Should I just leave me roof bars on all the time?

[Llama.]

Hello all

I finally got my Tesla OEM roof bars and fitted them today.

I drive a MIC LR M3, which appears to have plenty of range for anything I need. I live in Leeds and I can easily get to Whitby or the Lake District and back without a charge.

The roof bars don’t seem to hard to take off but I’m tempted to just leave them on during the sunnier six months of the year.

Are they too ugly to drive around in? Surely I won’t loose too much range with these roof bars will I?

Im not driving around with the roof box on all the time.

But what do you think? Leave em on or take em off?

thanks

Llama

 

[Olibol]

I’m thinking about doing the same. Interested to hear what people think.

 

[Dilly]

I don’t have them on my M3 but years of roof racks on other cars says the less you fit and remove, the less likelihood of any little ‘accidents’ you will have.
I certainly left mine on each year until the need had passed.

 

[Llama.]

I don’t have them on my M3 but years of roof racks on other cars says the less you fit and remove, the less likelihood of any little ‘accidents’ you will have.
I certainly left mine on each year until the need had passed.

What do you mean ‘accidents’? Like damaging the car when the bars go on and off?

 

[NewbieT]

I’m leaving mine on just for the summer. Kayak goes on most weeks and I’m not up for weekly de-mounting.

 

[Dilly]

What do you mean ‘accidents’? Like damaging the car when the bars go on and off?

Exactly that. Plus just moving it about each time to locate it just adds potential for wear & tear.

 

[Olibol]

I’ve left bike holders on the top of other cars year round, and would like to with this one, but it just seems a bit at odds with the aero ethos. I don’t think the range reduction would impact on daily life, but I guess I might feel a bit silly.

 

[MrBadger]

But what do you think? Leave em on or take em off?

Personally, the official ones, I would leave them on. I think they look quite good and by all accounts do no measurable harm to range.

It also prevents the chance of damaging the glass - numerous threads of the glass shattering either by over tightening or nicking the glass - I suspect the latter is more of an issue with poorly aligned roof panels, something hopefully that is less of an issue on MiC cars. Certainly the first roof panel of our car would have prohibited roof bars being fitted, such was the poor alignment of the factory fitted glass panels, subsequently replaced.

 

[Peter 224]

They look good, I'd leave them on.
Fascinated to know how they are secured!

 

[Llama.]

They look good, I'd leave them on.
Fascinated to know how they are secured!

I think they look pretty good too.

We’re a one car family, so the Model 3 has to do everything for us, particularly camping trips for the four of us. So a roof box is an essential for us. I have 4 Thule bike carriers too.

The bars secure to a hard point under the glass roof. There are some brackets that slip under the glass. Here is a video with some detail.

 

[MrBadger]

We’re a one car family, so the Model 3 has to do everything for us, particularly camping trips for the four of us. So a roof box is an essential for us. I have 4 Thule bike carriers too.

Just be careful of weight limits - the bike carrier limit of iirc 54kg (less on 20" rims) and overall occupant and cargo limit south of 400kg - that will probably be on a sticker inside passenger door return. Its not a great amount and compared with our previous car, there would be times where we would be limited in what/how (~70kg batteries) we could carry.

 

[Envchem]

I use mine like twice per year so I opted for putting them on only when I need them; if you plan on using them more often then I cant see a problem with leaving them on. I didnt notice any significant impact on range with the bars left one. The box though is a proper range killer

 

[OddJob83]

I was looking into getting the roof racks myself for some of the potential driving holidays. I think i would also take them off when not in use. One the point above i read somewhere that if you reverse the box (ie pointy end facing the rear) the aero works better as it acts like a aeroplane wing reducing drag.

 

[TestPilot]

I might look I to these. I have the Thule Raceway 2 for the boot and it *murders* the range with two bikes on there.

 

[Avendit]

Just reinstalled ours, were on all last summer. Best looking bars I've ever seen and I don't like putting them on and off (Tesla ones have their own risks, but I apply this to every car - every transaction is a scratch waiting to happen).

As others said, no noticeable drain in them selves. Load them and they make a difference. Box on backwards is suppos d to be better (would love to see a proper experiment to see how much), but after doing it once I decided it made me look like an asshole that's made a mistake. So forwards it is for us untill more data points are gathered!

 

[Adopado]

Just reinstalled ours, were on all last summer. Best looking bars I've ever seen and I don't like putting them on and off (Tesla ones have their own risks, but I apply this to every car - every transaction is a scratch waiting to happen).

As others said, no noticeable drain in them selves. Load them and they make a difference. Box on backwards is suppos d to be better (would love to see a proper experiment to see how much), but after doing it once I decided it made me look like an asshole that's made a mistake. So forwards it is for us untill more data points are gathered!

There’s a YouTube vid of a company that has started making the boxes to a reverse design that included some figures for improved aero. Sorry can’t remember the details but maybe worth a search.

 

[jamherber]

Just fitted bars to our SR+ for transporting a couple of kayaks. Think they look pretty good and are clearly quite aerodynamic so I'll be leaving them on for the summer (including a holiday to North Wales in August, in an area with the worst EV infrastructure in the whole of the UK). They do whistle quite a bit at around 50 to 55mph though.

 

[Cardo]

There’s a YouTube vid of a company that has started making the boxes to a reverse design that included some figures for improved aero. Sorry can’t remember the details but maybe worth a search.

Bjorn has a video showing the “aero” box which is designed back to front for better aerodynamics. I would hazard against fitting a regular box back to front as this will be contrary to the design and fitting instructions and could cause issues should something go wrong.

 

[kuruma]

I put Farad Pro Wing bars on for the first time last week, drove around and noticed some noise into oncoming wind above 50mph. Tried out the Thule Motion XT XL roof box today and all was good. Didn't want the wind noise or reduced range of the bars being on permanently though so I took off the bars as we'll only use them when we stick on our roof box for road trips/camping.

They're easy to put on and off. They'll take about 15 mins to put back now that I have the stands at the right widths. It would be hard to damage your car by removing them when not needed. The bases are rubber and the brackets don't touch the glass. When the whole thing's assembled the bars rest on the metal, not the glass anyway so no danger there.

 

[torquewala]

I had roof rails on my M2 and liked to keep them on during the summer months. I feel like the smaller the hurdle to getting out and riding my bike on the trails, the more often I would do it. Having the roof rails on throughout the summer made it really quick to mount the bike rack and bike (< 10 minutes).

Similar to what @kuruma said, I noticed some wind noise / whistling above around 40 mph which was annoying, but tolerable.

Having the rails on also makes it easier to find your car in a parking lot