I just bought an 06 xA. My wife will be buying a Honda Fit when he returns from overseas. My question concerns our activities, as we are avid outdoors folks. Camping, kayaking, hiking, skiing, etc.

Question?

Is there a removable roof rack system that will work on both vehicles, and handle skis, Kayaks (2), and bikes, and a Yakima or Thule roof pod (Not at the same time of course)?

Thanks
Robert

 

Yakima and Thule both make a rack system for the top of your car, though I'd recommend the Yakima because I personally think it's a better product.

I have a Yakima Q-Towers rack on my xA and love it. Like yourself, I'm an avid outdoors person, and mountain bike a bit.

 

i love the look of the roof rack on the xA- im saving up for the yakima version myself.
btw- rad pics. love your car.

 

Thanks!

I had tried cramming my bike into the back, but it just didn't work. Besides, racks are cool!

 

 

Hey, give my car back!

 

Thanks so much! Car looks great with the racks. Nice Fit

 

 

Here are a few pics of my xA with roof rack in use. Sorry about the large size of first pics. It is my first time including pics.


[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=53&i=img1447nl6.jpg][IMG]http://img53.im

 

And finally, an action shot of the xA in a blizzard in VT. Great snow that weekend.

 

BTW, obviously I have Yakima bars and Towers. Many of my attachments are THule from a previous rack. The yakima's are fine, however I think square bars are better than round.

 

keep in mind, mpg will decrease w/ a roof rack, especially at 40+ mph.

 

It won't decrease too much, but it is noticeable.

I got 33 MPG on my way back from NC on Monday, with the bike on top, and no rack fairing. Not too shabby for having a huge sail on top of the car.

 

Yakima and Thule are both great racks. We've got yakimas on both our boxes though as that's what wifey's bike shop sold when we bought them.

The racks will haul all your stuff with the right attachments. As for swapping between cars, the only thing you should have do do is change the clips and readjust your spacing.

Personally, I'd get 2 sets of towers and bars (1 for each car) and just swap out the bike/ski/cargo box stuff. It would be way easier.

 

I say if your going to used it then do it

 

Here's a photo of a standard Q Tower set up, with an 80 lb. canoe on the roof.


The bars of the rack are only 32" apart, so I am in the process of doing a custom job. I've got a set of Yakima Control Towers on order, with #7 Landing Pads. For these, I'll have to drill holes in the roof and permanently mount them. When the racks are off, there will be four little bumps on the roof. When they're on, the rear rack will be next to the antenna and the front will be moved forward just enough to line the wind deflector up with the leading edge of the roof.

But even with the current set-up, I am completely confident with the canoe or two 17' sea kayaks on the roof.

 

Anyone have a solution to wind noise without a fairing? I like to look better without it, but the noise is just terrible.

 

The wind is setting up harmonic motion which makes that awful noise. There are a few ways to fix it. The fairing is the common way to do it. You can also wrap a rope in spiral fashion around the front bar, sorta like some antennas. This will break up the wind flow and stop the noise. You could use a small (1/8") black cord and it wouldn't show up too much. Or you can add a piece of foam pipe insulation. Or you can buy the surfboard pads (which are slightly nicer than pipe insulation). Basically, anything that stops the round bar from getting the full force of the wind.

 

Thanks for the tips, i think ill try wrapping a bit of black rope around the bar.

 

Zillon, nice car and the roof rack looks great. I'm planning on getting a rack for my fixie. I was looking at Yakima and their whole basic set up, but what bike attachment did you use and is there any other special pieces you need? How's the wind noise? I see you don't use your deflector.