Factory Towbars?

[RaceBlueRS]

Hi new member here.

I've had the RS wagon since February and asked at the time of purchase about a tow bar and was told "not yet".

Even an accessory one might do.

Thanks for your help

[Dave R32]

I have just received a price from my dealer for a factory prep kit and bar for my sedan / hatch.....approx $1800

Cheers
Dave.

[gregozedobe]

One thing to watch out for is the maximum tow ball weight (aka nose weight). Vag cars are well known for having small allowable weights, which don't work well with the usual Oz trailer manufacturer/designer preference for 10% tow ball weight.

[brad]

I have just received a price from my dealer for a factory prep kit and bar for my sedan / hatch.....approx $1800

Cheers
Dave.

You might be better of sourcing one from the UK maybe. Though I understand the wiring kit is worth a kidney & the fitment is very involved.

[Dave R32]

You might be better of sourcing one from the UK maybe. Though I understand the wiring kit is worth a kidney & the fitment is very involved.

I was only asking about one so I could fit a bike carrier......I am now researching roof racks and carriers. Genuine is very expensive and they dont have any so I will have to look OS.

Cheers
Dave.

[brad]

I was only asking about one so I could fit a bike carrier......I am now researching roof racks and carriers. Genuine is very expensive and they dont have any so I will have to look OS.

Cheers
Dave.

You'd think Skoda would have elleventy billion methods of carrying bikes

[Dave R32]

You'd think Skoda would have elleventy billion methods of carrying bikes

Yeah you would think so, wouldnt you.

They do sell some very nice bikes over in Europe.

The accessory situation is like VW 7 years ago, you couldnt get anything here and now they have a decent selection, hopefully Skoda will get a move on.

Cheers
Dave.

[Stoney!]

RE: Towball weight.

The octavia is a pathetic 75kg, so even though it can tow something like 1.5 tonne, I still can't even tow a 950kg camper trailer with it, that is absolutely pointless.

I'm assuming the 75kg is based on the design of the car and not the trailer hitch? So there is really nothing I can do about it is there?

Stoney!

[Golf Loon]

Roofracks are probably the GO for Bikes.

The Audi A4 has the same roofbar setup and I bought Thule bars and you can mount Thule bike carriers to that.

Only think to be careful of is that the distance between the rails is different front and back. The Audi is 900 at the back and 1000 at the front. I bought 1m wide roof bars and trimmed one down.

[Golf Houso]

RE: Towball weight.

The octavia is a pathetic 75kg, so even though it can tow something like 1.5 tonne, I still can't even tow a 950kg camper trailer with it, that is absolutely pointless.

I'm assuming the 75kg is based on the design of the car and not the trailer hitch? So there is really nothing I can do about it is there?

Stoney!

For interests' sake, my MK3 VR6 has the same 75kg weight and thats a hayman reese bar.

[RaceBlueRS]

Got an answer from the dealer, $1100 plus fitting. There are 2 wiring looms, 1 presumably is to disable parking sensors. Don't think I'll bother after reading answers about ball weights as I was going to tow motorbikes not treadlies. I'll use our other car.

[brad]

Why all the drama about ball weights?

It's been a few years since I had boats & caravans but I'm sure I used to set them up with about 50kg ball weight.

It's FWD so you don't want to go too heavy.

[gregozedobe]

I think most Oz trailer and caravan manufacturers like to work on about 10% ball weight. So that means if you have a maximum ball weight of 75Kg, then your maximum trailer mass is 750Kg.

IIRC having less than 10% ball weight can lead to instability when towing. That is one of the reasons load levelling hitches are popular with people who tow heavy stuff (to stop the rear of the car from sitting too low, and keep some weight on the front wheels - useful for all cars, not just fwd ones).

[wfdTamar]

Found this how to (not simple)

http://www.octavia-vrs.com/technical/estate_towbar.htm

[IBN]

Got a Best Bars hitch on the Scout. It doesn't look too bad. The Best Bars solution for a Mk5 Golf looks appalling.
Shame we don't have access to the Euro bars. Some look quite clever and unobtrusive. That's ADRs for you.
Ivars