Since May 2018 I drive a Skoda Karoq Ambition Business 1.5 TSI ACT. From the beginning I find the car less stable than my previous 2 Yetis. This instability has led from the summer with the caravan behind to an accident resulting in damage to the caravan.

After the holiday the car is checked at the dealer. Springs, shock absorbers and alignment show no deviations. Contact with Pon eventually yielded the following - the spring behavior / stability is a productive feature - we can not help you.

Since I do not want to drive any further with a caravan behind it, I have contacted @antera with the question of whether an Eibach spring set is available for my Karoq. This set was specially composed for me via Eibach because I am the first Karoq driver who has asked for this.

Since December 8th I drive around in a Karoq with Eibach Pro set. The car sends much more firmly and is a lot more stable.

Herewith pictures from before and after the installation of the Eibach springs.

Edited 8 January, 20197 yr by Witte Yeti

What caravan are you towing? 

2 minutes ago, LBFS said:

What caravan are you towing? 

 

A damaged one 

Any code, model name for Eibachs?

15 hours ago, LBFS said:

What caravan are you towing? 

Sprite Alpine Sport 470 CF model 2019 with ATC (Alko Trailer Control), for the accident a Sprite Alpine Sport 470 CF model 2013

15 hours ago, don_kiddik said:

 

A damaged one 

4 hours ago, irfant said:

Any code, model name for Eibachs?

I have no information about the Eibach Pro set, its still a test. For more information you can mail [email protected]. This person has mounted the Eibach springs and has contact with the Eibach manufacturer.

Hi Witte Yeti. We have moved from an Octavia 2.0 manual diesel which was an excellent tow car to a petrol auto Karoq because it suited the 95%of the time we were not towing better. Our caravan (Bailey Modena) has the same total weight as your Alpine and we have had ATC fitted because of a nasty incident behind the Octavia. 

Because we only took delivery in October we have only used it for a weekend trip of the 100km 2 hours total over a country route. 

It was a different experience using a petrol auto for towing but the power and torque were more than sufficient and with occasional use of manual override so did the transmission. I think towing on the motorway will be even better. 

You are the first forum user that I am aware of who tows with a similar vehicle to mine therefore your post was of particular interest and I thank you for posting your experience. 

What was the circumstances of the accident and what brought you to the conclusion that the spring set up was incorrect for safe towing? 

To us safety comes first and since our very nasty incident in France we have been very aware how easy it is to get into trouble quickly while you are driving safely. 

I am very pleased with the car and believe we made the best choice with the Karoq we have. 

 

 

@Doogle69

The accident happened on the Brenner highway in Italy. When a number of lorries passed, the caravan started to swing at a speed of 80/85 km / hour, this caused the caravan to hit a truck with its side. Fortunately, the accident ended well, only caravan and truck had damage.
After returning to the Netherlands, I checked the Karoq at the dealer. Springs, shock absorbers and alignment has been checked, no deviations have been detected. Contact with the importer did not yield, answer was this is a property of the car.
To be able to drive safely with the caravan, decided to have other springs fitted so that the car would be less sensitive to crosswinds and suction.
Through Skodaforum NL I came in contact with someone who has experience with this problem and has direct contact with the Eibach manufacturer.
They have put together a set for the Skoda Karoq. I am the first (test) to ride around with Eibach feathers.
The car now sends a lot tighter and is also more stable because of the stiffer springs. The reduction by the other feathers is 3 to 4 cm.
Unfortunately I have not been able to test with the caravan yet.

Maybe best load the caravan differently next time and check hitch height & the nose weight as it is dead easy to get into snaking. Hard to accelerate out of or decelerate out of.

I sent this as a PM to a forum member recently, but it now may be of wider use:-

"I have towed low profile pop-top Eriba caravans since 2003. This is probably in about 25/30K miles of towing. They are very stable and a joy to tow. Accidents involving them are few and far between, in fact I can recall hearing of only one serious accident over this period of ownership. Noseweight, caravan loading, speed, travelling downhill, crosswinds, high sided vehicles are all known causes, but for me the only time I have ever experienced instability or concern was due to low tyre pressure on the van. Tyres were set ay Hymer manufacturers figures when this happened. They subsequently had to admit these were incorrect"

This problem arose as due to the comparatively low weight of these vans they can run on either car or reinforced commercial tyres. Hymer had forgotten about this in the owners manual and advised tyre pressure to low. I had the correctly loaded, correct hitch load caravan snake on me when travelling at about 50mph in the south of France. I was lucky. A similar occurrence  to a van in the Lake District resulted in a written off car and van. This is the incident I refer to above.

 

Colin

 

Can you please provide product code for springs. And weight indexes of your car for front and rear axle. I will very appreciate!

 

I had Eibach Pro springs on my Sup3 and had them on my Yeti.  Both with KONI FSD shocks.  Springs from SUP3 still in shed in plastic, so I am wander if they can be reused for Karoq. 

 

Edited 23 March, 20197 yr by Shahoff

Springs and brakes waiting to be installed

 

Although I don't tow a caravan I tend to run our Karoq and Octavia with higher than normal tyre pressures which improves handling and stability as well as improving fuel economy as a bonus (and tyre wear is even across the thread before someone suggests I will wear out the middle portion of the tyres quicker). The Karoq runs at 2.6bar and the Octavia run at 2.7bar. 18" tyres on Karoq and 19" on Octavia.

On Karoq  2.6/2.4  F/R  for 19" is per book

 

Springs are installed. As well as Koni FSD shocks and 340mm front brakes

Not an Eibach, but I've got my H&R Springs and lowered the car 30-35 mm. It did not hurt the ride quality. And better handling, so I am happy with the appearance and riding feel