Roof Rack for 2003 RSX Questions!

[AA2001]

Hey Beyond,

I'm having such a tough time figuring out what kind of roof rack is going to work best for my car. I have a 2003 RSX type S and I'm looking for a setup where I can mount 2 snowboards. Here's my issue. I've seen so many different setups that I have no idea what would be most functional and still look nice.

Does anyone have experience mounting a roof rack to a coupe?

This one has 2 points of contact.


This one has 3 points of contact.


If anyone can tell me what kind of experience they have with this, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[FixedGear]

How dare you ask questions about a roof rack on these forums. Everyone who knows anything on Beyond knows that you're supposed to first install a trailer hitch, and then get a hitch rack. They are way better for your fuel economy, you won't run into overheads at Carl's Jr., and it's way easier to put stuff on them. Plus, you can put storage boxes on them and even your skis (if you want to stand out from the crowd). Don't worry about accessing your truck, backing into things, or all of the nasty road grime that will accumulate given your goods are travelling in your car's wake - hitch racks are the ONLY way to go. I mean in my neighborhood, all the soccer moms driving 4x4 minivans have 'em.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

We had one of the generic sport rack two bar systems on my Bugeye WRX last winter and it came apart just past Rogers Pass on the highway, causing a large dent in my roof as well as nearly losing a $1k Inno box on the highway. Get the best quality with the most mount points possible imo.

[AA2001]

Originally posted by Twin_Cam_Turbo
We had one of the generic sport rack two bar systems on my Bugeye WRX last winter and it came apart just past Rogers Pass on the highway, causing a large dent in my roof as well as nearly losing a $1k Inno box on the highway. Get the best quality with the most mount points possible imo.

I was also thinking that the Yakima roof rack that has 6 mounting points would be the strongest. I'm gonna see if I can find the exact same system that is in that photo and see how it stands up.

Thanks for the input Twin_Cam!

Originally posted by FixedGear
How dare you ask questions about a roof rack on these forums. Everyone who knows anything on Beyond knows that you're supposed to first install a trailer hitch, and then get a hitch rack. They are way better for your fuel economy, you won't run into overheads at Carl's Jr., and it's way easier to put stuff on them. Plus, you can put storage boxes on them and even your skis (if you want to stand out from the crowd). Don't worry about accessing your truck, backing into things, or all of the nasty road grime that will accumulate given your goods are travelling in your car's wake - hitch racks are the ONLY way to go. I mean in my neighborhood, all the soccer moms driving 4x4 minivans have 'em.

Cool..............................

[FixedGear]

Roof racks are just for trendy hipsters that are copying the German look.

[keyproject]

I've had a Thule roof rack on a 2004 Civic SiR hatch before and you will want to have the short-roof adapters (that is the bar that connects the front and back crossbar) which is pictured in the second photo you posed.

If you choose to run a roof rack on your RSX without the short-roof adapter you will find that the crossbars sit too closely together. If you mount a cargo box, your mounting points will be to close together resulting in less stability, more wind noise, and a lesser weight capacity than normal. If you use ski/snowboard attachments (such as Yakima fatcats or Thule snowpack) you may find that your bindings and ski attachment line up to closely resulting in having your boards clamped down either to far forward or far back, which is also kind of sketchy at highway speeds..

That being said and you should definitely use the adapter if you choose to go the roof rack method with a coupe. The purpose of having the short-roof adapters are to space the crossbars within the manufacture specifications, while also ensuring that you have the most contact points to your car.

Hope that helps!

[01RedDX]

.

[ShermanEF9]

you only need 4 points contact total. i've hooked my yakima rack to my civic many times and put a 60 lb downhill bike on it.

[AA2001]

Originally posted by keyproject
I've had a Thule roof rack on a 2004 Civic SiR hatch before and you will want to have the short-roof adapters (that is the bar that connects the front and back crossbar) which is pictured in the second photo you posed.

If you choose to run a roof rack on your RSX without the short-roof adapter you will find that the crossbars sit too closely together. If you mount a cargo box, your mounting points will be to close together resulting in less stability, more wind noise, and a lesser weight capacity than normal. If you use ski/snowboard attachments (such as Yakima fatcats or Thule snowpack) you may find that your bindings and ski attachment line up to closely resulting in having your boards clamped down either to far forward or far back, which is also kind of sketchy at highway speeds..

That being said and you should definitely use the adapter if you choose to go the roof rack method with a coupe. The purpose of having the short-roof adapters are to space the crossbars within the manufacture specifications, while also ensuring that you have the most contact points to your car.

Hope that helps!

SICKKK!!!! That's some fantastic information. Gonna check some roof racks out this weekend! Thanks!!

Originally posted by FixedGear
Roof racks are just for trendy hipsters that are copying the German look.

Cool..............................

[Projek01]

If you are looking for a used set, send me a PM. I was going to post mine on Kijiji today.

I have a Yakima setup for a Celica which includes the 6 contact points. You might have to change the "Q-Clips" and that would be it.

[gogreen]

I ran a Thule rack on my DA Integra with no issues, and without a short roof adapter. However, that was with the 409 rack though that was specifically designed for 2nd and 3rd gen Integras, and I only used it for snowboards/skis or a single bike. It was my understanding that the short roof adapter (i.e. 6 points of contact) would be required for use with a cargo box, kayak carrier, or anything of that nature.

It was a pretty tight spacing but it worked.

I don't have a photo of mine handy, so here's a random one I found of a similar setup:



Since the RSX has a more curved roofline I would expect the bar spacing may be a bit tighter than what's possible on a DA. One issue I did run into with the fork mount bike trays as shown above was that the back end of the tray would contact the rear window before the hatch was able to open fully.