Whispbar has been discontinued

[rpo]

Just as a heads up for anyone who has not pulled the trigger on buying the roof rack for their Model S, I had to call the manufacturer of the Whispbar today to get a missing part, and they informed me Whispbar was discontinued and manufacturing halted a month ago. They could not find me the missing bolt from the kit I just purchased because it was already all out of stock at the factory. I'm not sure what my options are now.

So...if you have not bought the roof rack yet, I'd suggest doing so soon. Yakima, who owns Whispbar, said they do not have a compatible product on the horizon for the Model S, so there may not be any options for a roof rack soon.

 

[David99]

Maybe Tesla is switching suppliers?

 

[robby]

Bummer. Love my Whispbar. @rpo All parts are standard metric measurements so you should be able to get what you need at a hardware store. Spring for stainless if they have the option.

 

[timeslip]

heard rumors from local thule & yakima dealer that tesla is switching to thule now.

 

[berkeley_ecar]

This news leaves folks like me who have ordered recently at somewhat of a loss. I had planned on getting the Whispbar for use in carrying skis, bikes, and possibly a box at some point.Now I am trying to decide if it makes more sense to purchase a Whispbar from Tesla right away, or wait to see what comes along. If one buys the Whispbar, are you locked into using attachments that are unique to the Whispbar,
parts that will also disappear over time? The Whispbar does seem to be aerodynamically designed, compared to many other systems. I wonder if what follows will be as good (or better?). Thanks in advance for any helpful guidance.

 

[robby]

This news leaves folks like me who have ordered recently at somewhat of a loss. I had planned on getting the Whispbar for use in carrying skis, bikes, and possibly a box at some point.Now I am trying to decide if it makes more sense to purchase a Whispbar from Tesla right away, or wait to see what comes along. If one buys the Whispbar, are you locked into using attachments that are unique to the Whispbar,
parts that will also disappear over time? The Whispbar does seem to be aerodynamically designed, compared to many other systems. I wonder if what follows will be as good (or better?). Thanks in advance for any helpful guidance.

You're not locked into Whispbar attachments. Our roofbox is a standard type and it works great on the Whispbar.

 

[berkeley_ecar]

Thanks -- yes, I read about others using Thule boxes -- but what about skis, snowboards, bikes? The elegant aerodynamic roof rack system I had on my 30yo Volvo used attachments that fit to its elliptical cross-section, and wonder how the Whispbar would avoid doing the same...

 

[NotAJeff]

Sad to hear rumors of Whispbar's demise! Presumably Yakima's killing them off in favor of their own StreamLine System with suspiciousy-similar JetStream crossbars. Whispbar still seems to have less total drag in the Model S application, at least since Whispbar crossbars don't extend past the towers.

At least today, ReRack has new Whispbar parts at 50% off, generally with free shipping. I like Whispbar's WB201 bike rack and used this as an excuse to fill out my rack with two more. I'd be pretty sad if I couldn't get them next year when I really needed them.

 

[ThosEM]

I would greatly prefer a longitudinal rail style of rack, and it would be quieter than a "Whispbar".

 

[robby]

I would greatly prefer a longitudinal rail style of rack, and it would be quieter than a "Whispbar".

Don't you have to add crossbars to a rack to put anything on it, though? The beauty of the Whispbar is you can take it off completely when you don't need it.

 

[Steve S]

I see the Tesla Shop still has the Whispbar's listed. Wonder when this is going to change to the new system?

 

[berkeley_ecar]

Sad to hear rumors of Whispbar's demise! [...]

At least today, ReRack has new Whispbar parts at 50% off, generally with free shipping. I like Whispbar's WB201 bike rack and used this as an excuse to fill out my rack with two more. I'd be pretty sad if I couldn't get them next year when I really needed them.

It seems that they are still selling both the WB200 and WB201 bike carriers for roughly half list price. What is the difference between the two models, and what features of the considerably more expensive WB201 make you prefer that model? Would bike carriers from other vendors work with this rack system?

I went ahead and ordered the Whispbar rack from the Tesla online store, even though I do not have my car yet, just to be sure I'll have something that works. Not being up with the latest in rack systems, it's still unclear to me as to whether I need to be buying Whispbar ski mounts for the rack system as well, or if other brands will work as well, allowing me to defer purchases. Does anyone have recommendations about preferred Whispbar ski accessories, or workable ones from other vendors? With only one or two passengers I could of course likely carry skis inside the car with a rear seat down.

 

[MDR SEA]

Just as a heads up for anyone who has not pulled the trigger on buying the roof rack for their Model S, I had to call the manufacturer of the Whispbar today to get a missing part, and they informed me Whispbar was discontinued and manufacturing halted a month ago. They could not find me the missing bolt from the kit I just purchased because it was already all out of stock at the factory. I'm not sure what my options are now.

So...if you have not bought the roof rack yet, I'd suggest doing so soon. Yakima, who owns Whispbar, said they do not have a compatible product on the horizon for the Model S, so there may not be any options for a roof rack soon.

RPO
Which parts are you seeking?
I might be able to help.
I'm in Seattle
MDR

 

[rallykeeper]

For what it's worth, I think Yakima misunderstood your question. Virtually any rack from Yakima that can use the landing pad system will mount to Model S. You just need to figure out the correct landing pads.

I managed to buy the correct landing pads and towers to use with my 15 year-old round-bar system. Yes, it's not quite as aerodynamic; but let's face it, once you put something on the rack, you're talking about a marginal difference whether the rack itself is more aerodynamic.

 

[wesley888]

It seems that they are still selling both the WB200 and WB201 bike carriers for roughly half list price. What is the difference between the two models, and what features of the considerably more expensive WB201 make you prefer that model? Would bike carriers from other vendors work with this rack system?

WB200 seems to be the fork mount. You remove the front wheel and have the front fork of the bike to bolt on to the mount. THe WB201 is the upright mount that you have your entire bike standing on it.

 

[lucien]

I'm about to take delivery of a new Model S. I'm looking for a rack, and I see that Tesla still lists the Whispbar on their website. But on Whispbar's own website, they don't even list Tesla in their dropdown menu.

I know this thread is over a year old, but do you guys have any insight on what the current options are?

 

[CUBldr97]

For what it's worth, I think Yakima misunderstood your question. Virtually any rack from Yakima that can use the landing pad system will mount to Model S. You just need to figure out the correct landing pads.

I managed to buy the correct landing pads and towers to use with my 15 year-old round-bar system. Yes, it's not quite as aerodynamic; but let's face it, once you put something on the rack, you're talking about a marginal difference whether the rack itself is more aerodynamic.

I used my old Yakima rack as well, just got the correct landing pads... easy.

 

[BillFres]

Good to see that this thread is still going. Hopefully Thule has new "feet" for the rack system I'm carrying over from a BMW 328.

It was weird to go the the Whispbar website, and not see either any Teslas listed, or any cars after 2017! Didn't know they had gone out of business.

 

[ThosEM]

Don't you have to add crossbars to a rack to put anything on it, though? The beauty of the Whispbar is you can take it off completely when you don't need it.

You can have quite thin crossbars, that are adjustable in position, or removable as desired, with various kinds of rack adapters mounted to them. And of course the longitudinal bars could be removed completely just as easily as a Whispbar can be.

I find the Whispbar to be noisy, despite its name, and I'd rather have a rack that doesn't motivate me to remove it all the time by being so noisy. With longitudinal bars and thin cross members, that type of rack can be pretty innocuous.

 

[CUBldr97]

I know this thread is about Whisper Bars, but here is an alternative for all TESLA's to include X and is easy to add/ remove. While I have not used these, I have heard great things about them.
Ski and Board Racks