Seeking Roof Rack Advice

[sixoclub]

Hey guys, I am considering trying out a roof rack for some winter snow trips with my family of four. I would like to here some opinion on if you feel the roof racks create enough space to use the S4 for week trips or if I'm better off sticking with our less fun and non 4x4 SUV.

Second, is $350 for a pre-owned Thule Aeroblade and Rapid Traverse footpack a good deal?

[jokingjimmy]

I've only transported Christmas trees, surfboards and a kayak on my Whispbars and they worked great. I paid about that for my Whispbars and foot pads. I've heard better reviews about Whispbars, but the Thule stuff is still good. If you can get away with it, I'd assume more fun + AWD would be better?

[Neosapian]

I run black 48" Thule Aero blade & "480 Rapid Traverse" foot setup with an Inno cargo box on my A6 for snowboarding & skiing. I will transfer it to the Volkswagen for camping, bikes & kayaks when it warms up. Quattro for winter and TDI for fuel economy on road trips. In your case you may want to transfer racks to your SUV & make room for a dog in the hatch. Boxes can be more versatile than dedicated gear mounts and protect against winter road salt & mud.

A mid-sized roof box alone will hold snow gear + luggage for 4-6 people, reserving the entire trunk for coolers, BBQ or generally dry & clean storage. With 48" load bars you can run a narrow (~24" wide) cargo box plus: 2 bikes or 1 kayak. 4 bikes without a box, snow gear for 6 people, umm a basket or large box for over a week of camping gear & provisions for 4 or 5 people... You get the idea. 53" bars + trunk mounted bikes would be even more handy for a large family.

Racks are well worth the money and will really allow you to enjoy the fun & fuel economy of your car while adding an immense amount of practical storage capacity and organization.

The Thule setup was very simple to install, build quality is spot on, and the low profile fitment on our cars looks OEM+. Yakima products are equally well built with similar functionality & warranty.

$350 is a fair price, especially if that includes locks. Do it!!

[Tweakophyte]

Has anyone installed the new Yakima Baseline and Jetstream system? I really like the look of the whispbars I have, but I feel like they are butchering the paint on my roof and the rubber door seals.

I like that the whispbars are a much lower profile than the Thule aerobars setup, which I think stand way too tall. I wonder if the baseline system is just as tall.

[firstars]

Has anyone installed the new Yakima Baseline and Jetstream system? I really like the look of the whispbars I have, but I feel like they are butchering the paint on my roof and the rubber door seals.

I like that the whispbars are a much lower profile than the Thule aerobars setup, which I think stand way too tall. I wonder if the baseline system is just as tall.

Just have to use strips of 3M before putting feet on roof then theres no issue. If you don't, the feet will mar the paint. I have a whole whispbar setup for sale in classified if you're interested. Will bolt right on.