Tow Bar

[rs6red]

I know that Audi didn't offer one (cooling etc.) but has anyone successfully fitted a tow bar to a B7 RS4? This will only be for towing a lightweight caterham race car on occasion.
Steve

[PetrolDave]

I know that Audi didn't offer one (cooling etc.) but has anyone successfully fitted a tow bar to a B7 RS4? This will only be for towing a lightweight caterham race car on occasion.
Steve

Saloon, cab or Avant?

I've seen several posts over the years where people fitted the standard A4/S4 tow bar to an Avant.

[RS4pete]

Have a look here ....

http://forum.rs246.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... ar#p497326

[pDkALO]

Same here. Thule detachable bar for the quattro B7 works a treat

As with Grim's previous post, I did it primarily for carrying bikes

Grim very helpfully did a pdf guide and emailed it to me - happy to share

btw, take the rumour about cooling with a pinch of salt - even the Audi techs don't believe it. The reason for there never being an official bar is almost certainly down to Audi not bothering to go to the expense of type approval and fabricating trims etc for such a low volume car

[chunky79]

How would you get on insurance wise if you had a bump whilst this was on if the car isn't designed for it?

[adsgreen]

How would you get on insurance wise if you had a bump whilst this was on if the car isn't designed for it?

Badly

[pDkALO]

Insurance wise agreed, it's a good point to be careful

But the things is, the car is designed for a tow bar, because mechanically all the fixing points are identical, and there are absolutely no modifications required to fit it - it goes on in exactly the same way as if it was going onto any other B7. I told my insurance company that it has a tow bar, and they didn't ask anything more, so if anything happened then they can't complain

[chunky79]

Is it on your insurance documents?

[pDkALO]

Is it on your insurance documents?

Yes

It's exactly the same situation situation as with any other modification - just because Audi don't approve CAFs, remaps, coilovers, non OE alloys and zorsts etc etc doesn't mean owners don't fit them, but they do need to make sure they're insured on the basis of what's on the car, otherwise the insurers could very well stick 2 fingers up at a claim...

[rs6red]

Hi

I should have mentioned that its a saloon. Does anyone have any experience of fitting one on a saloon? Looks like there are a few options.

Steve

[pDkALO]

Steve, I think it's exactly the same deal - go for one for a B7 Quattro saloon

[adsgreen]

Is it on your insurance documents?

Yes

It's exactly the same situation situation as with any other modification - just because Audi don't approve CAFs, remaps, coilovers, non OE alloys and zorsts etc etc doesn't mean owners don't fit them, but they do need to make sure they're insured on the basis of what's on the car, otherwise the insurers could very well stick 2 fingers up at a claim...

Thing is though - fitting a tow bar is fine.
Actually using it might cause a problem given that the owners manual make very clear reference that the car is not approved for towing.

[chunky79]

This is why I asked if it was in the documents, should cover his ring if the sh1t hits the fan.

[adsgreen]

This is why I asked if it was in the documents, should cover his ring if the sh1t hits the fan.

My point was that if he has an accident and the tow bar is on the car then he'll be covered.
However it's agrey area and certainly room for wiggle by the insurers if he has an accident whilst towing a trailer.
If they ask the question:
"Was you towing a trailer?" - "yes"
"Was the trailer weight over the manufacturers rated maximum towing capacity of the car?" - "errr....."

[pDkALO]

This is why I asked if it was in the documents, should cover his ring if the sh1t hits the fan.

My point was that if he has an accident and the tow bar is on the car then he'll be covered.
However it's agrey area and certainly room for wiggle by the insurers if he has an accident whilst towing a trailer.
If they ask the question:
"Was you towing a trailer?" - "yes"
"Was the trailer weight over the manufacturers rated maximum towing capacity of the car?" - "errr....."

I may be wrong, but I don't believe that the manual states that the car isn't suitable for towing, it simply makes no mention of it?

But by the same token, it does state that fitting of any non Audi modifications could void the type approval....

So I guess that as with anything to do with insurance, we just need to be careful. We tell the insurers everything about the car, they offer us insurance, we pay the money and there's a contract of insurance in place, so they can't wriggle out of it later provided we haven't changed anything. IIRC when applying for insurance there's a question about whether you'll use the car for towing - say yes to that up front and again, the insurer can't wriggle later. Sure, if it's a specialist broker or similar, they may know that towing was never type approved for the car and ask questions - in which case you'd just have to see what they come back with