Audi4Rob

Hi all,

I recently bought the Audi base carrier bars and ski attachment for our Q7. I put them on and test drove on the freeway to get an idea of the wind noise. To put it mildly, the wind noise was unacceptable at best. I live in the SF Bay Area and the thought of a 3 hour drive to Tahoe with the wife & kids with that noise would probably put us all in the nut house, even with the radio cranking.

Has anyone else experienced this and can offer any insite. I've read of previous threads of the Thule option. Anyone know if Yakima has something viable for the Q7, other than their suggestion of the tower that sits on the roof and wraps under the door frame. Yakima's new ski attachment is pretty low & aerodynamic, something the Audi unit is not, which does not help with keeping the wind noise down.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Sachsi

I bought what is roughly the same kind of load bars for my mom's Passat and they are quite noisy. All load bars are noisy to some extent but these have a fairly large cross section and not necessarily the best of aerodynamics.

Check out K2audi's setup, it looks pretty slick.

I'm in the Bay Area as well. If you find any store that carries something compatible with the Q but better looking than the OEM bars, please let me know. I looks like it's time I bought some: http://www.kirkwood.com/winter/mmc3.php

TURNEM

I just minutes ago ordered Thule roof rack system from The Roofrack Shop in UK, www.roofrackshop.com. Cost is 120 plus 40 euro for shipping to U.S.
Order:
1 x Thule 869 Rapid System Alloy Aero Roof Bars (Pair - 127cm) (TH869 ) £49.00
1 x Thule 4917 Rapid InTracker Fitting Kit (TH4917) £12.00
1 x Thule 4902 Integrated Roof Rail Foot Pack (TH4902) £59.00
I will post arrival date. This system can't be bought in U.S. It is low profile and they look great on Q7. See other posts-Search roof racks

Audi4Rob

Thanks for the info. I saw K2Audi's pictures of the Thule setup on his Q7 and that definately looks like the way to go. Much more streamline, the Audi system sits up way too high.

Looks like I'll be ordering from The Roofrack Shop also. I'm curious to see how long it takes to get to the US.

I'm not up to speed on Thule products, I've had Yakima in the past. Will any of the Thule ski attachments I get here fit to the Aero roof bars? Thanks again.

Q7_taxi

Roofrack shop uses DHL Air Express to ship...took them 2 business days to get to me.

WRT your current ski attachments, you may need to get the aero bar adapters -- those should be available here in the US.

These bars are not noisy at all...i'm lazy so mine are basically a permanent install. I wouldn't do that if I heard them all the time.

Hope this helps!
Butch<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/q7/msgs/17089.phtml">my original post</a></li></ul>

obLu

Not that I want it open when the rack's on ... I just don't want to have it accidentally open ( by accidental I mean, one of us forget ) and break.

ExB5S4owner

I have the Thule rack on our Q7 w/pano roof and no problems

21Sline

Thule web site does not list any rack system for the Q7 yet?? I have the factory Audi rack I have not tried them yet. But the dealer told me to use the rubber strip on top of the rack, if not used it will be noisy? Has any one heard this??

Q7_taxi

I could see where some of the older (not-as-flush) components may interfere, but the rack itself has lots of clearance.

I have one of the newer (Atlantis series) boxes which have the pincers to attach to the crossbars. Still leaves 1/2" or so of clearance.

Butch

RMBQ7

you accidentally quoted the shipping price in Euro's.
Not really a material amount though.

And I am going to order this system - so thank you to all of you who have given your feedback.