According to Skoda Auto News twitter feed today, if you're buying a Kodiaq RS and wanting a towbar, do make sure it's included in your factory order as it seems there may be difficulties/restrictions on retrofitting at a later stage. 

 

https://twitter.com/skodaautonews?lang=en

 

 

Good to see that the guy who wrote the Superb 2 Owners Handbook got moved to a new job on their Twitter team.... I just wish he would finish his English language courses.

Edited 14 February, 20197 yr by TheRobinK

At least they bothered to register it for towing, unlike the model that's been available for 2 years and theoretically can't tow for no reason whatsoever except presumably their incompetance

Simply Clever Skoda CZ are going to have to apply stickers to vehicles.  Clearly Displayed. 

 'This Vehicle has no Factory Preparation for Towing Devices'.  But is Type Approved to Tow. Where that applies.

 

Official Dealerships selling vehicles and the likes of Skoda UK that imports will need to clearly state on sales stuff, adverts etc.

 

This large SUV may not be suitable for the purpose you are buying and intending to use the vehicle for as no Factory Towbar was fitted or Towbar Preparation carried out on the production line.

 

Lets see if a Kodiaq vRS gets a mention as 'Tow Car' of the year anyplace.  Pointing out that only if 'ordered by the original customer to be suitable to tow!'.

Possibly due to the twin exhausts on the Kodiaq vRS, making any modifications post-build prohibitively expensive?

 

I think this applies to the genuine Skoda towbar. I'm sure it will still be possible to fit a non-genuine aftermarket tow bar to the vRS.

Anything and everything is possible.  Just never expect Main Dealer or the Importers employees to tell Customers / Owners that.

1 hour ago, silver1011 said:

I'm sure it will still be possible to fit a non-genuine aftermarket tow bar to the vRS.

 

I'd think there would be a way - the question would be - at what cost? Your idea about the VRS exhausts makes sense to me, I'd just wonder about the price if removing/reinstalling the exhausts and/or a modified rear beam was needed? Would it make sense for the tow bar vendors/fitters to do it on a low production run like the VRS?

 

Jeesh, I'd hate to have dropped 40 grand plus on that bi-turbo, expecting a mega tow monster only to find out its all fart and no ****e...

 

Edited 14 February, 20197 yr by TheRobinK
Typo

9 minutes ago, TheRobinK said:

 

 

 

Jeesh, I'd hate to have dropped 40 grand plus on that bi-turbo

I think that about wraps it up nicely 

Looking at the Kodiaq vRS options there's the ability to have the electronically folding tow bar fitted or you can opt for tow bar preparation. 

20 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

I think that about wraps it up nicely 

 

It does when I checked and found out (in Ireland) they start at the equivalent of STG £56,000 for the 5 seater and £57,000 for the 7 seater, before options.  At those prices, they should be including the tow bar prep if only to avoid ****ing off the kind of (possibly unhinged) person who would drop that amount on one...

 

A Superb Sportline 272 TSI 4x4 Estate is about STG £13,000 less.  A Tiguan Allspace R-Line 240hp 4x4 (same motor as the VRS) is £7000 less.  I've been told the Kodiaq VRS is "smokin". Indeed - the question is what? 

5 hours ago, silver1011 said:

Possibly due to the twin exhausts on the Kodiaq vRS, making any modifications post-build prohibitively expensive?

 

I think this applies to the genuine Skoda towbar. I'm sure it will still be possible to fit a non-genuine aftermarket tow bar to the vRS.

 

I'd thought, maybe wrongly, that only one of the twin exhausts was actually connected to the exhaust system, the other being for the "vroom vroom fe*k-yer-neighbours" artificial sound booster. 

Admittedly, not a vRS, but an aftermarket tow bar replaces the crash beam which you'd hope is pretty standard across all variants of the Kodiaq and stays well clear of the exhausts...

 

 

Perhaps the factory fit version, with it's more complex installation, is more likely to get in the way.

On 14/02/2019 at 22:01, silver1011 said:

Admittedly, not a vRS, but an aftermarket tow bar replaces the crash beam which you'd hope is pretty standard across all variants of the Kodiaq and stays well clear of the exhausts...

Perhaps the factory fit version, with it's more complex installation, is more likely to get in the way.

 

Nevertheless it does seems strange that despite the RS having 49PS (36kW) more engine power and 100Nm more engine torque, the maximum towing weight of 1,750kgs is lower than the 2,000kgs for the 190Tdi.  Would that be as a result of too much hot air for the sound blaster? 

Due to the weight of those supposedly 'Huge Disc Brakes' bigger than the size of a wheel on lesser cars (Kodiaq)

according to 'Motoring Journalists' Car Reviewers reading and quoting from the Skoda (VW) Media pack.

 

 

 

Edited 17 February, 20197 yr by Skoffski

27 minutes ago, Skoffski said:

Due to the weight of those supposedly 'Huge Disc Brakes' bigger than the size of a wheel on lesser cars (Kodiaq)

according to 'Motoring Journalists' Car Reviewers reading and quoting from the Skoda (VW) Media pack.

 

I thought, but may be wrong, the size of brakes are the same for all models of Kodiaq, but only the RS has the red painted brake calipers.

Edited 17 February, 20197 yr by Arkaig

Apparently these are Red Calipers hidden badly so that you can see them.

& huge discs the likes of never seen before, other than maybe on a Skoda Superb 280 or similar.  Tiny rears obviously....

41 minutes ago, Arkaig said:

 

I thought, but may be wrong, the size of brakes are the same for all models of Kodiaq, but only the RS has the red painted brake calipers.

 

 My 2.0 TSi has 340mm front discs, which equates to just over 13”. All the hype that’s printed about the vRS quote 17” front discs, but I haven’t seen any technical data quoting this.

I believe the 1.4’s have 312mm front discs.

Edited 17 February, 20197 yr by Kenny R

3 minutes ago, Kenny R said:

 

 My 2.0 TSi has 340mm front discs, which equates to just over 13”. All the hype that’s printed about the vRS quote 17” front discs, but I haven’t seen any technical data quoting this.

I believe the 1.4’s have 312mm front discs.

 

Thanks @Kenny R  for clarifying,  I was clearly wrong with my earlier post as to the size of front discs - apologies.

12 hours ago, Arkaig said:

 

I thought, but may be wrong, the size of brakes are the same for all models of Kodiaq, but only the RS has the red painted brake calipers.

It's absolutely egregious marketing. 17" is about 430mm, and the Bentley Continental GT has 'only' 420mm front brake rotors. Here is what they look like on 20" rims.

On 17/02/2019 at 12:14, Arkaig said:

Nevertheless it does seems strange that despite the RS having 49PS (36kW) more engine power and 100Nm more engine torque, the maximum towing weight of 1,750kgs is lower than the 2,000kgs for the 190Tdi

 

2500 kg with factory fitted tow bar, says my brochure for 5 seater RS.

3 hours ago, linni said:

2500 kg with factory fitted tow bar, says my brochure for 5 seater RS.

 

The 5-seat RS is not available to order in the UK.

 

An extract from the UK specification (Feb19) details the maximum towing weight for the RS as 1,750kgs:

 

 

Edited 18 February, 20197 yr by Arkaig

Strange. Doublechecked on Finnish Skoda site and true, 7 seater has 750 kg less towing capability.

Has anyone here tried to fit an aftermarket towbar to the VRS Kodiaq?

No, I don't think so.

 

What isn't clear from Skoda's communication in the opening post is if they're suggesting that only the genuine OEM Skoda tow bar isn't retrofittable, or any type of tow bar i.e. aftermarket.

I have a fitter coming next Wednesday to fit to my VRS - lets see how it goes!