Roof Rack & concerns above noise
Discussion
We recently purchased a Thule Wingbar Evo Roof Rack for an Audi A4 All Road and its now being fitted.
The other half has been driving it since, but today I drove to work in it with the roof rack up top.
The noise of the wind passing over it was instant (started at 30mph) and started to sound like it was going to take off at 60 (this was country roads so I have yet to try a Motorway!)
Please note, this was with the roof rails only fitted, no accessories (yet).
Is this normal - it was rather annoying and I am now contemplating removing it when not in use. I bought the Thule Wingbar Evo as I thought this would reduce noise - I dread to think what a square edged roof rail would sound like!
Any else experience this?
The other half has been driving it since, but today I drove to work in it with the roof rack up top.
The noise of the wind passing over it was instant (started at 30mph) and started to sound like it was going to take off at 60 (this was country roads so I have yet to try a Motorway!)
Please note, this was with the roof rails only fitted, no accessories (yet).
Is this normal - it was rather annoying and I am now contemplating removing it when not in use. I bought the Thule Wingbar Evo as I thought this would reduce noise - I dread to think what a square edged roof rail would sound like!
Any else experience this?
Rubber inserts make all the difference - on my first set I cut the rubber strategically around where my bike attachments would go so they could be fitted even when I’m using the T Tracks
My second set was a Mercedes Thule set where there was no bar overhang and they were massively more aerodynamic.
My second set was a Mercedes Thule set where there was no bar overhang and they were massively more aerodynamic.
I found that moving my old bars back a little on the roof reduced the noise significantly. Also, I did upgrade to a set of Whispbars (think they are now called Yakima). The Whispbars were a country mile quieter than the previous Thule aero bars
Cost a bit more though but I felt it was worth it as they were virtually silent until you got to about 75mph - meaning I just left the bars on there for months on end and simply removed any accessories.
Cost a bit more though but I felt it was worth it as they were virtually silent until you got to about 75mph - meaning I just left the bars on there for months on end and simply removed any accessories.
I had the older type Thule aero bars and the whistling on those was coming from the short slot under the bar overhang at each end. Once I actually read the instructions properly and stuck the little bit of rubber insert in there, they were very quiet.
Daft question: They are facing the right way on the car (fat side fowards)? Don't know if it's possible to fit them the 'wrong' way or not on your car.
Daft question: They are facing the right way on the car (fat side fowards)? Don't know if it's possible to fit them the 'wrong' way or not on your car.
Not normal IMO.
Wingbar evo has the two rubber strips that sit over the t-track and allow stuff to be fitted without removing them (as you had to with older bars). They can be a bit faffy to fit, so make sure they're present and sitting properly in the channels.
There's also a black siding piece that fills the space under the bar, by the foot - that can sometimes be left off or not pulled out to the foot.
Lastly I do see people fitting them the wrong way around, they should be like an aircraft wing with the fatter rounder side facing forward.
Wingbar evo has the two rubber strips that sit over the t-track and allow stuff to be fitted without removing them (as you had to with older bars). They can be a bit faffy to fit, so make sure they're present and sitting properly in the channels.
There's also a black siding piece that fills the space under the bar, by the foot - that can sometimes be left off or not pulled out to the foot.
Lastly I do see people fitting them the wrong way around, they should be like an aircraft wing with the fatter rounder side facing forward.
The roof bars on their own can often make more noise than when it's loaded. Presumably whatever is on top disturbs the air more above the bar and stops the howling.
Unless I'm only doing a couple of miles in town, I just take the bars off whenever I'm not using them. On a decent make bar like the Thule kit it's only about a 5 minute job to take them off or put them on. If you think of it as part of the job to load/unload whatever is going on the roof it becomes fairly insignificant.
Unless I'm only doing a couple of miles in town, I just take the bars off whenever I'm not using them. On a decent make bar like the Thule kit it's only about a 5 minute job to take them off or put them on. If you think of it as part of the job to load/unload whatever is going on the roof it becomes fairly insignificant.
SkodaIan said:
The roof bars on their own can often make more noise than when it's loaded. Presumably whatever is on top disturbs the air more above the bar and stops the howling.
Unless I'm only doing a couple of miles in town, I just take the bars off whenever I'm not using them. On a decent make bar like the Thule kit it's only about a 5 minute job to take them off or put them on. If you think of it as part of the job to load/unload whatever is going on the roof it becomes fairly insignificant.
If your car has roof rails, get a Sharpie or touch up paint and mark a line on the inside of each roof rail with the location of the roof bar. That way when you fit them back on you know they are in the correct position.Unless I'm only doing a couple of miles in town, I just take the bars off whenever I'm not using them. On a decent make bar like the Thule kit it's only about a 5 minute job to take them off or put them on. If you think of it as part of the job to load/unload whatever is going on the roof it becomes fairly insignificant.
Really depends on the car, I had them on a Mercedes S class and you could just hear them whispering above 70mph, but on a shed Peugeot 208 the same design of Thule aerodynamic bars were fairly obvious over 40. Partly down to the bars, partly down to how much soundproofing is in the roof I suspect.
In any case they're surprisingly detrimental to economy (and top speed on a weedy car) so you won't want to leave them on if you don't have to. I even noticed a 2mpg drop on a V12 twin turbo S Class, it'll easily knock 5-10mpg off anything doing sensible economy.
In any case they're surprisingly detrimental to economy (and top speed on a weedy car) so you won't want to leave them on if you don't have to. I even noticed a 2mpg drop on a V12 twin turbo S Class, it'll easily knock 5-10mpg off anything doing sensible economy.
sjg said:
Not normal IMO.
Wingbar evo has the two rubber strips that sit over the t-track and allow stuff to be fitted without removing them (as you had to with older bars). They can be a bit faffy to fit, so make sure they're present and sitting properly in the channels.
There's also a black siding piece that fills the space under the bar, by the foot - that can sometimes be left off or not pulled out to the foot.
Lastly I do see people fitting them the wrong way around, they should be like an aircraft wing with the fatter rounder side facing forward.
Definitely check this - the black plastic insert needs to be slid out to meet the foot. Normally can't hear anything more than a background woosh in my E-Class estate up to and including motorway speeds. One day I must have inadvertently moved these sliders inboard when putting the rails on and it made quite a racket!Wingbar evo has the two rubber strips that sit over the t-track and allow stuff to be fitted without removing them (as you had to with older bars). They can be a bit faffy to fit, so make sure they're present and sitting properly in the channels.
There's also a black siding piece that fills the space under the bar, by the foot - that can sometimes be left off or not pulled out to the foot.
Lastly I do see people fitting them the wrong way around, they should be like an aircraft wing with the fatter rounder side facing forward.
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