Hi,

As we all know, SM's boot isn't exactly LARGE, so I decided to purchase a roofbox as well (actually went for a ski carrier, but somehow the salesman managed to convince me (darn salesmen!) that the roofbox is much practical solution, better for MPG, better for the skies in long journeys, doubles the storage space, etc...). So I'm going for the long narrow ones as usable for ski carrier also. Can some of you guys that are using one share some opinion which fits better (look-wise), MPG increase, noise, etc? I have a choice of Thule, Kamei and Hapro here.

sebast

In the AutoExpress magazine's product tests the Kamei boxes have won for many a year. They always come out tops for keeping things waterproof hence I went for a Kamei Delphin 380 litre. Mainly to fit a big round fire pit I camp with. So it is shortish and wide. Too short for your skis I suspect. But good quality and I can recommend the make.

As to fuel consumption: my regular 42mpg doing long distance 74mph on the cruise dropeed to 40mpg. So not a huge influence on the consumption.

Hi Sebast,

I went for a Thule roof bag..340litres if I remember rightly? Favoured this as it can be put on/off roof bars very quicly and rolls up and goes into its own bag, making it easy to store.

Thanks for the opinions, for me right now the options are:

Kamei Corvara 310 vs. Thule Pacific 500

I'm a bit worried how a 2.30m box will look on top of the Yeti...

Thanks for the opinions, for me right now the options are:

Kamei Corvara 310 vs. Thule Pacific 500

I'm a bit worried how a 2.30m box will look on top of the Yeti...

A black Corvara for me anyday! But then I'm Kamei baised. But that red logo on it just sets that black box off very nicely indeed. And you have a black Yeti to boot...

[And look here at the AutoExpress best buy 2010: The Kamei Husky. And some good tips here.]

I can't remember who the owner of this car is... oops. But I saved the photo when I was deciding on colour. That should give you an idea of what a Yeti will look like with a long box:

Not Yeti specific, but I've used two different roof boxes on our A2 - a Thule Atlantis 780 and a Kamei Dolphin 375, both borrowed from friends. As a rule of Thumb, the Thule 'box barely had any effect on my economy (probably 5%) and created barely any noise; however, the Dolphin saw a drop of circa 15% in fuel economy and at an indicated 80mph sounded like a 747 was coming in to land over us! Strange, as it was actually the Thule that I could see above the windscreen of the car (it's huge!).

Truth is, we only use a 'box a few times a year so the cheaper Kamei wouldn't bother me although it's rather a ball-ache to attach (the first time at least as the mechanism needs to be lined up) where as the Thule has a lovely mechanism that takes a jiffy.

Actually, I'd get a roof box off ebay as they are quite a bit cheaper than new and it doesn't really matter if there are a few scuffs on it!

Edited 25 January, 201115 yr by Frank Bullitt

Not Yeti specific, but I've used two different roof boxes on our A2 - a Thule Atlantis 780 and a Kamei Dolphin 375, both borrowed from friends. As a rule of Thumb, the Thule 'box barely had any effect on my economy (probably 5%) and created barely any noise; however, the Dolphin saw a drop of circa 15% in fuel economy and at an indicated 80mph sounded like a 747 was coming in to land over us! Strange, as it was actually the Thule that I could see above the windscreen of the car (it's huge!).

Truth is, we only use a 'box a few times a year so the cheaper Kamei wouldn't bother me although it's rather a ball-ache to attach (the first time at least as the mechanism needs to be lined up) where as the Thule has a lovely mechanism that takes a jiffy.

Actually, I'd get a roof box off ebay as they are quite a bit cheaper than new and it doesn't really matter if there are a few scuffs on it!

Peculiar! As the Kamei 380 on my A2 made hardly any difference to the fuel consumption, nor did it make any noticible noise! And the exact same box on the Yeti is also near silent as are the roof bars...

But have to agree the feet are fidly to change. But once set to your car's bars you never touch them again (until a friend borrows the box of course! ) so not really an issue.

Hi Sebast,

I went for a Thule roof bag..340litres if I remember rightly? Favoured this as it can be put on/off roof bars very quicly and rolls up and goes into its own bag, making it easy to store.

Hi Big Husky

I was thinking of buying one of these, they've got them on offer in Halfords. I've got the Skoda bars on order but thought this looked quite handy. It folds up and I don't want to store a hard box in the shed. How is it in the rain, does it affect the MPG badly? It looks a good size but is it difficult to load and keep it a good shape?

I'd appreciate your advice.

A black Corvara for me anyday! But then I'm Kamei baised. But that red logo on it just sets that black box off very nicely indeed. And you have a black Yeti to boot...

[And look here at the AutoExpress best buy 2010: The Kamei Husky. And some good tips here.]

@Johann - "Vanity is my favorite sin." )) I know the black Corvara is looking better than the gray one & the Thule. It's also ~50% more expensive than the gray one, though... I'm going to the roof box store tomorrow to try each one of them on top of the Yeti, and to see if "black on black" is 50% more better

@Johann - "Vanity is my favorite sin." )) I know the black Corvara is looking better than the gray one & the Thule. It's also ~50% more expensive than the gray one, though... I'm going to the roof box store tomorrow to try each one of them on top of the Yeti, and to see if "black on black" is 50% more better

Any photos of that experiment would be appreciated. :yes:

@Johann - "Vanity is my favorite sin." ))

Hehehe. Well take pictures of both, start a new thread with a poll and let us vote which one you should get!

I'm lucky that my grey one matches my Steel Grey pretty well!

Any photos of that experiment would be appreciated. :yes:

Will try to provide complete coverage of the event

This is my Yeti with Hapro 420 litre roof box at Hull a couple of weeks ago waiting to board ferry to Rotterdam.

Hapro roof box was bought off ebay a couple of years ago. It has a great system for fitting to the roof bars which does not require any tools.

Car felt comfortable cruising at speeds up to 85 mph and over 2000 miles returned 45 mpg.

John

Edited 27 January, 201115 yr by jst_at_home

Soooo - here are some photos. Sorry bout the crappy images, forget to charge the batteries of my Canon, and my phone is... well, just a phone

Sideview of the black Kamei Corvara 310, gray Thule Pacific 500 and some fat Hapro :

And front views, in the same order:

- Hapro & unknown dude

And some conclusions:

- wrong orientation for one of the pics, I know!

- never forget to charge batteries!

- for that long long roof box, you need to have a short aerial. The eagle-eyed can see that I have one. Really short one!

- with that long roof boxes, you cannot open the boot completely! Both Thule Pacific 500 & Kamei Corvara 310 are ~ 2.30m.

So I'll have to rethink my strategy again

To start from the beginning, my brother is taller than me, and his skies are longer (~1.90m). Mine are 1.80, and I consider them the max length, that is comfortable to be carried inside (between the seats, in a ski sack, of course). Also having more than 2 pairs of skies inside is unacceptable (for me, ate least). So I decided to have a ski carrier for the roof rack. But than I decided to switch for a roof box, to compensate for the small boot. But that long roof box is not a perfect fit for the Yeti, as it turns to be. So maybe now I'll go for a shorter roof box + simple ski carrier for exceptionally long skies...

[quote name='sebast' date='28 January 2011 - 10:13' timestamp='1296209622'

- with that long roof boxes, you cannot open the boot completely! Both Thule Pacific 500 & Kamei Corvara 310 are ~ 2.30m.

I had had a reply typed the other day about making sure the boot can open, but then thought you must have checked these somehow as to be correct for a Yeti. On a normal car roof bars are pretty much over the middle of the roof, but on the Yeti (or any estate car with fixed rails) the cross bars are much further back thus a roof box tail cantilevers a lot further back. Having been used to see my roof box right over my head through the A2's sunroof I find it weird in the Yeti to see sky though the sunroof since my box sits so far back!

I hope you get a solution. And I think for the record the black one looks best!

Hi Big Husky

I was thinking of buying one of these, they've got them on offer in Halfords. I've got the Skoda bars on order but thought this looked quite handy. It folds up and I don't want to store a hard box in the shed. How is it in the rain, does it affect the MPG badly? It looks a good size but is it difficult to load and keep it a good shape?

I'd appreciate your advice.

Hi scotchandskoda,

Sorry didn't get back sooner. The 'bag' seems to be totally waterproof, MPG wise - it didn't have an adverse effect, but my Yeti had myself, wife 3 kids and 2 large dogs on board when we last used the Thule bag. Very easy to load up, and literally could attach it to the Thule roof bars in under 2 minutes with the quick release catches. So it can be taken off the roof bars quiclkly, rolled up, and put in its own bag , and put away in a cupboard (or whereever) when you are at your destination. I think that is the major advantage over a plastic roof box.

Hope that's of some help?

Soooo - here are some photos. Sorry bout the crappy images, forget to charge the batteries of my Canon, and my phone is... well, just a phone

Sideview of the black Kamei Corvara 310, gray Thule Pacific 500 and some fat Hapro :

And front views, in the same order:

- Hapro & unknown dude

And some conclusions:

- wrong orientation for one of the pics, I know!

- never forget to charge batteries!

- for that long long roof box, you need to have a short aerial. The eagle-eyed can see that I have one. Really short one!

- with that long roof boxes, you cannot open the boot completely! Both Thule Pacific 500 & Kamei Corvara 310 are ~ 2.30m.

So I'll have to rethink my strategy again

To start from the beginning, my brother is taller than me, and his skies are longer (~1.90m). Mine are 1.80, and I consider them the max length, that is comfortable to be carried inside (between the seats, in a ski sack, of course). Also having more than 2 pairs of skies inside is unacceptable (for me, ate least). So I decided to have a ski carrier for the roof rack. But than I decided to switch for a roof box, to compensate for the small boot. But that long roof box is not a perfect fit for the Yeti, as it turns to be. So maybe now I'll go for a shorter roof box + simple ski carrier for exceptionally long skies...

Regarding skis, I use 175 carving skis. For what it's worth we got the following in our Hapro box:

3 pairs of skis (175, 165 and 160) and poles

3 pairs of ski boots

1 Thule nose bag

2 Thule holdalls.

John

Regarding skis, I use 175 carving skis. For what it's worth we got the following in our Hapro box:

3 pairs of skis (175, 165 and 160) and poles

3 pairs of ski boots

1 Thule nose bag

2 Thule holdalls.

John

Can you tell me the outer dimensions of this Hapro box (and model)? From Thule dimensions, I have concluded that ~11cm shorter than the box skis can be fitted.

Hi,

I have a Steel Grey Yeti and the Kamei Covara 390 Titinium is a near perfect colour match (it is also one of the most highly regarded roof boxes on the market).