Best roof bars

By Stuart Johnston

In South Africa these bars are more commonly known as roof racks. They’re the modern lightweight equivalent of the old-fashioned roof racks which weighed almost as much as the car, and were affixed to something that doesn’t exist any more – rain gutters.

Just like bicycle racks, multi-purpose roof racks seem to be made by hundreds of firms all over the world, and choosing one is more a case of finding out which particular type and brand fits your car.

Car roofs have all sorts of rack mounting points

The challenge today  in this era of aero-obsessed car designers is that some cars come with fixed mounting points on their rooves, usually concealed beneath protective plastic strips. Other cars – normally of the SUV variety, come with roof rails which stand proud of the roof, and are thus easier to equip with any number of adaptable roof bars, turning them into a rack.

Or none at all

And then there are a plethora of smooth-roofed cars, with no discernible mounting points for a roof rack.

But there will almost certainly be a roof rack made that will fit your car

Roof rack designers being an innovative bunch, they have devised various types of roof racks to suit cars with fixed mounting points on the roof, roof rails, and no rails at all. The last-mentioned are catered for by mounting tabs that locate on the door frames, snugging in between the gap of the door top and the frame.

Consult your dealer

If you are unsure about what roof rack you should fit to your car, your first step would be to consult your dealer. Many manufacturers give approval to certain types of accessories, and roof racks would fall into this category too. If the car is under warranty, check that fitting a roof rack won’t void the warranty! You'd be surprised at the exclusion clauses in many warranty contracts…

Best Roof Racks

As with bicycle rack manufacturers, there are clear market leaders in the field of more universal roof racks, and it is no surprise that the same names come up again. Thule, from Sweden, is one of the leading manufacturers, while Yakima from Japan is not far behind.

Thule makes an impressively adaptable range of roof racks, consisting of aluminium bars that can be affixed to the roof using a variety of adjustable fittings catering to the various of roof configurations and mounting possibilities

However, In this brief survey – shorter than it would have been if we had been doing that survey on roof-top entertainment venues – the manufacturer that impressed us the most is Yakima.

The whispering Whisbar

The range of racks that really stands out is the Yakima Whisbar. It features aerodynamically developed cross bars that are said to be the quietest in the business, all but eliminating the typical “whistle” you get when mounting a roof rack. The Whispbar is also able to fit virtually any type of car or SUV roof, thanks to an innovative and adaptable mounting system

The clincher, for us, is that the Whispbar is said to have been designed by a former Rolls-Royce engineer. And you know what they say about a Rolls-Royce: At even the highest of cruising speeds, the loudest thing your are likely to hear is the ticking of the clock!