Towbar Experience DS MY17
	
	
		I am new to this site, and new to LR. Just took delivery of MY17 HSE Lux (5 seat). Love many things about it, disappointed with others. But one of the first things I needed was a TowBar. (Didn't buy it OEM fit to avoid LCT).
Went for a genuine LR, locally fitted. All up $2260. Bit steep, but didn't see this site till it was too late, and was unaware that HR was an option. And even then, I probably would have still gone genuine.
Very neat installation, quite hidden. The receiver is 50mm. The tongue sits out well clear of the bumper. The load rating is 2200kg, 150kg down.  (On FL2 thread, there is some discussion, and suggestions that HR rating (for FL, at least) is somewhat less.) There is a really fancy key-lockable thingummy to retain the tongue in the receiver - that's probably the $700 difference compared with HR:-).
Electrics are a standard 12-pin flat, which swings up behind the bumper when not in use. Neat! I had to make up a 12-pin to 7 pin large, but this was no big deal (not a standard SuperCheap part). 
But then the fun starts. My trailer has LED lights, of course, and I supposed that, like my previous car (MY13 Audi), it would just work.  No such luck.
There is a long (30+ pages) thread about this on the FL2, but I found that my car behaved somewhat differently (and unlike many assertions on that thread,  (at least some) Audis do not have an issue with LED lights).
What I found is:
1. Each indicator lead needs a minimum of 9 ohms to activate that trailer icon on the dash. But this alone does NOT get the car to recognise that a trailer has been fitted - it simply enables the icon to flash.
2. The car requires a minimum of 11 ohms across the brake light for it to recognise that a trailer is fitted, and to then disable rear sensors, activate Tow Assist and who knows whatever other trailer-related functionality. This sensing appears to occur OK even if the indicators are disabled. 
This is quite different from what the FL2 folk appear to have found. Looks like LR are continually playing with the logic across models.
I wired a couple of load resistors into my trailer on the weekend, and it all seems to work like an Audi now.
roman