Ferries and roof boxes

[falsecaster]

Hi

anyone got any relevant experience or tales with regard to boarding ferries with a roof box. we are off to Spain with Brittany Ferries and have decided that we may need to put the roof box on but when I look at the ticket vehicle height is limited to 1.83m and the Roomster according the manual is 1.61m - the differnce 22cm is not enough to allow for a roof box - when I spoke to the ferry operator they said that above 1.83m would cost an extra £56. Does anyone know whether and how they actually enforce this at the port? is it worth taking a flyer on it?

Whilst on, I have the 1.2 automatic and the manual says it is a 6 speed - but on motorways the car cruises in D7, am I lucky in having 7 gears or is the manual wrong?! Anyone know

[dieselV6]

Eurotunnel does not charge extra for boxes, you just have to tell them you have higher car at booking time, and you go on a single-level shuttle with coaches.

Some ferry companies enforce the height viciously, because they have lower deck height for cars and higher deck height for trucks. Some do not enforce it unless the ferry is full.

In any case, telling ferry company you have car lower than it actually is creates a risk for you, especially if they do not enforce the height at all and rely on your booking statement. Then you enter/exit a low-ish deck from a ramp and suddenly your roofbox is behind you

I do not use roofbox (my family does, though). What I do use on my Superb, and will use on a Roomster, is a towbar mounted box carrier (aka Autobox). It fits on towbar, and lets you carry nose weight less 10kg, so around 40kg (65kg on Superb) in a neat 250l+ box with lights. And best part is, on a car of Roomster styling it actually lowers air drag so you can go at top speed (do not try this with roofbox, especially big one), and you don't pay extra/need special requirements on ferries.

Too bad the Autobox maker exited Europe (they're SA based originally), the only other alternative I know of is Thule with their bike carrier mounted box, but the Thule one is huuuge at 400l, wider than the car, and weighs over 20kg, not good for 50kg of Roomster's nose weight allowed.

Edited 16 April, 2012 by dieselV6

[P6bJOHN]

Is your Roomster an automatic or a DSG? My 2011 DSG is 7 speed, but if it is in sport mode it only goes up to 6th, so are you reading the manual for DSG sport mode?

[mannyo]

You can just alter the ferry booking online, however since with the roof box your car will no longer fit on the standard car deck there maybe insufficient space to carry your car on the lower deck used by Coaches, Lorries and Caravans. The spanish ferries are usually fully booked, so I would pay up or risk not being able to travel with the next ferry being days away. After all £56 on top of what must be around £950 in the main fare is small change.

[falsecaster]

Thanks guys sensible advice - will pay the extra.

P6bjOHN - yes, looking at the sales literature it is a DSG but thats not obvious from the handbook. thanks.

[Calomax]

Thanks guys sensible advice - will pay the extra.

P6bjOHN - yes, looking at the sales literature it is a DSG but that's not obvious from the handbook. thanks.

I think you'll find that the post-face-lift automatics are DSG, while the pre-face-lift ones are tiptronic.