NAMotorsports

Glad to see all the interest. Please feel free to call us if you have any questions!

est06A3

Gettysburg,

I have the audi base carrier bars and want to add a fairing. Couple of questions, does your fairing touch the opensky? Which fairing (size) did you get? I think a little wider one would cover the towers better and hopefully cut down on the wind noise better. Did the mounting hardware for the aero bars come included. I need the same hw for the audi bars.

Thanks
Eric

Gettysburg

I purchased the fairing from Performance Bicylces a short time after I order the bars from NAMOTOSPORTS.

I don't recall the size, but it was the fairing recommended for the Audi A3 in the Thule catalog. It basically spans the space between the support towers. When I get home this evening I can look for model number(or at least measure it).

The foam rubber bumpers of the faring pretty much rest on the front edge of the sliding OpenSky panel. I could probably move the front bar forward 1/2" to make it clear. If your Audi Bars set at a different height than the Thule bars, it may affect where the fairing rests with respect to the OpenSky panel.

The fairing I purchased can be installed on either the AeroBars or the square steel bars. However, in order to install them on the AeroBars you cut-off the portion which allows you to mount them steel bars. Once that's down, they can no longer be mounted to the square steel bars. The fairing I purchased must have been an older design(leftover stock) because the most current install instructions(from Thule's website) are different to how mine mounted.

est06A3

Thanks for the reply. I believe Thule specifies the 44" fairing. I do also recall that I saw where you have to cut the square bar mounting bracket off if used with the aerobars. I can open my roof with the audi bars I am wondering if I can still with the fairing. I guess I will have to try to be sure. Not sure how much leeway I have front to back with the mounting points.

schwartzw

I'm curious how the audi bars work with the Thule farring. Please keep us informed on that.

I've been thinking about getting he same setup that Gettysburg has but if there's an option that lets the roof open I'd prefer that I think.

Looking at pictures of the thule rack on some A3's it looks like they don't hit the moving panel of the sunroof. maybe they changed the foot?

Gettysburg

the OpenSky panel will clear the feet. I used the indents in the door Jamb as a placement guide. It's quite possible that if I had placed them an inch forward, the feet would have been spread far enough apart to let the panel clear.

The way the Thule bars get assembled, you basically have to position the bars on the support feet and then clamp-down the whole assembly against the roof. The initial camp down locks the bars to feet and after that the spacing of the feet is fixed. I may try disassembling the front bar and setting it a little bit more forward and see if that makes a difference.

est06A3

Without the fairing I can definitely open the roof. I do believe the towers on the OEM rack sit a bit further out. While the cross bars are a different shape than the Thule aero bars the center channel is the same. I am hoping to get a fairing mounted soon.