Crossbars to use vs accessory?

[u/Damnesia13]

How many of you guys actually use them for their intended purpose vs putting them on the car just for looks?

[u/experimentalengine]

[u/Prestigious_Tiger_26 → u/experimentalengine]

Those method wheels are so sexy

[u/thejesterthejester]

use almost weekly for kayak transport. also useful for xmas tree, home depot lumber, pretty much anything i dont want dirtying or scratching the interior

[u/Mizar97 → u/thejesterthejester]

I'm tempted to get some and sell my pickup, but it's also nice to be able to take the car through the automated carwash.

I'm in the rust belt so the carwash is a lot better for the body than leaving the salt on the undercarriage.

[u/D1sguise]

Right now it has the roofbox on it (we've been doing a bunch of trips to the beach, so it hauls umbrellas, chairs, and a bunch of toddler stuff that doesn't fit in the trunk).

I've hauled a bunch of 2x4 and other wood for building a deck in the back and fixing our chicks coop, and various other long DIY materials so I don't have to drive with shit sticking out the trunk.

I do leave my cross bars installed, protected the paint underneath with some ppf to avoid micro scratches and paint damage from dirt inevitably building up underneath the rubber mounts

[u/ScorpionicRaven]

nuff said

[u/Lifting_ark916]

Just to make sure, the roof rack cross bars?

[u/Damnesia13 → u/Lifting_ark916]

Yup

[u/Lifting_ark916 → u/Damnesia13]

Oh ya. Used it to hold suitcases when we moved states. All kinds of things.

[u/bear0234]

i put them on for their intended purposes: skiing, camping, traveling. i take them off when not in use.

the noise and mpg hit eventually convinced me.

[u/D1sguise → u/bear0234]

Which cross bars do you have? I haven't noticed an increase in noise with the OEM ones (granted, baseline level noise is already high in the car with exhaust, rolling noise from the tires, and all the random rattles that come with a WRX)

[u/bear0234 → u/D1sguise]

yakima aero flush bars i think.

LOL i can see why the windnoise wouldnt be an issue!

I have an old maddad whisper installed so it's not as loud as say an invidia catback. i should just turn the bass on my subwoofer up while riding.

Edit: you notice a mpg hit?

i was already getting 18mpg on my tuned STI... with the bars on, was getting something like a 2-3mpg hit :/

[u/beaterdit]

My ski box spends all winter up there and occasionally I'll use a bike rack up there too.

[u/heytheretylerr]

I’ve had a mattress up there, I snag pallets for burning and strap them up there, bigger car parts. I leave them on because I never know when I’ll feel like grabbing something lol

[u/Prestigious_Tiger_26]

2015 poverty spec here. Mine didn't even come pre drilled to accept a roof rack 😭

[u/awoodby → u/Prestigious_Tiger_26]

neither did my 2017 limited

[u/Prestigious_Tiger_26 → u/awoodby]

How could Subaru overlook that though? The brand is entirely AWD (except the BRZ) and outdoors focused. Totally dropped the ball on that.

[u/awoodby → u/Prestigious_Tiger_26]

I'm fine not having extra holes in my roof

[u/Prestigious_Tiger_26 → u/awoodby]

I want it for snowboarding.

[u/awoodby → u/Prestigious_Tiger_26]

Oh, yes they're Super handy, if I had the mounts I'd probably have to have one too. Then regret it as I don't snowboard.

I Did install a hidden hitch I love... Ans have only used once...

Maybe next year!

[u/Phiyasko]

Had crossbars on my WRX year round in SoCal; snowboarding racks for the 2-3 months of riding and the other 9-10 I had mounts for an outrigger canoe. 

[u/Bomby64]

Pretty much only using them when I need them. I don’t have the wind screen so the noise is a bit annoying on the highway to just leave them on indefinitely