Hey guys,
Need your help again on this..snowboarding season is here already, and I need to get a roof rack for my snowboards..should i get the factory ones or from either thule or yakima? Thanks guys.

 

Ditto for me! And is the factory rack just as prone to damaging paint or clearcoat as others?

 

I have the Thule system that I use for our mountain bikes and kayaks and it works like a charm...and it doesn't look all that bad either. I would highly recommend it. I can post pics if you want as well.

 

Ahh, okay. I went ahead and got my car with the factory rack in December. It looks good, but it kicks in some horrible wind noise and the ends of the crossbars are covered in really flimsy plastic.

In all honesty, I'd rather end up driving to/from the hill with boards inside the car instead of on top to avoid that relentless howling over my head. I'm glad it can be attached and removed easily, because I'll only use it when absolutely necessary.

 

I wish that were an option for our kayaks! Don't think we'll fit a 17 footer in there though!

 

Would love to see some pics of the Thule rack if you have them! Thanks

 

I have the Audi factory cross bars, they look good. Cleaner design than Thule, but they do have flimsy plastic endcaps that don't stay clipped down. One of mine even broke the first day. With the black paint I noticed some damage to the clearcoat above the door jams. My solution was some Carbon fiber adhesive pads used to keep brake cable rub off mountain bike frames. I leave the rack off most of the time for winter I just put the board in the car.

 

You'll probably see several other posts from me on this topic...

After using roof racks on three previous cars and having it scratch up every single one of them in time, regardless of how careful I was, how often I replaced the padded feet on them, I got the factory roof rails on my A3. Absolutely no wind drag on them with nothing else on the car. I still have no cross bars yet because the snow sucks here in Northern California!

 

I just purchased an '07 A3 S-Line with open sky package. I traded in my '03 4x4 Tacoma with TRD supercharger and K&N CAI...it was a fun ride too. However, after driving trucks for the last 10+ years I wanted something a bit more fun and sporty. So far I am thrilled with the A3.

I also do a lot of road bike riding, and with other cars I had a Thule Rack. The rack always "left its mark" on the paint by removing the clear coat…one thing I didn’t have to worry about with my Tacoma.

The Audi dealer had another A3 in the shop with the add-on Audi rack system. I was able to get a close look at the design. The feet of the rack seem to only touch the pain minimally, and the rack also leaves ample room for the sunroof to be fully opened.

However, how bad is the wind noise? Is it worth getting the roof rack or should I just get a simple hatch mount bike rack that is easy to attach and remove?

 

I have the open sky with factory rack and it IS noisey!