Hi everyone, I'm new to this site. My husband and I are considering purchasing a 2.0L TDI Kodiaq. We need a strong vehicle to tow a horse trailer, specifically the Ifor Williams 506 which is 920kg unladen. Does anyone on here have experience at how powerful the Kodiaq is at towing heavier weights? Probably be nearer 1800kg once trailer loaded. Also is the factory fitted electric tow bar decent? Not sure whether to get fitted at manufacture stage or added after by an independent garage. Are the foldable ones strong and sturdy enough for pulling heavier weights? I have no experience of them at all, only the permanent ones that don't fold away. 

It is certainly much easier to spec a factory fit tow bar. Having a tow bar retrofitted requires quite a bit of work, some require extra cooling mods, and also has to be coded to the vehicle, and I believe on MY 21 this is proving a headache.

Also you say a 2.0 TDI, it’s worth noting that the 2.0 150 tdi manual is not homologated for tow bar fitting

I should point out that I've never towed a horsebox, never rode a horse and never won on the Grand national.

 

The Kodiaq is a relatively light 4x4  so even in it's most powerful 200bhp tdi 4x4 guise, the kerbweight is more or less 1800kg therefore it wouldn't be recommended even for an experienced driver to tow 1800kg. That said it'd tow a Sheltand pony neigh bother.

 

Even the discontinued 4x4 Vrs diesel which was the most powerful Kodiaq had a max of towing weight of 1750kg.

 

As Kenny R says, the 150bhp 4x4 manual isn't capable of towing My Little Pony.

 

NB - the new car brochure shows one top-of-the-range 200bhp L&K which has a kerbweight nearer 1900kg so even then 1800kg would be borderline for an experienced person. It's probably better looking elsewhere. Have you considered a 2.2tdi Kia Sorento? 

 

 

 

Edited 13 March, 20215 yr by Guest

30 minutes ago, Kenny R said:

It is certainly much easier to spec a factory fit tow bar. Having a tow bar retrofitted requires quite a bit of work, some require extra cooling mods, and also has to be coded to the vehicle, and I believe on MY 21 this is proving a headache.

Also you say a 2.0 TDI, it’s worth noting that the 2.0 150 tdi manual is not homologated for tow bar fitting

Thankyou, I did see on another post about the issues with the 150 TDI.

 

14 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

I should point out that I've never towed a horsebox, never rode a horse and never won on the Grand national.

 

The Kodiaq is a relatively light 4x4  so even in it's most powerful 200bhp tdi 4x4 guise, the kerbweight is more or less 1800kg therefore it wouldn't be recommended even for an experienced driver to tow 1800kg. That said it'd tow a Sheltand pony neigh bother.

 

Even the discontinued 4x4 Vrs diesel which was the most powerful Kodiaq had a max of towing weight of 1750kg.

 

As Kenny R says, the 150bhp 4x4 manual isn't capable of towing My Little Pony.

 

NB - the new car brochure shows one top-of-the-range 200bhp L&K which has a kerbweight nearer 1900kg so even then 1800kg would be borderline for an experienced person. It's probably better looking elsewhere. Have you considered a 2.2tdi Kia Sorento? 

 

 

 

Thankyou for your response. I have read that the towing capacity for the Kodiaq is 2000kg. We have been looking at the Sportline 190 TDI engine. Aware its a lighter 4x4 but thought it would manage horse trailer plus 1 pony at 300-400kg. Might be back to the drawing board! 

5 hours ago, Jo_ansis said:

Thankyou for your response. I have read that the towing capacity for the Kodiaq is 2000kg. We have been looking at the Sportline 190 TDI engine. Aware its a lighter 4x4 but thought it would manage horse trailer plus 1 pony at 300-400kg. Might be back to the drawing board! 

Towing circa 1500kg (which I would expect from a regular sized float + horse) should be fine with the 200hp TDI. Just need to be sure that you’re not exceeding the rated tongue load, but that’s more of a local issue here than over there. 

Edited 14 March, 20215 yr by ZacDaMan72

I have a 20tdi 190ps and tow a large caravan which comes in at 1440kg unladen and tops out around 1580kg with all the bits loaded. The Kodiaq is a superb tow car and the best i have ever had and towing the caravan is a breeze with no issues whatsoever so i would have no issues with towing this sort of weight or even higher. The braked towing capacity is 2000kg. I also have the factory fit tow bar and find this very sturdy and a solid piece of kit, as good as any after market bar and i would highly recommend this to be factory fitted.

A lot of people think that in order to tow you need a huge, heavy and powerful car.

 

I'm sure a car like that would make things easier, but it's far from essential.

 

Here is my manual 1.4 TSI 150PS 230Nm Kodiaq towing a 1,400Kg caravan with absolute ease...

 

11 hours ago, blakey7 said:

I have a 20tdi 190ps and tow a large caravan which comes in at 1440kg unladen and tops out around 1580kg with all the bits loaded. The Kodiaq is a superb tow car and the best i have ever had and towing the caravan is a breeze with no issues whatsoever so i would have no issues with towing this sort of weight or even higher. The braked towing capacity is 2000kg. I also have the factory fit tow bar and find this very sturdy and a solid piece of kit, as good as any after market bar and i would highly recommend this to be factory fitted.

Thankyou for your response that’s very reassuring ☺️

 

12 hours ago, silver1011 said:

A lot of people think that in order to tow you need a huge, heavy and powerful car.

 

I'm sure a car like that would make things easier, but it's far from essential.

 

Here is my manual 1.4 TSI 150PS 230Nm Kodiaq towing a 1,400Kg caravan with absolute ease...

 

That’s brilliant thankyou. I need to make sure I have the power the tow in and out of muddy fields, hence the concern. Your comment is very reassuring thankyou. I think I just need to make sure I’ve got proper off road tyres. 

@Jo_ansisWill you really be fitting Offroad Tyres, or maybe will it be All Terrain Tyres?

You had best be sure you are going with a wheel size that will allow suitable tyres for towing out of muddy fields.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/470122-off-road-tyres

 

1 hour ago, e-Roottoot said:

@Jo_ansisWill you really be fitting Offroad Tyres, or maybe will it be All Terrain Tyres?

You had best be sure you are going with a wheel size that will allow suitable tyres for towing out of muddy fields.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/470122-off-road-tyres

 

Ok thanks I will look into this too!

What's the maximum nose weight of the tow bar?

 

I believe most horse trailers have a pretty hefty nose weight (usually double that of a caravan).

 

I borrowed a horse box from a friend to take some stuff to the tip when I had my Saab. It's had a very heavy empty nose weight (above the max rated for the car/tow bar) so I had to put some heavy stuff slightly over towards to rear.

44 minutes ago, Phil-E said:

What's the maximum nose weight of the tow bar?

 

I believe most horse trailers have a pretty hefty nose weight (usually double that of a caravan).

 

I borrowed a horse box from a friend to take some stuff to the tip when I had my Saab. It's had a very heavy empty nose weight (above the max rated for the car/tow bar) so I had to put some heavy stuff slightly over towards to rear.

80kg for 7 seaters, 100kg for 5 seaters on most models 

 

Sadly no more VRS on sale in Europe

20 hours ago, ZacDaMan72 said:

80kg for 7 seaters, 100kg for 5 seaters on most models 

I know the one I borrowed had a 150kg nose weight. The owner normally tows it with a range rover though which no doubt have at least a 150kg limit.

2 hours ago, Phil-E said:

I know the one I borrowed had a 150kg nose weight. The owner normally tows it with a range rover though which no doubt have at least a 150kg limit.

Yep that’s the problem. Need one of those load levelling bars:

 

I had an aftermarket towbar fitted to my Kodiaq as I bought one from dealer stock and none of them had one already. It did take quite a bit of work from the fitter to get it in place and coded properly. it works well (although I only tow a race car and trailer, max 900 kg), though I definitely would have got a factory fit one instead if I could have.