Towing with a MK7

[markwade]

Hi all,
My current drive is a MK5 tdi170, a fantastic car with great performance. Its early days but I'm thinking of the MK7 gti for my next VW as I've had it with diesels. The thing is my cars need to be like swiss army knives, plenty of go, plenty of show, and plenty of practicality. We even tow a small caravan with our MK5. I know that I could fit a westfalia detachable towbar on the MK7 with a replacement lower diffuser, what do you think the gti would tow like with the dsg gearbox? I'm thinking it would be OK but thought I would ask if anyone out there has first hand experience, any info will be gratefully received.

Mark.

[fredgroves]

What I do know... from my local towbar experts.... order the towbar with the car because retro-fitting one is a complete bastard... both from a computer coding point of view AND recalibrating the ACC radar...

Don't skimp, spend the money up front!

[markwade]

thanks fred, I asked the question last time I was at the dealers, I didn't see the towbar on the list of accessories. They said that a factory fit wasn't an option and that they would usually use a local independent towbar'specialist' Got to say that I was a bit disappointed by this as I have seen some of the 'specialists' work and could definitely do better myself. I have Vagcom so I think the software side should be OK. On my MK5 it took me about an hour to fit the bar and about 8hours to wire it up! Although maybe I was being a bit of a fanny

[fredgroves]

They (the towbar experts) told me that the official kit plus ONE DAY OF FITTING would cost about 900 quid plus VAT...

[fredgroves]

Seems you can't have factory fit in the UK.... thanks VW.

Interesting thread here:

http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2808

[dubber36]

Westfalia make the factory tow bars. I bought my Passats bar and electrics from PF Jones and then took it to the dealer to have it fitted and coded. They charged me £125 to do the job.

If you look at this link www.pfjones.co.uk/volkswagen-golf-vii-hatchback-2012-on-westfalia-detachable-tow-bar.html then click on "fitting instructions" the GTI is listed.

I went for fully integrated 13pin electrics, which is essentially the same as factory. Coding is just a case of ticking a box in VCDS so that the car knows there is a towbar fitted. When the trailer is plugged in, it automatically puts the car into towing mode. This disables start/stop, alters the esp settings, turns off the rear parking sensors, sounds the cars alarm if the trailer is unplugged when the car is locked, monitors the trailer lights etc... The bar, wiring and fitting cost me somewhere around £500.

As for towing, it ought to behave pretty much like your old Mk5. DSG is really well suited to towing. It's so smooth and effortless. Sometimes it's better in Sports Mode for climbing steep, winding hills.

[markwade]

Thanks for the info guys, I think I will fit a westfalia detachable if/when I buy a MK7, I have the same set up on the MK5  so am pretty familiar with what needs to be done. Looks like the wiring kit that intergrates with the CAN  system is a must on the latest  generation of cars, Im on the old bypass relays on the MK5, it all works very well but I don't have parking sensors etc, as long as its not too much of a pain to fit I'll give it a whirl. 

[mcmaddy]

Someone on here (i think) did a piece for the VW driver magazine on the new gtd they bought and it came with a factory fit tow bar. The dealership had to ask VW UK/Germany to fit it at the factory and they did so it can be done.