Hi all, thought I'd ask this from a different point of view! I'm looking at moving back to Skoda and want a MK3 estate, ideally I'd like the 187bhp for towing a caravan but the majority of MK3's on the market are the 148bhp variant, I tow a 1500kg caravan and was hoping for some opinions of those who tow with either and whether I'd be better holding out for a 187! Cheers all

I’d consider getting one of the 4x4 versions, either 150ps manual or 190ps DSG for towing.

Im sure the 150ps version could be tuned up to 180/190ps with a tuning box  or remap.

 

Steve.

Hi,

 

I can recommend the 4x4 190ps DSG.  Tow nearly 1800kg caravan with it with absolutely no problems.  Had a 170ps Alhambra DSG before which was also fine with the lower power and 6 speed box.  The only issue with that one was two wheel drive and wet slopes on grass.  Towed down to Cornwall last year on a very hot day and did notice the temperatures rising slightly on the long uphill sections.  I had a removable towbar retro fitted with VCDS integration, but my car doesn't have the towing pack which includes uprated alternator and possibly bigger cooling fan?  Tow pack can't be retro fitted according to Skoda so bear that in mind if looking used.  Max tow weight for the 190 4x4 is 2100kg from memory.  Worth remembering it's on 4x4 when it needs it and 2x4 for most of the time.  I get around 20-25mpg towing so about half normal.

I certainly hope that a 150hp diesel will do the job - my 140hp Ford did it so I can't see why not!!!

 

What is included in the 'tow pack' ? I don't know of any others who need a tow pack at purchase. Most generators producev more than the car needs and the caravan lights aren't that much more than a small trailer. So do you really have to decide, before purchase, that you might just buy a small trailer and that therefore you need a tow-pack? 

Looking at the Owners Manual I can't find any mention of a 'tow pack' . It does warn that towed  appliances drawing more than 350Watts could damage wiring in the car. That would take a lot of caravan lights!!!

9 hours ago, Sandgroper said:

Looking at the Owners Manual I can't find any mention of a 'tow pack' . It does warn that towed  appliances drawing more than 350Watts could damage wiring in the car. That would take a lot of caravan lights!!!

350/12 = ~30A What would a flat caravan battery being recharged take along with the fridge running ?

Battery chargers take 4 to 5 amps and will be fuse protected I suspect, the fridge when towing is hardly on tbh, but it takes 0.5 amps when on full power. 

 

What does the tow pack include? The manual is pretty complete when pointing out what should be in the system but doesn't say anything about modifications to wiring and I can't believe that, if you spec a tow-pack, they increase all wiring feeding the towed accessory or enable the system to support over 350watts! There are so many Superbs towing, many fitted with after market tow-bars that I would expect a whole forum full of 'electrical failures due to lack of a tow-pack.' 

 

Most will have had the necessary change to the car computer to accommodate the thing on the back but I don't know of any that had major electrical work done, do you?

 

I posted an item headed Caravan Tuggers recently which attracted a few posters, none of whom mentioned and electrical problems. Maybe some will appear.

I'd imagine a discharged battery will swallow way more than 5A, it's a direct feed on Pin 9 and 13 on 13 pin, or Pin 3 and 4 on 7S, so it will just swallow what the battery can take, not sure what that actually is but an alternator can pour the power in when needed.

Most dometic brand caravan fridge elements are 60W-120W (0.25 to 0.5 amp) but that's on 240V, so at 12V will be between 5 and 10Amp, and is only regulated on 240V - so it'll be on full chat whilst towing, I've certainly had plastic ice cubes start to freeze on a decent trip. Don't underestimate current drawn if you have a flat caravan battery, be it from just standing, or having used a motor mover to hitch up for instance.

The after market full towing kits on a Superb just add a new fuse box feed that would have been factory installed, otherwise it's just the same dedicated modules, and coding. The cheap after market kits are just voltage sensing bypass relays and lots of scotchloks...

Some vehicles I've looked at in the past needed additional cooling and needed radiator swaps - basically another additional coolant circuit added for old torque convertor boxes. Kenlowe used to supply after fit fan kits. I swerved all of those and went manual gearbox.

 

I've a S3 150 manual but not used it to tow anything heavy, and my van is lighter than yours is anyway, I've towed with several 150 Golf Mk5's, a 150 Passat B5, 2 x Signum 150's and all just fine, I also towed with an Insignia 138 and that was poor but just as under-powered solo!

I guess the only thing in terms of long life is that DSG has two smaller clutches rather than one larger one in a manual and those clutches are part of the gearbox and cannot be easily replaced ?

I tow with a 150 diesel manual Estate (2017 SEL) towing a caravan max weight 1450kg and more than happy with it,. Easily cruise in 6th gear towing at 60-65, and typically manages 28-30 towing. It tows to France west coast each summer as well as many trips in UK.

I am more than happy with its performance, and would replace with another 150 diesel next time.

On 17/02/2020 at 11:44, Sandgroper said:

Looking at the Owners Manual I can't find any mention of a 'tow pack' . It does warn that towed  appliances drawing more than 350Watts could damage wiring in the car. That would take a lot of caravan lights!!!

From one of the Skoda dealers

"When your car was built, ‘Tow Bar Preparation’, like Metallic Paint, may have been an optional extra you had fitted. ‘Tow Bar Preparation’ includes all the necessary adjustments that your car will need come the day that you need to have a tow bar fitted. These adjustments may just be an upgraded wiring and electrical system, or it could also include up rated radiators and cooling hoses so that your car can cope with the additional strain of towing a trailer or caravan."

So tells you nothing about what they actually do.  Most of the other threads don't mention up-rating the fans etc just wiring and then not the full thing.  If you have an installer with a VCDS they can activate all the trailer changes.  My car recognises a trailer is attached  and turns off blind spot and rear alert.  The sat nav also has a trailer option for route and the speed sign recognition changes to trailer setting.  I think the biggest advice from all the other forum posts is don't let the dealer near it as they only farm out to a local fitter anyway.  Happy to recommend my independent if you want to know - in the midlands.

2 hours ago, G Bain said:

I tow with a 150 diesel manual Estate (2017 SEL) towing a caravan max weight 1450kg and more than happy with it,. Easily cruise in 6th gear towing at 60-65, and typically manages 28-30 towing. It tows to France west coast each summer as well as many trips in UK.

I am more than happy with its performance, and would replace with another 150 diesel next time.

 

About the same weight etc as my Bailey!  I have towed with several 2litre Citroens and a Ford over the past 30years or so.  My present  (recently purchased)Superb Estate is my first automatic but judging from Caravan Club posts they work quite happily. I can't say that I have had any electrical problems with any of my towed vans and my repair manual indicates that the flat battery would take 8amps while the fridge has a 1 amp fuse in the car input line. The 8 amp figure was before the days of sophisticated electrics which have fuse protection where none was present. The SatNav destinations show a widely travelled last owner who fitted the towbar. I haven't had the electrics checked out yet but I will be amazed if he had travelled Europewide without proper adjustments being made.

On 18/02/2020 at 14:21, highflight130 said:

I think the biggest advice from all the other forum posts is don't let the dealer near it as they only farm out to a local fitter anyway.  Happy to recommend my independent if you want to know - in the midlands.

My dealer did indeed have a local independent fit the tow bar, but one of high repute that I've used myself twice before. Have yet to tow with the Superb but encouraged by responses on here.

Re “what do you get for factory fitted towbar”, the attached is from the 2019 price and options list, towbar is about a quarter of the way down the page 

 

 

I didn't pay anything like that amount, and the dealer agreed to pay for the prep. And it's a detachable Witter towbar. 

@PaulsSuperb  Welcome to the forum.

 

Just being nosy,

so was the dealer paying for the prep to get a sale, and how much was the supply and fitting of the Witter detachable towbar?

I was told by the dealer that the prep could not be done post build.  Therefore they could only recommend an independent to fit a towbar.  I used my local chap and from memory it was £600 for a detachable hidden including vcds changes.  In reading the specifics again I wonder if the pre is just lots of the coding for towing so the car knows there is so ethinf attached.

2 hours ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

@PaulsSuperb  Welcome to the forum.

 

Just being nosy,

so was the dealer paying for the prep to get a sale, and how much was the supply and fitting of the Witter detachable towbar?

£560. The dealer paying for the prep was a result of haggling!

Thanks for the welcome, by the way. Back in the day, whoever thought I would ever buy a... Skoda? 

17 minutes ago, PaulsSuperb said:

Thanks for the welcome, by the way. Back in the day, whoever thought I would ever buy a... Skoda? 

 

And in a similar vein I'd never imagined owning or towing a caravan and here we are about to start our 9th season 

Having bought a Superb 111 the previous owner was based north of the border and had a towbar fitted. Can't get my caravan to the car atm and will probably have to check the towbar wiring (13 pin) with a meter. The Towsure site has no electrical agencies listed in Scotland, just curious as to what Scots towers do for amending the Skoda electrics?

 

Hopefully the previous owner, who travelled through Europe with his van had the thing sorted!

21 minutes ago, unclerichy said:

 

And in a similar vein I'd never imagined owning or towing a caravan and here we are about to start our 9th season 

Ah well, I'm about to start my... eek!! 40th+ year towing, or 54th if you count caravanning with my parents! In that time I've towed with a 1600 Cortina, 1600 Cavalier, two 2.0 Mondeos and a Honda CRV. Hope the Superb proves to be as good as the Honda. Never previously towed with an automatic.

I have a L&K superb s3 estate 150bhp Dsg.  I have a tuning box fitted to assist whenever towing (TDI tuning - used for many years on different cars - excellent product and service).

 

i tow a caravan 1450kg absolutely no problem.  I have gotten mid 30’s when towing.

 

also be aware that you can only legally tow at 100% of minimum kerb weight if you are an experienced tower.  Otherwise it is 85% of this figure.  THE Book does say my car can tow 2000kg but UK law is different.  I have had this discussion with both caravan clubs and the police but you can’t tow what the book says, you HAVE to refer to minimum kerb weight.  

 

If stopped by police (weigh bridge) or VOSA then if towing at 2000kg you will have a problem.

 

another thing to consider is if the DSG is a wet clutch or dry clutch arrangement, if wet then the oil cools the clutch when under load And is better for towing.  This I was advised by a skoda forum administrator (can’t remember if this one as have had the car for nearly 3yrs now), and confirmed by a Skoda salesman.

5 minutes ago, taurean7 said:

 

If stopped by police (weigh bridge) or VOSA then if towing at 2000kg you will have a problem.

 

The problem arises when you exceed the caravan's Maximum Technically Permitted Laden Mass (MTPLM) as indicated on the van's info plate. 

23 minutes ago, PaulsSuperb said:

The problem arises when you exceed the caravan's Maximum Technically Permitted Laden Mass (MTPLM) as indicated on the van's info plate. 

 

Hi PaulsSuperb

 

i agree with you but what you are referring too is the weight limit of the caravan TO BE towed.  ie, the “caravan” is rated with a maximum allowable weight MTPLM

 

what I am referring to is the weight that the car is rated/permitted to tow.

 

ie, my car has a minimum kerb weight of 1550kg (ish - can’t remember the exact figure off hand).  I am an experienced tower and therefore can legally tow at 100% of this figure.  By this it means I can tow a caravan with a MTPLM not exceeding the cars rated amount.

 

In short I am referring to the rated value for the car NOT the caravan.