Aftermarket towbar successfully fitted to VRS

[ahar]

Reading the other towing thread it seemed that no one had yet tried to fit an aftermarket tow bar to a VRS, so I thought I would post a few pics to show that it was possible.  I didn't order any factory prep for the car.

 

I used TowBarExpress to supply and fit it, and paid for the vehicle specific wiring.  The guy had worked on plenty of Skodas before and had done Kodiaqs but this was his first VRS.  

 

Its definitely possible, but a pain to fit.  The different exhaust on the VRS gets in the way, so more dismantling at the back was required.  Also the vehicle specific wiring that they supply fits, but the wiring loom seems further back and needed more of the gloxbox area to be dismantled to get to it.  All in all I think it took around 3hr 15 mins for him to do.  Looking at what he needed to do I think I'd have been there all week trying it myself!

 

Towbar bolted in.....

http://

 

Completed!

 

http://

 

Closeup - the 7 pin plug bit rotates downwards.

http://

 

With the detachable bit.... detached!  His comment was that on other Kodiaqs the remaining bit is better hidden - the design of the bumper on the VRS seems to make it stick out a little more with the ball bit detached.

 

http://

 

 

[ZacDaMan72]

Why would you buy a vRS and not get the factory fit towbar... no hitch popping out when not in use, 100% discrete. 

 

Hated how the detachable towbar looks on my normal Kodiaq, so I’ve ordered my RS with the factory towbar 

[ahar]

Various reasons meant I took a car from dealer stock rather than waiting for a factory build. Dealers never seem to order with a tow bar!

[silver1011]

Thanks for posting this, and adding pictures. Good to see it physically fits.

 

I am still curious as to why Skoda went to the effort of calling out the vRS specifically saying it wasn't possible to retrofit a towbar. I suspect the communication was more aimed towards retrofitting the genuine towbar, at a Skoda retailer.

 

Does your vRS have Blind Spot Assist? Are all other features working as expected?

 

When you place the car in reverse (with something plugged into the electrics) do you see a picture of a trailer on the infotainment screen, and are the reverse sensors deactivated?

 

Does the rear fog light on the car deactivate?

 

Does the vehicle alarm sound if the electrics are disconnected when the car is locked?

 

Any reason you went for a fixed flange rather than a swan neck?

 

And finally, would you be prepared to share the total cost?

[ZacDaMan72]

4 hours ago, ahar said:

Various reasons meant I took a car from dealer stock rather than waiting for a factory build. Dealers never seem to order with a tow bar!

Ah yes, fair point. Forgot that the UK dealers have a healthy amount of stock unlike in NZ.

 

1 hour ago, silver1011 said:

I am still curious as to why Skoda went to the effort of calling out the vRS specifically saying it wasn't possible to retrofit a towbar.

I too am curious, as Skoda NZ's press Kodiaq RS has an aftermarket (locally made) towbar fitted. If @ahar's car was coded correctly, then all features should work. The NZ press car has all functions working properly apart from the alarm, didn't try that. Does the standard alarm system have trailer theft functions built in, or do you need the one with interior monitoring?

[linni]

1 hour ago, ZacDaMan72 said:

Does the standard alarm system have trailer theft functions built in

 

I think it has. As soon as you detach trailer plug it activates. Nothing to do with inerior monitor.

Edited 27 June, 2019 by linni

[ahar]

I don't have blind spot assist and haven't driven around with a trailer yet - just static test on the driveway.  Reverse sensors deactivated fine but didn't try the fog lights or alarm. Will try those later and report back.

 

I went for the flange fitting as some bike carriers don't work as well with a swan neck. Much of a muchness really. 

 

Cost was £750 all in. 

[Stu_Magoo]

9 hours ago, ahar said:

I don't have blind spot assist and haven't driven around with a trailer yet - just static test on the driveway.  Reverse sensors deactivated fine but didn't try the fog lights or alarm. Will try those later and report back.

 

I went for the flange fitting as some bike carriers don't work as well with a swan neck. Much of a muchness really. 

 

Cost was £750 all in. 

For comparison, my factory fitted electronic folding tow bar came to £822.50 after discount.  I know the OP is about fitting a tow bar to a secondhand car, but wanted to show the realistic price difference if someone is pondering to add the factor fit option on a new car or retro fit one later.

[ahar]

Fog light deactivated with the electrics connected, but the alarm didn't go off when disconnected. However, I may have had the keys too close (keyless entry etc). Will play with it a bit more, and read the manual!

Edited 28 June, 2019 by ahar

[MrTrilby]

If the car is locked, it doesn’t matter how close you are to the car with the keys. The alarm should go off if the car is locked when the tow bar electrics are disconnected. 

[ahar]

Problem with the alarm solved I think.  Thanks to a previous car I'm in the habit of double tapping the lock button on the key, but turns out that switches off the internal movement sensors and the trailer alarm. If you single click to lock (as I should be doing) the alarm does notice the trailer has gone, and sends a notification to the Skoda connect app !

[sean0711]

Hopefully this won’t worry you but the reason the dealers say you can’t retro fit a towbar is nothing to do with the towbar itself. It’s the engine cooling fans that are lower powered and the wiring loom in the engine bay can’t be plugged in to the higher output cooling fans. This is the reason why dealers won’t fit them, we were told by the factory the cars either have to have a tow bar as a factory order or have the preparation option (as this means the updates fans are already fitted) just so you know!

[silver1011]

Be careful, is that warning specific to the vRS?

 

The same applies to the 1.4 TSI, but Skoda do not (publicly) issue the same warning for this engine.

 

The fact that they specifically call out the vRS might be for another reason?

 

It is was related to the need for the upgraded cooling fan and front grill then you'd imagine Skoda would include all affected engine configurations to the list, including the 1.4 TSI.

 

Edited 5 July, 2019 by silver1011

[sean0711]

10 hours ago, silver1011 said:

Be careful, is that warning specific to the vRS?

 

The same applies to the 1.4 TSI, but Skoda do not (publicly) issue the same warning for this engine.

 

The fact that they specifically call out the vRS might be for another reason?

 

It is was related to the need for the upgraded cooling fan and front grill then you'd imagine Skoda would include all affected engine configurations to the list, including the 1.4 TSI.

 

As far as I know that is specific for the vRS, because there was no specific info anywhere I asked the factory and that was what I was told by them. There is a list of parts referring to most of the engines in all Skoda’s now that needs checking before fitting a tow bar from radiator fans, radiators, hoses and grills. But that is published to the dealers. 

[MrTrilby]

If true then it would seem a bit worrying that a car ostensibly built to lap the Nurburgring has a cooling system so marginal that it can’t cope with towing a caravan at 60mph. 

[ZacDaMan72]

3 hours ago, MrTrilby said:

If true then it would seem a bit worrying that a car ostensibly built to lap the Nurburgring has a cooling system so marginal that it can’t cope with towing a caravan at 60mph. 

 

It probably can. The trailer testing manufacturers do is very stressful, towing the max capacity for hours on end in <-20°c and >50°c weather. Without a factory tow kit, I would imagine its perfectly fine to tow a caravan around...however installing a tow bar on a Kodiaq RS without factory tow bar prep will probably have negative implications on warranty. 

[ahar]

It's mostly for a bike rack and the occasional tow of my Caterham to a race track. I'm not particularly worried about a slightly upgraded fan, the current one is huge and noisy!

[thewez]

There's a skoda tech on Facebook retro fitting the oem swing down tow bar for £850 🙂

he also does rear camera.

 

[silver1011]

On 05/07/2019 at 19:02, sean0711 said:

As far as I know that is specific for the vRS, because there was no specific info anywhere I asked the factory and that was what I was told by them. There is a list of parts referring to most of the engines in all Skoda’s now that needs checking before fitting a tow bar from radiator fans, radiators, hoses and grills. But that is published to the dealers. 

 

Perhaps they've updated this to include the vRS...

 

[ahar]

Added the towbar as a modification to my car insurance this week - they told me it was £16 and I thought that was a bit weird , usually its a free mod, but hey ho, insurance is up for renewal in September, I'll find a better company.

 

Nope, turns out it was a £16 refund!  It must skew the risk model in a positive direction, people with towbars are generally safer drivers.  If only they knew....

[chrisluciofg]

On 06/07/2019 at 09:29, ZacDaMan72 said:

 

It probably can. The trailer testing manufacturers do is very stressful, towing the max capacity for hours on end in <-20°c and >50°c weather. Without a factory tow kit, I would imagine its perfectly fine to tow a caravan around...however installing a tow bar on a Kodiaq RS without factory tow bar prep will probably have negative implications on warranty. 

 

my takeaway is this : even if not intending to tow often, get a factory towbar anyway, as your cooling system is beefed up as a bonus - all the better for hill-climbs, hot NZ summers etc

[ZacDaMan72]

2 hours ago, chrisluciofg said:

 

my takeaway is this : even if not intending to tow often, get a factory towbar anyway, as your cooling system is beefed up as a bonus - all the better for hill-climbs, hot NZ summers etc

If you look at the spec sheet for NZ specification Kodiaq’s, you’ll see that towing prep is standard on every Kodiaq. 

[wokwon]

Hi Ahar,

Does your aftermarket tow bar have the threaded hole to screw the tow-hook into? 

 

The dealer-fit OEM one that was fitted to my Kodiaq doesn't have this anymore, which means there is no way to fit the rear tow-hook any more.

 

This may seem OK as you could maybe pull the car via the tow ball, but when I was stuck in a deep puddle with water some way up the rear bumper, the electric descending tow-ball refused to operate (as it was a bit under water) and popping off the plastic cover revealed that there is no hole to screw into for the tow hook.

 

You can see on the bar on the attached picture, no hole any more.