kyee

tryengel - could you post some pics of your Thule setup? Thanks.

tryengel

Thule towers and 47 inch aero bars with two "Rocky Mount" low-profile bike racks. Since my last post I found I could use the same rubber strips that are on the top of the bar and use them for the void spaces at the bottom to eliminate noise when the sun-roof is open. Click on this link. <a href=http://bogey43.multiply.com/photos/album/1/Thule_Bike_Rack>Thule Bike Rack</a>

tryengel

I spent the day playing with various solutions to quiet wind noise from my Thule set-up. The rubber inserts covering the void spaces on the the underside of the rack help but not by a lot. With the sun-roof open it's noisy. With everything buttoned up you don't hear anything. What is perplexing is that I have the same aero cross-bars on my Allroad and there is little increase in noise with the sun-roof open. I am surmizing that the problem is that on the S4 the towers place the cross-bars too far above the roof line. On the Allroad, even with the OEM load rails, the Thule aero bars are much closer to the roof. Unfortunately there is no option in the height of the Thule towers. The other possibility is that the wind-deflector on the front of the sun roof is deflecting the wind directly towards the aero bars. When I open the sun-roof only at the rear, in the tilt position - no noise. What are people discovering who have opted for the Audi roof rack system? Are you finding a lot of noise from the rack with the sun roof open?

mitche2010s4

yeah. lots of noise. I don't use my sunroof much so not a big deal. The Audi racks don't have the void on the bottom but I miss my avant for this reason (noise) and others. With the dedicated mounting possition's you can't change anything. For winter I'm thinking about ditching the roof rack and using the ski pass through. Didn't come with the sack? But in the summer with the mountain bikes I have no other option...other than getting someone else to drive. But where's the fun in that!

shiftracer

Going back to the original posting, I just had a Curt hitch installed on my '10 A4 Avant for ~$350 including wiring. The installer said it would work for B8 sedans as well. It's a 1 1/4" receiver and I have a Saris CycleOn Pro rack for two bikes. Saris says two more bikes can be added.

kyee

Pics please!

kyee

REI has a big 20% off sale, including all Thule gear. I just placed my order for the roof rack system.

harbour456

Unfortunately there are no hitch mounts listed for the S4 yet... anyone consider getting one custom-mounted?