Has anyone carried out this on fabia 2 estate , advice on this would be appreciated

Yes, there are some plastic covers each end of the bars. These GENTLY prise off to reveal two allen key headed bolts. Removal of these facilitates the removal of the bars. Proceed with caution!

Hi,

The original roof rails are fixed by bolts.

What about the fixing points after removal

Edited 29 April, 201313 yr by irfant

Thank you, I will have a look,I wish to to leave them off so will have to see what is underneath

I'd be very interested to know too, as I took the advice of the sales rep and ordered them for my GL2 estate, but have never used them and am not likely to now SHMBO has decided she doesn't like camping. They only add drag and weight and dirt....

So please share your experience with us.

You would think roof bars would be an option, as they bring down fuel consumption.

I suppose there is no incentive, as the fuel figures are done on a rolling road and aerodynamics do not come into it.

I asked my first vRS estate to come as the brochure, with no roof bars, but was not successful.

Tony

They won't add any noticeable drag and you don't even know they are there. IMO the estate looks better because of them.

The Estate version has a slightly lower drag coefficient over the Hatch and the bars make almost no difference to drag I would imagine.

The answer is in the words 'noticeable drag' and 'almost no difference to drag'. The operative word is 'drag' which will be increased with roof bars and will make a difference to fuel consumption but almost no difference, but measurable nonetheless.

There was a time not long ago when the key figures published by manufacturers included Cd factor, drag; this is no longer considered a selling feature because it is not relevant on a rolling road test and Co2 has gained more importance for those who believe that global warming is fact.

Tony :think:

It's a Fabia, not an Adrian Newey designed F1 car. It really doesn't matter

It's a Fabia, not an Adrian Newey designed F1 car. It really doesn't matter

With you on this the drag coefficient ey with the bars on or off is near as "0" as possible

is the extra drag going forward cancelled out by the extra assistance they provide when there is a tail wind?

Where there are cross winds do they assist like a Spinnaker on a sailing boat?

george

Hang on George, I'm just checking computer, gps and other satalite data on that one, just to be sure....oh....here's the answer. No!

is the extra drag going forward cancelled out by the extra assistance they provide when there is a tail wind?

george

Only if you are driving backwards???

Tony

This chat has reminded me of the days of the racing Mini's when they used to 'de-seam' them. Remember the Mini had raised spot welded seams along the roof line and down all pillars. This was done in the interests of aerodynamics; I recon racing speeds in those days would be about our motorway speeds today.

Tony

Actually i used to 'Seam Weld' them.

It was more to do with doing away with spot welds and putting some strength in.

george