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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2018 15:29:07 GMT
Any suggestions for Mrs 12th's A3 Sportback?
It's to distribute the load a bit more evenly when we take them on holiday - two adults, two big dogs and two weeks' gear is a fair amount and the car always has a slight dip at the rear when that heavily-loaded. Never feels very mechanically sympathetic... |
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 26, 2018 15:41:13 GMT
I've used the Roof Box Company for bars and cycle carriers and they seem very competitive and good at offering you different options. www.roofbox.co.uk/You'll never get the dogs in a roof box though. |
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Post by Martin on Nov 26, 2018 15:57:54 GMT
Even though it’s just for 2 weeks I’d rather buy a bigger car or even rent one than strap a shed to the roof....but appreciate it’s an ‘irrational hatred’ and I’m in the minority. Being more helpful.....here’s a review of reasonably priced roof boxes to get you started. Review
Interesting because I’d probably just default to Thule but it’s marked down on quality. |
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 26, 2018 16:45:34 GMT
I love the idea of buying a bigger car for a 2 week holiday. Not sure I'd get that one past the missus!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2018 16:45:54 GMT
I've used the Roof Box Company for bars and cycle carriers and they seem very competitive and good at offering you different options. www.roofbox.co.uk/You'll never get the dogs in a roof box though. Kids might fit though... |
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Post by Tim on Nov 26, 2018 16:59:36 GMT
I haven't any experience of roof boxes but I got roof bars and bike carriers for the 320 direct from BMW, they were as cheap as anywhere else and I felt had the added benefit of being properly manufacturer approved so if the bikes unexpectedly ended up in a field I'd be confident it was their fault  |
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Post by LandieMark on Nov 26, 2018 22:37:20 GMT
I’ve had a Thule in the past. It could be opened from either side as the hinge was universal and it had quick release clamps which made it a two minute job to put on and take off. It was quiet on the car too. I would recommend aero bars.
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Post by Roadsterstu on Nov 27, 2018 9:17:30 GMT
I use Thule aero bars with a T Track fitting. That makes sliding the Thule bike carriers and roof box on a much easier job. The roof box is a Kamei Husky. 470 litres, I think it is. Nice quality, not noisy when driving and decent gas struts to hold the lid open. I can manage to get it on and off the car on my own. I bought it used and the previoys owner had it from a VW dealer when he bought his car. We've used it on both V60 and Captur. It's proved itself to be very useful.
I need to find a Thule footpack for the VRS and check the same bars will fit.
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Post by Roadsterstu on Nov 27, 2018 9:19:06 GMT
Just to add, Halfords' own brand roof bars are, I think, made by Thule so if the prices are OK don't rule them out for the bars. They do look very expensive for roof boxes though.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 27, 2018 9:29:24 GMT
I got the Atera aero profile bars for the Qashqai - they're German and they make the OEM bars for BMW, Audi and MB. Well made, they were a doddle to fit, and very quiet. I thought the price was reasonable too.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2018 10:57:00 GMT
Thanks, all. Won't be buying until the New Year, so have time to contemplate!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2019 15:55:20 GMT
Won't be buying until well into the New Year, it seems. Got an Exodus 470, one of the ones in Martin's link (although AE's website seems about as crap as the magazine...). It felt very similar in construction to the Thule products on sale alongside it, but at a much more palatable price. Should have been £300, plus £25 for fitting and £85 for the bars, which do seem the same as the Thule ones. Sold as a bundle, so cost just over £320 all in - opens both sides, a doddle to adjust and remove, and definitely allows a more sympathetic holiday weight distribution (which was lost on the fitters, who seemed to want it positioned centrally over the roof, not centrally between axles.
Moved a little further forward since photographing!
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Post by LandieMark on Jun 26, 2019 19:29:42 GMT
£25 to fit it?!
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Post by Martin on Jun 26, 2019 20:31:47 GMT
It’s sitting at a strange angle, is that because you’ve moved it forward to get the load in the middle?
Is that really something stuck on top of the dashboard.....?
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Post by Roadrunner on Jun 26, 2019 20:37:47 GMT
Wallace & Gromit?
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Post by ChrisM on Jun 26, 2019 21:02:45 GMT
Just don't forget that the box is there when entering multi-storey car parks and other height-restricted places.......
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2019 6:01:43 GMT
Measured the garage before fitting - just over 2m clearance and we're under by just over 10cm. Must remember about car parks etc.
Mrs 12th has Wallace and Sean the Sheep.
Without the bundle I wouldn't have paid for fitting, but it saved nearly £100 so why not? It seemed to take them a long time to make the bars up from constituent parts - I think fitting and removing them should be a five minute job when you've got your eye in. Speaking of eyes...
Martin, it wasn't quite true at that stage, though not by much - I think the lack of contrast because box and bars are black makes it look askew. It was a couple of cm off either side at that stage, but it's also about 2cm narrower where it meets the front bar. Now all perfectly square - there is a tape measure with the fitting gear!
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jun 27, 2019 8:52:23 GMT
Fitting roof bars can be a bit of a chew on; not difficult, just a pain. I'd have probably paid £25 to have someone fit them. Once they're made up it's easy enough just to loosen them and remove.
I think as long as you're 1.9m or under you won't have problems in any car park - that said, a postnote reminder on the sunvisor can't do any harm.
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Post by Tim on Jun 27, 2019 9:12:13 GMT
I've got roof bars for the 3 series for a bike rack but I leave the whole lot intact and just loosen the bars from the roof to remove everything in one piece. The bike rack mounts slide into the bars and then the channels are sealed with a rubber strip so if you wanted to take the bike rack off it'd be a massive faff.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2019 8:32:40 GMT
By way of summary, it worked well and made the holiday easier. The car was still reasonably full, but not unreasonably so and it was nice to have complete visibility through the rear window. It did whistle a tiny bit at 30-40, but this went away at higher speeds and seemed to me to be a result of cross- rather than headwind. I don't drive Mrs 12th's car on the door handles, but it didn't seem to affect gentler driving too much, and neither did it affect fuel consumption too much - still mid thirties overall.
470l sounds a lot, but it doesn't look it when the box is fitted and empty. It's only when you load it you realise just how much stuff it will accommodate.
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