What does 'tow bar preparation' actually include

[Maxi24]

I know there are lots of questions around towing (some from me) and finally getting around to getting one fitted. My towing plate shows that the car is 'enabled' for towing (confirmed by dealer) although it does not have a cut-out in the bumper / valance (have an after-market one to fit). Does anyone know what the towbar prep does in terms of wiring as the garage has advised me that I need to 'order' dedicated electrics due to city braking, which I think I have. Logic would suggest that the factory wiring would take that into account and that nothing further would be needed

 

I know it will need a re-code but loathed to have to pay an extra £250 for dedicated electrics if it has already been done at the factory.

[avi4tor]

The tow bar electrics require a loom between the front of the car and the back.  You can either have it installed at manufacture, or have all the trim ripped out and replaced to install it at a later date.

[Maxi24]

2 hours ago, avi4tor said:

The tow bar electrics require a loom between the front of the car and the back.  You can either have it installed at manufacture, or have all the trim ripped out and replaced to install it at a later date.

So does the factory to bar preparation install the wiring loom ? That's what I'm trying to find out

[jimcallaghan]

Hi - did anyone find out this for sure? Looking to swap my Superb for Octavia VRs and it'll need a tow bar for bike carrier. Thanks. 

 

[skomaz]

On 09/02/2024 at 12:12, Maxi24 said:

So does the factory to bar preparation install the wiring loom ? That's what I'm trying to find out

 

All it includes in relation to the loom is wiring from the front of the car to 'dumb' wiring sockets behind the boot trim.  The dedicated kit then includes the control module and wiring that plugs into these and controls the towing socket.

[East_Yorkshire_Retrofits]

On 09/02/2024 at 12:12, Maxi24 said:

So does the factory to bar preparation install the wiring loom ? That's what I'm trying to find out

Yes, it's wiring from the front of the vehicle to the rear 

 

It's extremely straight forward to install anyway so don't be put off a car if it doesn't have It

Edited 19 February by East_Yorkshire_Retrofits

[Felix2021]

Actually one important thing not mentioned here is bigger radiator and fan.

Cars with tow bar or "tow bar preparation" have bigger radiator to avoid overheating of the engine when towing.

[PetrolDave]

1 hour ago, Felix2021 said:

Actually one important thing not mentioned here is bigger radiator and fan.

Cars with tow bar or "tow bar preparation" have bigger radiator to avoid overheating of the engine when towing.

... and some owners have reported that cars without towbar preparation have a VIN plate that shows they have weight limits which means they cannot legally tow anything.

[skomaz]

1 hour ago, Felix2021 said:

Actually one important thing not mentioned here is bigger radiator and fan.

Cars with tow bar or "tow bar preparation" have bigger radiator to avoid overheating of the engine when towing.

 

Not always the case...   Depends on the vehicle and engine.

[avi4tor]

The radiator and fan were never mentioned when I had my second hand 2011 mkII 1.8 fitted with a tow bar.  And I always used the owner's manual to determine the towing limits.

[Felix2021]

44 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

... and some owners have reported that cars without towbar preparation have a VIN plate that shows they have weight limits which means they cannot legally tow anything.

Actually within EU i THINK all cars without towbar preparation cannot tow anything based on their homologation. It's possible to change that, but at least in Poland it requires a lot of hassle.

But maybe i'm wrong and it's not all cars, maybe just some. Anyway that is the case for many, many users.

 

34 minutes ago, skomaz said:

Not always the case...   Depends on the vehicle and engine.

Yes, but AFAIK it's the case for most Octavia's MK4.

[RADIOTWO]

2 hours ago, Felix2021 said:

Actually within EU i THINK all cars without towbar preparation cannot tow anything based on their homologation. It's possible to change that, but at least in Poland it requires a lot of hassle.

But maybe i'm wrong and it's not all cars, maybe just some. Anyway that is the case for many, many users.

 

Yes, but AFAIK it's the case for most Octavia's MK4.

Mine did not have towbar prep but the data plate says 2000Kg towing limit

[East_Yorkshire_Retrofits]

4 hours ago, Felix2021 said:

Actually one important thing not mentioned here is bigger radiator and fan.

Cars with tow bar or "tow bar preparation" have bigger radiator to avoid overheating of the engine when towing.

That depends on the spec, the VRS for example usually already has the largest available cooling system 

2 hours ago, Felix2021 said:

Actually within EU i THINK all cars without towbar preparation cannot tow anything based on their homologation. It's possible to change that, but at least in Poland it requires a lot of hassle.

But maybe i'm wrong and it's not all cars, maybe just some. Anyway that is the case for many, many users.

 

Yes, but AFAIK it's the case for most Octavia's MK4.

This isn't the case, atleast in the UK anyway 

 

Yes there are some models that aren't type approved for towing anything, however most are fine regardless of tow bar prep being installed/not installed 

[East_Yorkshire_Retrofits]

2 hours ago, avi4tor said:

The radiator and fan were never mentioned when I had my second hand 2011 mkII 1.8 fitted with a tow bar.  And I always used the owner's manual to determine the towing limits.

I don't think you can really compare the MK4 Octavia to the MK2 

[Felix2021]

2 hours ago, East_Yorkshire_Retrofits said:

This isn't the case, atleast in the UK anyway

Well, UK is not in EU anymore, so...

And in reality, at least in Poland i've seen number of such cars.

It seems that each car has now own homologation certificate, and for ones without towbar or towbar prep all towing related fields are empty.

Depending on the country it might mean, that to install towbard you need long and winding procedure to make it legal.

In the past all cars had those fields filled in by default, so one could install towbar to almost all cars.

I think manufacturers changed it when WLTP kicked in, as it requires separate certificates for individual cars, and not one certificate for a model as it was previously.

I might be wrong here, as i have never studied those legal topics deeply enough, but at least this is my understanding.

Anyway good for you, that you have no such problem

I know that for many people in Poland it's a major pain.

[Stonekeeper]

Some may find this interesting

 

https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-together/discussions/information-technical-tips-advice/towcars-towing/new-skoda-not-approved-to-tow-buyer-beware/

[DavidY]

13 hours ago, PetrolDave said:

... and some owners have reported that cars without towbar preparation have a VIN plate that shows they have weight limits which means they cannot legally tow anything.

 

I believe the Octavia IV (PHEV) are like this and you can't legally tow with one unless the towbar prep was fitted as a factory option.
I always imagined it was to do with the extra weight of the battery in the back requiring suspension changes in order to tow?

[Stonekeeper]

11 minutes ago, DavidY said:

 

I believe the Octavia IV (PHEV) are like this and you can't legally tow with one unless the towbar prep was fitted as a factory option.
I always imagined it was to do with the extra weight of the battery in the back requiring suspension changes in order to tow?

 

Skoda Octavia brochure

 

 

Please note, if a tow bar or tow bar preparation is not fitted on the car, the VIN plate may not show any towing weights and the car will never be eligible for towing.
As such it may not be possible to retrospectively fit a tow bar if the car is not fitted with tow bar preparation at Factory. Please speak to your Retailer to confirm the exact towing eligibility.
Only available from stock. Please check availability with your local Škoda retailer.

Edited 20 February by Stonekeeper

[Felix2021]

Well, so it seems in UK you have same issue after all...

Document i'm refering to is called Certificate of Conformity (in Poland we use different name, so needed to check).

Each car has now individual CoC. For most cars without factory fitted towbar or prep al fields related to towing are empty.

As said, it was not the case in the past. Before WLTP CoC was issued differently and usually all towing data was there for all cars, depending on their engine.

Many people don't know that and don't bother to check, so they are surpised when trying to install towbar, if they haven't ordered towbar prep...

[Winston_Woof]

The CoC should be in the glovebox for all new cars.

If buying a pre loved vehicle and it's not available then you can request one from the manufacturer or an accredited registrar (NB a charge may be made for this)

https://www.webuyanycar.com/guides/car-ownership/certificate-of-conformity/

NB as far as I can tell "tow bar prep" is separate to a CoC and is the additional wiring and/or cooling sytem upgrades required id you intend to tow. Reading between the lines thi sis something any competent auto electrician/mechanic should be able to do.


https://www.rainworthskoda.co.uk/towing-with-your-skoda/

Edited 21 February by Winston_Woof

[Felix2021]

30 minutes ago, Winston_Woof said:

NB as far as I can tell "tow bar prep" is separate to a CoC and is the additional wiring and/or cooling sytem upgrades required id you intend to tow. Reading between the lines thi sis something any competent auto electrician/mechanic should be able to do.

That is correct, it is separate... to some extent.

As said - AFAIK most (if not all) cars without towbar prep have all towing related fields in CoC empty. It might differ from country to country, but in Poland at least it means, that you cannot legally fir a towbar in easy way.

Probably "smart" way for manufacturers to sell you towbar prep. Thinking about towbar? You have to pay us for "prep", otherwise we will make your life harder...

Prep and CoC are not legally related, but manufacturers (or at least VAG) made it related in their own way. Nothing prevents them from putting towing info to CoC for all cars, but they decided not to do it, easy as that.

Edited 21 February by Felix2021

[Stonekeeper]

31 minutes ago, Felix2021 said:

That is correct, it is separate... to some extent.

As said - AFAIK most (if not all) cars without towbar prep have all towing related fields in CoC empty. It might differ from country to country, but in Poland at least it means, that you cannot legally fir a towbar in easy way.

Probably "smart" way for manufacturers to sell you towbar prep. Thinking about towbar? You have to pay us for "prep", otherwise we will make your life harder...

Prep and CoC are not legally related, but manufacturers (or at least VAG) made it related in their own way. Nothing prevents them from putting towing info to CoC for all cars, but they decided not to do it, easy as that.

 

It's a manufacturer cost saving.  E.g if you make 100,000 cars and the vehicle needs a better cooling system to tow and it costs an extra £50 to produce. Make the 10,000 who want a towbar ask and pay for it and save £4,500,000 in production costs? (example figures not costed  but you will get the idea)

 

Not all cars will need it but the manufacturer covers their back for future complaints about overheating if it was.

 

I think it has come about because of the relatively small engines people are thinking they can tow with, In the 1980s i wouldn't have dreamt of towing a caravan with anything less than  1600cc  car now we are towing with 1000cc tuned to the death engines in a big car.

Edited 21 February by Stonekeeper

[Felix2021]

That doesn't explain why in some versions there are no changes to cooling system, yet still cars without prep are missing towing info in CoC, and cannot legally tow.

But it might be mix of those things.

Anyway this IS the case with towing, so be aware and check when buying a car (new or used), as you might be surprised...

 

10 minutes ago, Stonekeeper said:

In the 1980s i wouldn't have dreamt of towing a caravan with anything less than  1600cc  car now we are towing with 1000cc tuned to the death engines in a big car.

I really don't understand why people are still afraid of small engines.

Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Lancer or even Golf with 2.0 300bhps engine is good, because this engine is "big".

115bhp 1.0 Octavia is bad, cause it has small engine.

First ones have 150bhp from 1 litre, second one 115bhp...

It's only matter of materials used for manufacturing those engines and how percisely they are made. Those are making a difference when it comes to durability. And funnily enough there are plenty of those 1.0 engines used in company fleets, with huge mileage on the clock. So are they unreliable? No...

When it comes to towing it's torque that makes a difference. This 1.0 has more torque than old, naturally aspirated 1.6 had. (Soft) Turbo makes a diffrence here. Not mention torque curve, wich makes 1.0 more pleasent for daily driving, as there is no need for revving it so much.

[Stonekeeper]

1 minute ago, Felix2021 said:

That doesn't explain why in some versions there are no changes to cooling system, yet still cars without prep are missing towing info in CoC, and cannot legally tow.

But it might be mix of those things.

Anyway this IS the case with towing, so be aware and check when buying a car (new or used), as you might be surprised...

 

I really don't understand why people are still afraid of small engines.

Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Lancer or even Golf with 2.0 300bhps engine is good, because this engine is "big".

115bhp 1.0 Octavia is bad, cause it has small engine.

First ones have 150bhp from 1 litre, second one 115bhp...

It's only matter of materials used for manufacturing those engines and how percisely they are made. Those are making a difference when it comes to durability. And funnily enough there are plenty of those 1.0 engines used in company fleets, with huge mileage on the clock. So are they unreliable? No...

When it comes to towing it's torque that makes a difference. This 1.0 has more torque than old, naturally aspirated 1.6 had. (Soft) Turbo makes a diffrence here. Not mention torque curve, wich makes 1.0 more pleasent for daily driving, as there is no need for revving it so much.

 

But you still need to keep the heat down.

 

Remember manufacturers have been devoting a lot of r&d into reducing emissions so smaller radiators etc means less weight reducing CO2

[Winston_Woof]

surely though *if* the vehicle has a towing weight stated on the VIN plate *and* the towbar itself has it's own CoC stating which vehicle it is intended for then it's legal to tow?

Wiring harnesses & additional cooling(if required ) are effectively supplemental 

Edited 21 February by Winston_Woof