Roof box or tow bar?

"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock) 06/02/2015 at 07:04 • Filed to: None

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Deciding between putting a towbar on my car since we have a trailer in the family I can use or a roof box. I definitely need more space and can only afford one or the other. The trailer is more useful but I don’t like the idea of towing it on higher speed roads (it’s wood with a steel chassis and has no suspension).

One of the main uses will be for transporting bikes. Bearing in mind I can get a hitch mounted receiver for bikes too.

Tareim - V8 powered > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/02/2015 at 07:13

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trailer/bike hitch mount, there will be horrible amounts of wind noise with the roof rack option and for me that’d be unbearable

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Tareim - V8 powered 06/02/2015 at 07:19

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It’d be removed when not in use but yeah the wind noise in use would annoy me. Considering my cars complete lack of power I wonder how badly the extra drag would affect it too.

Tareim - V8 powered > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/02/2015 at 07:25

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I’d imagine the drag would be very noticeable on such a tiny underpowered car, the other day we had some very strong winds and I felt it in my BRZ, so your twingo being half the power (or even less) and slightly taller then + a bike on the roof will be a lot of drag

Jobjoris > Tareim - V8 powered 06/02/2015 at 07:33

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I agree. Just think mounting those bikes on the back will generate noise as well.

Tareim - V8 powered > Jobjoris 06/02/2015 at 07:35

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shouldn’t be anywhere near as much though as most of the air should be deflected around/over them

jkm7680 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/02/2015 at 07:48

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Roof rack and bars. Much better than the other thingies.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Tareim - V8 powered 06/02/2015 at 07:53

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Much less than half the power haha, more like a third. Yeah I think I’d definitely notice a difference.

McMike > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/02/2015 at 08:25

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I like roof boxes, myself.

CalzoneGolem > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/02/2015 at 08:49

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I got one of those universal trunk/hatch mount racks with all the straps. Cheap as hell and has outlasted 2 of my cars.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/02/2015 at 09:00

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I am opting for both, but started with roof bars and a box . What I have learned so far is that if the bars are aerodynamic, they will make very little wind noise. The box adds a bit more noise, but it really isn’t intrusive. I am still surprised how little noise they make.

I was even more surprised at the effect on the fuel mileage - it is almost negligible. I can’t tell the difference when just the bars are mounted and with the box, it only goes down about 1 mpg. Mileage is much worse from a bit of spirited driving than it is from mounting the box. I’ve measured this on a couple of trips so far.

To get a decent amount of space, a big box is required and that comes with some tradeoffs. Roof boxes are much more expensive than hitch-mounted boxes. Long roof boxes can interfere with the hatch and really long boxes tend to porpoise a bit at speed. Adjusting the mounting location helps.

Mounting and dismounting the box can be a pain. Look for something with quick mounts. Mine has quick-release mounting brackets, but they still require giant wingnuts to be tightened inside the box and that requires climbing on the door sill to reach the ones on the far side. The newest boxes, although expensive, have single-lever or single screw clamps that are MUCH better. The Yakima version was the best I tested.

This is what my box uses to clamp the box to the bars. The top place and the nuts are inside the box, the second plate goes on the bottom of the box, and the bar at the bottom goes under the roof crossbar. It does have a hole large enough for the carriage bolt to slip through, so it isn’t necessary to unscrew both nuts completely to get the box off the car, but it still requires a lot of twisting to get enough slack so everything slides apart. There are four of these holding the box on the car.

Thule updated their clamps, but they still require a lot of screwing around to mount. There are also issues with getting everything aligned when placing the box on top of the car. It’s fairly easy to do as long as someone is available to lend a hand. Again, clamping them down required a lot of twisting.

The box I really wanted, but couldn’t afford, was the Yakima Skybox. It has two big advantages: the back of the box is shaped to minimize interference with the hatch; and the clamping system makes mounting very simple, even with just one person. It also opens from both sides and has a single lever lock. I tried fitting a Skybox 18 on my WRX and it worked well.

The Yakima system requires the box to be placed with the clamps forward of the crossbars. Sliding it backwards positions the clamps correctly onto the bars. One lever on each clamp, similar to the quick release on a bicycle wheel, is all that is required to lock it in place.

If I wasn’t on a tight budget, I would have opted for a Skybox for the mounting system alone. Even so, I am happy that my car has more space which is being put to good use. The next camping trip is coming soon!

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > McMike 06/02/2015 at 09:24

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They definitely look good but I just wonder which will be more useful.

McMike > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/02/2015 at 09:28

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I don’t have a hitch, so this works better for me. I can also throw the box on any other car with a roof rack, too

If I had a hitch, I may have answered differently. :)

'Wägen, EPA LOL > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/02/2015 at 10:42

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IMO roof mounted looks better, but hitch mounted rides better, especially on A roads and motorways. Plus fewer bugs on your bike.

redstationwagon > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/02/2015 at 16:17

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trailer hitch mount! Definitly less noise!

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > redstationwagon 06/03/2015 at 15:43

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Yeah thats what I’m leaning towards.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > TheRealBicycleBuck 06/03/2015 at 15:46

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Great info, thanks I appreciate it. I’m surprised the roof box didn’t affect your car much, I wonder if mine will be affected more being that it only has 60hp...

I never considered interference with the hatch actually, my car is really small so I might have to test fit some to see what kind of size is actually feasible.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > CalzoneGolem 06/03/2015 at 15:47

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I actually have one of those lying around but it’s a bit fiddly and winds me up when I just want to attach my bike and go.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > 'Wägen, EPA LOL 06/03/2015 at 15:48

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Yeah I’m thinking practicality wise hitch mount might be better.

'Wägen, EPA LOL > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/03/2015 at 19:02

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I sold my hitch mounted recently from an old suv as I went to roof mounted on my wagen and I was shocked by the amount of bugs my road bike picked up on the motorway. It was pretty gross, hahaha.