Manufacturers' fitted "styled" roof rails (think New Fiat Panda, most estate cars from the past 20 years).
Anyone ever used them?
Thought not.
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 22/12/2007 at 00:37
|
|
All the time from a 83 passat est right up to my Rover 75 est for bikes top box very handy
|
|
Almost every weekend on the Mondy estate there are Mountain bikes up there. Also take them on holiday. So yes, all the time.
|
|
|
|
Standard fit on a number of cars I've had over the last 10 years or so - 2 A4 Avants, an MB Estate and 3 BMW tourings; they were used occasionally on all of them, and in fact the same Thule cross-bar set up fitted them all as well. The cross-bars are currently on loan to a Passat driver :-)
However I do know that the roof-rails fitted to my Fathers BMW touring have not been used once in the last 2 years...
Peter.
Edited by Peter S on 22/12/2007 at 08:06
|
|
My roof rails prevented severe damage to my bodywork last month when the French toll booth barrier came crashing down on the car as I drove through :-) Would have made a tricky dent in a saloon car...
|
|
The fitted rails on the BX were much more useful than the "concealed" items on the Xantia. But they were utilitarian rather than styled.
|
|
I suspect on most cars they are just acting as small airbrakes, smaller that is than the mudflap type of airbrake.
|
|
Thinking again about this one. I guess the OP was musing about things which are fitted to many cars but may not be used. In his case the roof rails. My pet "wassthatallabout?" is parking sensors. All my cars have had perfectly good ones from day one. Eyes and wing....sorry ..door mirrors, they work just fine ! ;-)
|
|
|
|
The Sierra Estate 'Chasseur' had strips attached to the roof between the rails,allowing luggage to be lashed directly on the roof,contained fore and aft by the cross bars.This has the advantage of reducing drag and lowering the C of G.Sadly my current estate lacks them.
|
|
Berlingo (at least in Desire format) and some BX estates also had rubbing strips on the roof, allowing the load to rest directly on it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
On my Panda 4x4 I've used the roof rails to carry my bike, a Christmas tree and flat-packed furniture.
I found some cross-bars in Lidl before the car was delivered and because they were so cheap I bought them on spec. A little judicious carving of some of the plastic parts and the bars fitted well. I have clocked up 500 mile round trips with nothing working loose.
These roof rails are invaluable on a car such as the Panda with a short load space. It's much easier to clamp cross-bars onto roof rails than to fit after-market roof bars and the rails stay on without affecting fuel economy.
They do make the Panda loook better as well. Looks as if you could pick it up like a big Tonka toy by its roof rails.
|
My Renault 18 estate had longitudinal chromed roof rails. They looked pretty and caused no noise or noticeable drag. As far as I can remember I never used them for anything. I suppose transvers3e bars to make them usable were available as an extra.
The permanent presence on a car's roof of a proper roof rack that is seldom used is an indication of utter automotive idiocy on the part of the owner. Who but an idiot would want a car that looked worse, went slower, made more noise and used more fuel on the road?
|
That must have been an 18GTX estate, Lud. I had two of those in the 1980s - lovely torquey 2-litre engine in a body designed for a 1.6. Reliable, too, as were all my seven Renaults.
I think the roof rails were there just to show it was a GTX - but if you got some crossbars, as you say, you got a roofrack when you needed it and not when you didn't. My Golf estate has rails too, but it's so capacious inside that I probably will never need them.
There are plenty of useless answers to problems that don't exist, notably:
- separate starter buttons
- electronic handbrakes
- space-saver spare wheels which usually don't save space
etc.
|
That must have been an 18GTX estate
Was indeed, and a very good car... did 30mpg cruising anywhere between 80 and 100 indicated. Good gear ratios too.
|
|
|
|
