing private users and charged me £15 for the privilege.  And the result is.....

 

1840kg!

 

That figure is for a Superb III estate with 4 wheel drive, the 190 Diesel engine, DSG and options including the full length sunroof. The tank was about 90% full and the figure includes me in the driver's seat (I can confirm that I do weight almost exactly 75kg - I checked when I got home).

 

So far so good then.  However, my next question is that, if the DCC doesn't include a self-levelling function, does all that mass plus a full load in the boot mean that my car is likely to be staring up at the sky with its backside on the ground once loaded and hitched up with 80-90kg on the tow bar?

 

What has been other people's experience?

[david 1220]

Hi,

We have the mk111 Combo  L&K with a lot of bells & whistles ( inc sun roof ) but fitted with the factory tow bar. As i understand it you get not only the tow bar ( that hides away -- great fun- number of times i have been asked if i have given up caravaning ! & the look on their faces when the hitch drops down ! ) but i understand a higher output alternator.

Anyway back to your question, we load to 90 Kg nose weight & with a fair amount of stuff ( wife says junk ! ) in boot. true the back drops a bit but having done in the region of 3000 miles towing we have no problems- feels very stable & secure. Regarding the weight of your van -- have you looked at the max tow weight in the V5 ? ours states 2,200Kg max.

We do d/a rallies ( camping & caravan club ) on farmers fields & in one way i can not wait for the tyres to wear out ! the tread is chosen for quiteness not grip ! might point out that we dont have self leveling.

Our van has a max of 1,500 Kg.

The driving dynamics  are set as follows ,- Steering Sport, gears normal, suspension -sport.

Did find normal steering a bit light for my liking.

david

 

[GedDragger]

Thanks for that david 1220. I know that the vehicle is plated at 2,200kg and that, technically, a fully laden car and van will be within the maximum train weight to remain on the right side of the law.  I am happy to tow at up to 100% as I've towed all over Europe and Britain for over 20 years without any issues. It's just that, as I'm sure you are aware, a caravan with its huge side area can act like a rather large and unruly sail and the thought of towing a van that potentially weighs more than the car, irrespective of the stated max tow weight, could easily lead to problems or, at best, mean that the top speed of the outfit would have to be reduced considerably.

 

I'm looking forward to the first trip out with the new combo in about 6 weeks, so if I see another L&K 4x4 combo on a campsite anytime soon I'll come and say hello on the off chance that it might be you!

[GeorgeB]

My outfit, car as per on the left, Plus caravan, a Swift Challenger 580 SB ALD, MTPLM uprated to 1550kg.

Not towed the van yet, but have towed a boat (2000kg inc trailer) from Devon to Deptford in SE London for a charity, thank God for the ACC! otherwise I'd have exceeded the 60mph towing limit without even noticing it. MPG on that run recorded as 34.58MPG but I'm expecting less as the boat is more aerodynamic than my caravan!

 

How to calculate the kerb weight of your car without resorting to weighing it! as the VAG published kerb weights are entirely useless! & can't be relied on as they are based on the base spec, manual gearbox & smallest available engine of each car as delivered in Germany!

 

First, all VAG vehicles are individually weighed as they come off the assembly line, & in the UK its noted on the V5c (reg doc) page 2 under mass in service.

 

Second, find the fuel tank capacity, add the weight of fuel to fill the tank (in my case 54.91kg, as my tank capacity is 66ltrs  (when they come off the assembly line there's approx 2 ltrs of fuel in the tank). Unleaded petrol = .737kg per litre. Diesel .832kg per litre.

 

Third. add the weight of any PERMANENTLY fixed after market accessories such as tow bar, changing puncture repair kit with spare wheel & tool kit.

 

Lastly add 75kg for the driver, apologies if your weight is under or over that but that's the internationally recognised "standard" weight of a car driver!

 

So my car: Mass in running order 1635kg, fuel 55kg (as near as damn it!), Tow bar & electrics 45kg, full size spare wheel & tool kit (replaced the useless puncture repair kit) 30kg & me, a nice trim 75kg (I wish!!!!!!) making a total kerbside weight of 1840kg, difference between mass in service & actual 205kg that's 4cwt or 448lbs in old money!

 

If I was a novice tower then my safe MTPLM would be 1564kg, but as I've been towing for over 40 years, I consider myself to be an experienced tower, when I'm towing a caravan I try not to exceed the car's kerbside weight, but a loaded braked trailer maybe slightly more but not exceeding the car's max of 2200kg

 

 

[PirateSyrett]

^^^^ Absolutely agree with you on Skoda's odd figures.

 

Our Yeti should weigh 1460kg according to the handbook, but when we weighed it (with me, plus a full tank of fuel, fixed towbar, no spare and no options) the weighbridge recorded 1660kg.

 

FWIW we've towed almost at its maximum weight (a 2050kg boat versus 2100kg limit) over 200 miles from Hampshire to Cornwall and it was very stable and hugely capable - but we've been towing trailers upto our legal maximums for the last 20 years and we ballasted the car very close to its axle weights for security.

[Mike2105]

On 26/10/2016 at 07:51, Inoffski said:

Hi

 

We tow a Bailey Unicorn 3 Cadiz, with the upgraded MTPLM of 1550kg with our Superb 3, which is a 2.0 TDi SEL Exec 190 4x4 DSG Combi. Its a great tow car, solid, surefooted, and plenty of torque. Best tow car we have had.

Same car and same caravan - strangely enough.  I agree totally with the above.

[Shhhkoda]

I use the SE business hatch 2.0 TDI 150 manual with the factory fit tow bar which although pricey is excellent especially with the rear view camera, you can hitch up completely solo.  The van I use is a 10 year old Bailey with MTPLM 1485 and the electric hook up is with 13 pin to 7 pin adaptor courtesy of Amazon for £6 delivered.

 

I was away this weekend about 200 miles altogether and it's the first time I've used it.  No complaints at all, plenty of torque, cruises at 60 and very stable even with a slight crosswind.  You can gear the engine working harder but MPG averaged 31.8 albeit most of it cruising with very few hills. Just a very slight 'jawing' sensation over uneven road surfaces due to the soft suspension but probably the best tow car I've had in recent years i.e all 2.0 TDI's a VW Passat, Citroen C5 tourer and a Kia Sportage.   

[Albourneboy]

Towed our Bailey Unicorn III Madrid for the first time last weekend with our Superb III Estate 4x4 DSG 190 and was very pleased with how well the car performed. We went from Darlington to Rosedale Abbey  in the N Yorks moors and it coped with the hills extremely well. I was surprised when hitching up for the first time to discover that the towball is higher from the ground than on our last car – a Hyundai Santa Fe. I thought it would be lower as the ground clearance of the SF is much greater than the Superb but it wasn't. What's more, the car barely sagged at all when hitched so the Superb must self-level a bit (DCC?). I won't have to take our jockey wheel off after all!

[russ1610]

I have a 190 L&k Estate DSG which i have not towed with. My new caravan, Bailey Pegasus Rimini, is on order due 8th June delivery, I have had an after market tow bar and dedicated electrics fitted, re chiped ect.  While normally driving without a caravan on the back I have the car set to individual,  engine eco, suspension normal, steering normal, Now when towing i suspect eco. is not going to be right as the free wheel function could cause problems eg no engine braking. Would you suggest just putting it in sport, which would firm up the suspension and liven up the engine when towing and also provide engine braking, or do you use the gear box in manual mode when towing? any advice on your settings much appreciated

 

[GedDragger]

Hi russ1610. With the dedicated electrics you should find that when you plug in your caravan the eco mode along with parking sensors, blind spot warning and rear fog lights are disabled. The car should also have increased cooling function from the fan and the stability control system should enter the touring programme.

 

I've always chosen to use manual override with previous auto boxes when towing, but the jury is still out in this case as in normal it's ok really and doesn't behave much differently to how I would choose to shift if I took full control. Having said that, the DCC goes in sport without any doubt as the additional damping helps to prevent the caravan moving the car around too much.

 

Happy dragging!

[GedDragger]

Sorry 'towing programme', not 'touring'!