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I headed out to the rack shop today and tried the Thule Sonic XL and the Hyper XL on the SQ5. With 2 young kids and skis the XL size is preferable to the L in my opinion (the XL are 90" long and hold 17 cubic feet). The tail ends of the Sonic and Hyper are significantly different. My rear hatch would not fully open with the Sonic XL but would open fully with the Hyper. I pulled the trigger on the Hyper XL.
Posting because I'm interested in getting the Thule Sonic XL.
The rears on the Sonic and Hyper look the same on the Thule website and both have the same "Patented Rear-Angled Base and expanded vehicle mounting points help maximize trunk and hatch clearance." The Force and Pulse don't have the angled back for extra hatch clearance. Are you sure the Sonic XL doesn't allow for full hatch clearance? Seems odd since they are nearly the same size and shape.
Also found this on an outdoor forum:
"We just put a sonic XL on a Audi Q5 (medium sized SUV) with the Audi crossbars and it fit perfectly.
If you have questions, don't hesitate to call the shop.
The Boxter, the predecessor to the Hyper XL, officially fit on the Q5 without hatch interference (per Thule's fit guide), but the Hyper is nowhere to be seen, possibly because it's an XL size and they've reduced everything to "sizes" (and the Q5 is rated for L). I could see the XL size of the normal box lines being a little close for comfort (but since we can adjust hatch height, you could likely make it work without interference), but I would think that the Hyper would still work reasonably given it's just the current generation of the Boxter, which had extended adjustment on where it attached to the crossbars.
However, I haven't done any fitments myself as we were able to pack light enough to not need a box over Christmas (the only real time we've got a bunch of stuff to carry since we take the pets with us).
The differences between the Sonic XL and Hyper XL were subtle at the rear but when we tried pushing the Sonic XL forward it did not make it as far forward as the Hyper XL. I stopped the hatch within a few inches of its max opening to avoid damaging the spoiler. The guys at the shop said they had fitted a Sonic XL on a Q5 without any issues but there may be some difference with the SQ5 as this was not the case on mine? The Hyper XL, pushed completely forward, let the hatch open with almost 2" to spare (picture below). The max hatch opening can be reprogrammed but I didn't want to risk it with human error and the cost of body work and also wanted full opening so I could get heavy loads out of the trunk without having to bend halfway.
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The differences between the Sonic XL and Hyper XL were subtle at the rear but when we tried pushing the Sonic XL forward it did not make it as far forward as the Hyper XL.
Gotcha. Makes sense if there are subtle differences between the SQ5 and the Q5. Thanks for the pic--looks good. Mind posting a full side profile shot, with the hatch closed, so we can see the whole carrier on your car?
Gotcha. Makes sense if there are subtle differences between the SQ5 and the Q5. Thanks for the pic--looks good. Mind posting a full side profile shot, with the hatch closed, so we can see the whole carrier on your car?
Much thanks!
Here are a few extras. This was as-is straight from the box shop on adirty SUV. I push it back around 2" now. Hope this helps.
I push my Thule Atlantis 1600 (similar dimensions to yours) as far back as possible... otherwise it's:
Excellent point. The Q5/SQ5 roof and bars are slanted upward from back to front. The longer the box, the more it will look like an ICBM if pushed too far forward...
We just bought a Thule Hyper XL for additional cargo space (amazing how much stuff an infant "needs"!) Here are some quick pictures of it mounted on the factory cross-bars. Highly recommend this cargo box. It's very easy to mount and fits the Q5 perfectly.
It's got about 1 inch clearance to the hatch.
Minor ICBM appearance; much less than we expected.
We just bought a Thule Hyper XL for additional cargo space (amazing how much stuff an infant "needs"!) Here are some quick pictures of it mounted on the factory cross-bars. Highly recommend this cargo box. It's very easy to mount and fits the Q5 perfectly.
It's got about 1 inch clearance to the hatch.
Minor ICBM appearance; much less than we expected.
The Thule clamp system was very easy to use.
Looks great! I need a carrier but was stunned with the Audi quote at our local dealer for the Audi box. Would you mind PM with how much to expect on the Hyper XL? Was it easy to install on the factory bars? Thanks!
01-03-2014, 04:11 PM
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