Roofboxes (and bars) - what have you got?

[kmpowell]

Some of you may have seen I currently have the B8 for sale. Another baby is on the way and I'm in need of space to accommodate being 'fully loaded' (2 children, dog, buggy, bags etc). A jump to an RS6 won't give me that much more space, and as much as I like the new Q7 I had for an extended test drive, I'm finding it very hard to mentally let go of the B8.

The only possible option that might allow me to keep the B8 is a Roofbox, but I'm not the type of person to do compromises, so it has to be perfect for our needs. Headline requirements...

- It will be fixed to the car 24/7 so it can't be too tall and restricts me from getting into multistory car parks
- It (and the bars) must be completely silent at high speeds. The car spends 2-3hr journeys visiting our respective parents
- Lockable
- Very low drag, so MPG doesn't suffer
- The buggy and dog will be in the boot, so the box will be used to carry light bags and baby paraphernalia.

The Thule wingbars (in black to match the black styling pack) and the Thule motion black boxes look good, but I read stories about wind noise from the bars? So what have you got, what size is it, how do you find it, and what would you recommend?

Thanks in advance, your replies might just stop me selling & regretting.

[Silverfox42]

Couple of tie raps and you are away...
Not sure what this would do for wind noise or MPG though.

[Silverfox42]

More seriously, the Thule Dynamic range is pretty decent. I had one on our family X5 a while ago and even with the sunroof open found it pretty quiet upto 60MPH and did not effect MPG in any noticeable way.

Dan

[kmpowell]

More seriously, the Thule Dynamic range is pretty decent. I had one on our family X5 a while ago and even with the sunroof open found it pretty quiet upto 60MPH and did not effect MPG in any noticeable way.

Dan

Thanks. The dynamic does indeed look the part. Versus the motion it is smaller in capacity, but I'm assuming [after reading the blurb] it's much much quieter. Which I'd rather have.

Size wise for the B8, what have people here gone for, M or L boxes?

[RIV]

What about a colour coded roof?
Not much help with what box I'm afraid, would save you a lot of money keeping the 4 though

[kmpowell]

What about a colour coded Roofbox?

Already on it. I've got a reasonable quote back to have a Thule box 'wrapped' in Misano red. And fractionally less if I just want the top or bottom let wrapped.

Having said that, the boxes now come in gloss black, so with the black bars it might all work well with the black styling pack, without the need to wrap.

[BMW2RS4]

I have just fitted the thule wing bar edge in black with a black Inno Shadow 16 roofbox. It's fitted on the RS4 most of the time and is fairly discreet; top is approximately 400mm above roofline and overall height is about 5ft 11" so no problem entering car parks etc. Was doing "decent" motorway speeds this morning and very little extra noise at all. Fuel consumption suffers by approximately 2mpg. Too dark to take a photo now but these Audi A4 Allroaders, using same box, were my inspiration:

http://www.campallroad.org/

http://nickscarblog.com/featured-rides/ ... mo-allroad

Saw a "packline" box the other day which also looks pretty cool.

Hope this helps.

[sasha320]

viewtopic.php?f=61&t=117512

[kmpowell]

viewtopic.php?f=61&t=117512

Probably more useful if you also let me know what you have, rather than post a link to just a picture of it...

[kmpowell]

I have just fitted the thule wing bar edge in black with a black Inno Shadow 16 roofbox. It's fitted on the RS4 most of the time and is fairly discreet; top is approximately 400mm above roofline and overall height is about 5ft 11" so no problem entering car parks etc. Was doing "decent" motorway speeds this morning and very little extra noise at all. Fuel consumption suffers by approximately 2mpg. Too dark to take a photo now but these Audi A4 Allroaders, using same box, were my inspiration:

http://www.campallroad.org/

http://nickscarblog.com/featured-rides/ ... mo-allroad

Saw a "packline" box the other day which also looks pretty cool.

Hope this helps.

That Inno looks good. Similar to the Thule. How does it attach/lock to the roofbars? The apparent ease of thieving a Thule is slightly disconcerting.

[BMW2RS4]

I have just fitted the thule wing bar edge in black with a black Inno Shadow 16 roofbox. It's fitted on the RS4 most of the time and is fairly discreet; top is approximately 400mm above roofline and overall height is about 5ft 11" so no problem entering car parks etc. Was doing "decent" motorway speeds this morning and very little extra noise at all. Fuel consumption suffers by approximately 2mpg. Too dark to take a photo now but these Audi A4 Allroaders, using same box, were my inspiration:

http://www.campallroad.org/

http://nickscarblog.com/featured-rides/ ... mo-allroad

Saw a "packline" box the other day which also looks pretty cool.

Hope this helps.

That Inno looks good. Similar to the Thule. How does it attach/lock to the roofbars? The apparent ease of thieving a Thule is slightly disconcerting.

I'll post some photos up for you tomorrow; that'll explain the attachment easier. Once the attachment is complete, the box locks (using three locking points) and there is therefore no access to attachment points. I suppose that it's as secure as you can get with a plastic box.

BTW if you fancy spending £3000; Jon Olsson's RS6 carbon roof box looks the business

http://thesupercarkids.com/jon-olsson-r ... i-rs6-dtm/

[Rs4spark]

Had a Thule Spirit in Anthracite now for a few years no problems at all from it on what ever car its been on, done 2k this year on the B8 with no issues or sound issues at all,
Great looking too not like some boxes !!

[sasha320]

viewtopic.php?f=61&t=117512

Probably more useful if you also let me know what you have, rather than post a link to just a picture of it...

Wasn't out to impress or deliver, just shared a relevant pic and some words, if not useful no worries. Good luck.

[Graeme4130]

Some of you may have seen I currently have the B8 for sale. Another baby is on the way and I'm in need of space to accommodate being 'fully loaded' (2 children, dog, buggy, bags etc). A jump to an RS6 won't give me that much more space, and as much as I like the new Q7 I had for an extended test drive, I'm finding it very hard to mentally let go of the B8.

The only possible option that might allow me to keep the B8 is a Roofbox, but I'm not the type of person to do compromises, so it has to be perfect for our needs. Headline requirements...

- It will be fixed to the car 24/7 so it can't be too tall and restricts me from getting into multistory car parks
- It (and the bars) must be completely silent at high speeds. The car spends 2-3hr journeys visiting our respective parents
- Lockable
- Very low drag, so MPG doesn't suffer
- The buggy and dog will be in the boot, so the box will be used to carry light bags and baby paraphernalia.

The Thule wingbars (in black to match the black styling pack) and the Thule motion black boxes look good, but I read stories about wind noise from the bars? So what have you got, what size is it, how do you find it, and what would you recommend?

Thanks in advance, your replies might just stop me selling & regretting.

An RS6 boot and the rear space are huge in comparison to an RS4
As cool as some roof boxes are, they're a pain in the arse to keep loading and then worrying if you've done it up correctly. Plus, this time of year, anything in it freezes
I use Thule wing bars for my bike rack, and the bars are pretty much silent

[RossDagley]

I ran Whipsbar's on the B7. Were epic. Literally no noise at all. I can't comment on a box as I didn't run one, but these bars are worth a shot.

http://www.whispbar.co.uk/products/11/rail-bar