New Passat tow bar fitting and VW wiring

[peter_374235415]

Hi, I'm about to pick up a 6 month old Passat 2 litre (170) Diesel sport saloon. Its a lovely car to drive solo and if its anything like my old passat will tow quite well aswell. My problem is I've been quoted £595 to fit a bosal detachable towbar. Reason I've been told is that it has to have special VW wiring for trailer stability. Can anyone give advice on this please, what is it and is it needed. Also part of the price is a new lower valence with a hole already cut and a removeable cap. Can a cut be made and the square cap bought separately, seems excessive to have to buy part of a new bumper. Any help or experience, quotes etc of having one of these fitting would be helpful. Also any comments on how the car handles pulling a Swift Charisma (max weight 1350). Many Thanks Pete

 

[antrimboy]

If this link works, you should find it interesting reading (you might have to copy & paste).

http://www.caravantalk.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=13192&hl=passat towbar

 

[Angus1]

I suppose you could call

 

[peter_374235415]

Thank you both for your replies. The link you have provided Eddie is quite informative. It appears from this and from a bit more searching that you can buy cheaper but you are not probably going to get the electronics to go with the tow bar and thus perhaps leave yourself vunerable to adverse effects without the Trailer Stability Programme (TSP). It is a mine field and I want a tow bar fitted that fully complies with the handling and electronics of the car hence the price! (I suppose)

Thanks Angus for your reply. I want a detachable tow bar as the car I have bought has the VW body kit on it and I want the car to keep its clean lines. It looks quite smart - that's why I bought it! It is an ex-demo with 9000 miles and has had two new front tyres fitted.

I had the B5 130 Passat 4motion before and that was an excellent tow car. Just hope I don't regret selling it.

Has anyone had experience of this trailer stability programe or has it helped in difficult snaking situations. I've not seen many comments on this forum with regards to this and as more and more new cars have canbus or multiplex wiring systems surely its going to make the fitting of towbars more exclusive and costly.

My main concerns at the moment are the cutting of the bumper and finding a cover to cover the hole. Apparently Brink do one with their detachable tow bar - has anyone had one of these fitted? If so I would love to see a picture of the finished bumper.

The towbar fitters I've been to see so far don't know much about this and have not fitted one on a Passat yet!!

 

[Forbes1]

I may be wrong but I think you will find that TSP can only be fitted to a car that has a factory fitted towbar, i.e. its built with it. I think you are thinking of ESP which all VW's are fitted with. I've got a 6 month old Touran that I've had fitted with an aftermarket towbar (Brink) and twin electrics. This was done by my local Indespension branch for

 

[peter_374235415]

Hi there, just thought I'd update the thread as I've found out some more info which may help others. Here's a clip from a web page I've found:-

"To make the running gear technology complete, the Passat has ESP and all vehicles with a tow bar are equipped with trailer stabilisation. In addition to the usual ESP functions, this system detects imminent trailer snaking and takes action via the brakes and the engine to prevent it."

If you have a tow bar fitted post delivery then you need to buy a car specific electronic box of tricks to enable the TSP activation.

Also I have e-mailed Brink and they include in their kit a plastic cap to fit over the hole that has been cut in the bumper which cannot really be seen as it is in the lower black part of the bumper.

As I've said earlier, there's not been much posted on this site about TSP, and if the safety aspects are as good then this surely should be a consideration when fiting a tow bar. They are available for the Astra aswell I believe.

 

[Andrew_5063094]

Peter,

Just picked up a 140PS Sport Estate and need to fit a towbar. Could you tell me what you did in the end - which make and was it professionally done? What about the TSP - did you get that enabled via the ECU?

Andrew.

 

[peter_374235415]

Hi Andrew, picked up my car today after having my VW dealer fit the dedicated Westfalia detachable towbar. Very pleased and its well worth the money for peace of mind. Its so compact and everything hides away when not in use. I still haven't totally worked out the TSP situation but have been told that my car has been set up with it now. I'm going to speak to the technician tomorrow to find out exactly whats what. The bulk of the final payment was due to the dedicated wiring involved which was genuine VW and of course will not invalidate the cars warrenty which was my main reason for staying with VW. (Towsure sell dedicated wiring kits but the prices aren't listed)I'm aware that other towbar fitters will provide a warrenty but should anything fail I only need go back to one place! Another part of the price was to have a new rear valence which incorporates a flap which cannot be seen when the towbar is detached, this was about

 

[peter_374235415]

Hi Andrew, picked up my car today after having my VW dealer fit the dedicated Westfalia detachable towbar. Very pleased and its well worth the money for peace of mind. Its so compact and everything hides away when not in use. I still haven't totally worked out the TSP situation but have been told that my car has been set up with it now. I'm going to speak to the technician tomorrow to find out exactly whats what. The bulk of the final payment was due to the dedicated wiring involved which was genuine VW and of course will not invalidate the cars warrenty which was my main reason for staying with VW. (Towsure sell dedicated wiring kits but the prices aren't listed)I'm aware that other towbar fitters will provide a warrenty but should anything fail I only need go back to one place! Another part of the price was to have a new rear valence which incorporates a flap which cannot be seen when the towbar is detached, this was about

 

[peter_374235415]

Some photos and other info on the Passat Tow bar if anyone is interested.

click on the following link

Thanks

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=53216#post53216