Towing a caravan with the MKIII?

[david 1220]

Hi Russ 1610,

As noted on left we have a 190  D.S.G. As we do a lot of rallies in North Wales we get to descend a lot of hills ! for the steeper ones i move into manual for engine braking, otherwise she is in normal mode ( gearbox) & steering is in sport. Did try normal for steering but found it a bit "light" on motorways. One thing -- if you have blind spot sensors they are disabled automatically when you couple up ---- must be reset on uncoupling by ---- the driver !

We have now logged some 4000 miles towing & by & large are happy with her ( the car -!) did manage to get 39.5 m.p.g the other day , fantastic i thought , got out of the car to find a 14 knot tail wind........................

[russ1610]

Thank you both, I didn't realise that the chipping thing effected so much.

[russ1610]

Well had the Towbar fitted today, along with the dedicated electrics and Re-Map of the putor, all working great. took the poor lad almost 5 hours to fit in the rain and it looks like a right pain in the ass to do. Definatly not a DIY job for the likes of me + of couse i wouldnt have had the re-map thing. All in all happy with the job he has done. TOWBAR2U £575 fitted at your home with dedicated electrics, Witter removable tow bar and re-maped.

[GeorgeB]

On 15/04/2017 at 20:18, GeorgeB said:

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

 

 

After hearing a lot of bullsh1t from a caravan salesman recently, re what my car was or was not capable of towing, he even told me that I couldn't tow a caravan who's MTPLM (Maximum Technically Permitted Laden Mass (fully loaded weight, for those non caravanners out there) exceeded my car's kerb weight, and to add insult to injury told me that my outfit (car & Caravan) couldn't exceed 3500kg's, so in his opinion I was towing my current caravan with this car illegally!!!! What a 1st class ****!. I have a B=E license & passed my test way, way before 1st January 1997! (if anyone's interested here's a link to the to the Northern Ireland DVA, regarding driving licences & what you can & can't tow with each type of driving test passed, don't worry that its Northern Ireland, as the same rules apply all over the UK, its just that the NI DVA (as opposed to our DVLA) explain it so much better!).

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/towing-trailers-or-caravans-vehicles-35-tonnes

 

So I finally got around to having my car weighed on a certificated weighbridge & the results are in!

 

I got my calculations re the after market items weight wrong (don't tell my wife that I'm admitting I was wrong....I'll never hear the end of it!!!!)

 

Kerb weight of car in running order, excluding driver is.......................1720kg, + 75kg allowance for the driver = 1795kg & not 1840 kg as previously estimated, but still 160kg over the V5's weight!

 

Edited 12 October, 2017 by GeorgeB
Corrections

[S00perb]

The Superb is a big looking car. Who is going to stop you?

Struggle up a hill or crawl at 20mph, well maybe

If you can stop and then start again on a hill - your fine

If my 1.6 can tow a caravan over the alps - you are going to have no problems!

 

[zei20t]

Had no problems towing over 1200km last weekend (280HP with stage 1 tune - 420NM and 350HP). Only bad thing is I think due to the shape of the sedan/hatch, the air passes over the Superb and hits the flat front of the Abarth causing some big drag.

 

Boot had probably 120-150kg of weight in it (too much, next time ill load some in the trailered car) and the trailer and car is around 1300kg.

 

Edited 19 October, 2017 by zei20t

[eileen_david]

Following on from this thread I finally took my SIII 2lt 150bhp L&K DSG to my local weighbridge and got it weighed. Minus me with about 2/3rds of a tank of diesel and aftermarket removable towbar plus the usual repair kit etc it weighs in at 1580kgs.  The V5C states kerb weight at 1500kgs.  I'm going to very roughly estimate the weight of the fuel about 40kgs and weight of the removable towbar about 30/35kgs shows that my V5C seems to be pretty close.  Any thoughts?

 

I have just bought a new SWift Challenger 645 twin axle with MTPLM at I believe 1644kgs.  Having passed my driving test in 1981 and been a professional HGV1 and PSV1 driver for many years think this match will be no problem for my car or me for that matter.

[Albourneboy]

Have been towing regularly with my Mk3 Superb 190 DSG L&K 4x4 estate since buying it last April and it's the 2nd best tow car I have ever had (the best being the Discovery 3 I owned from 2005 to 2012). 

 

We have a Bailey Unicorn Madrid and the car tows it beautifully. Very stable and plenty of power. It's also very economical - the worse it's ever returned when towing is 26 mpg and taking into account all usage, it's averaging just over 40 mpg for the year (17,000 miles which includes almost 3000 miles with the van in tow).

 

[Dazkim]

My towbar gets fitted on the 28th of this month and we are away in April.

my outfit will be as follows.

2017 Skoda Superb sportsline 190 bhp dsg 4x4 towing a new 2018 Bailey unicorn 4 Valencia.

tow match is perfect so hopefully should be a nice stable outfit.

[GedDragger]

9 minutes ago, Dazkim said:

My towbar gets fitted on the 28th of this month and we are away in April.

my outfit will be as follows.

2017 Skoda Superb sportsline 190 bhp dsg 4x4 towing a new 2018 Bailey unicorn 4 Valencia.

tow match is perfect so hopefully should be a nice stable outfit.

The Sportline 190 DSG 4x4 should be very similar to my Superb which is the same spec but an L&K. It's a very good tow car and quite stable with our twin axle Bailey Senator with an MTPLM of 1725 kg. However, it really should be as on the weighbridge including my 75kg and 1/2 tank of diesel it weighed in at.......1840kg!

[Dazkim]

7 minutes ago, GedDragger said:

The Sportline 190 DSG 4x4 should be very similar to my Superb which is the same spec but an L&K. It's a very good tow car and quite stable with our twin axle Bailey Senator with an MTPLM of 1725 kg. However, it really should be as on the weighbridge including my 75kg and 1/2 tank of diesel it weighed in at.......1840kg!

I should be ok then as the Bailey unicorn Valencia is only 1500 kg maxed up

 

[GeorgeB]

If there are any lingering doubts as to how good the MK3 Superb is for towing, let me tell you about a recent trip with the caravan.

 

Tuesday 27th Feb, towed the van from Littlehampton, west sussex to the Caravan & motorhome club site in Abbey Wood South east London.  Snowing lightly when I left home,  with about 2 inches (5cm) of lying snow. When I got to junc 10 on the M23 Blizard conditions! Snow settling on the motorway & visibility about 200 metres. This lasted until the M25/M26 split, then it became light snow again. Arrived at the camp site & then it came down with a vengance, barely got pitched up & by the time I had there was about 4 to 6 inches of snow on the car.

 

Commuted to Deptford for 3 days, What a joke! London Borough of Greenwich had not gritted or cleared snow on the roads for the first 2 days, so a journey of 7 miles took over 1 1/2 hrs each way!

 

Left camp site on Saturday, to return home.

 

Why you may ask, was I doing towing in the snow, well I'm involved in a charity that's based in Deptford & I'd pre arranged to carry out a Health & Safety pre annual audit with the CEO (who happens to be a very old friend of mine & he'd driven up from Cornwall on the Tuesday) so I couldn't really cry off because of the weather!

 

Some things to note: Access to the camp site from the A2 means what ever route you choose theres a hill involved! the camp site is at the bottom of a hill (& even the club site travel instructions state Do NOT approch from Knee Hill!) & the site slopes with the contours of the hill. The road the camp site is in is a side road & is NEVER gritted (how do I know? I lived in Abbey wood for over 25 years & at one time lived approx 200 yards from the site!)

 

So, impressions of the Superb as a tow car, in what could be said as the worst winter weather since early in 2010 (I had a Kia Sorrento then), based on over 45 years of towing (& quite a number of years driving trucks, inc heavy recovery whilst in the Army) A fantastic tow car! the only thing I'd change in the snowy conditions, the tyres, to a decent set of Mud & Snow or all terrain ones, however, I must say that the car performed superbly (pun intended!) & at now time did I feel unsafe!

[TTruckie]

Hi all,

 

Has anyone tried retro fitting an OEM towbar???  I quite fancy giving it a go to my 280 Sportline so grateful for any advice.

[GeorgeB]

1 hour ago, TTruckie said:

Hi all,

 

Has anyone tried retro fitting an OEM towbar???  I quite fancy giving it a go to my 280 Sportline so grateful for any advice.

 

TTrukie,

 

Before you do...check out the price, at your local Skoda dealer, of the OE towbar & electrics...you may be shocked at the price to supply only!!!!

Also, it won't be the electricly deployed one, that is only available as a factory fit!

[edwards]

I recall someone on here did manage to get the OE boot-released one retrofitted but the cost was into 4 figures.

 

As the (slightly smug, admittedly) owner of a factory drop down towbar, they are amazing. First towbar I've had that really is invisible when 'removed' (well, folded).

[Dazkim]

The company I’m using said the retro fitted fold out one can’t be done . So I’m having the Westfalia detachable with dedicated electrics fitted.

[Albourneboy]

I have the westfalia detachable and it's very good. The only issue I have with it is the 13-pin socket (which folds away very neatly into the cut out in the rear bumper) is awkward to get at. Connecting the caravan's plug can be a bit tricky and I have to get right down on my knees to do it and I sometimes need to use the alignment tool to get the caravan plug set up correctly before I can connect it to the car. Other than that, it's a good set-up.

[GeorgeB]

6 hours ago, Albourneboy said:

I have the westfalia detachable and it's very good. The only issue I have with it is the 13-pin socket (which folds away very neatly into the cut out in the rear bumper) is awkward to get at. Connecting the caravan's plug can be a bit tricky and I have to get right down on my knees to do it and I sometimes need to use the alignment tool to get the caravan plug set up correctly before I can connect it to the car. Other than that, it's a good set-up.

 

Yep, I have the same problem with the 13 pin socket as well, In my humble opinion the moveable arm on which the socket is attached too could/should be about 2 to 3 cm longer & that would aleviate the problem, but in the meantime I'll just have to live with it.

 

BTW I use a gardening kneeling pad when inserting the plug into the socket... dosen't make it any easier to insert, but it gives a soft base to kneel on!