I am planning on getting some cross bars so I can begin hauling stuff
in my 958. These will mostly be used for 1-2 bikes, cargo carrier,
skis, and an occasional paddle board - no, not all at once. I
neglected to get a trailer hitch but I do have roof rails. My question
is Porsche OEM bars or Thule/Yakima?

I know most are going to say the Thule/Yakima ones offer more
flexibility of options and that is true but they are also more
expensive. Plus, Porsche offers carriers for all of the things I plan
to use it for.

- any noise difference between the Porsche vs. the others? Looks
like the Porsche ones are cut perfectly for the width while the others
will all have some cross bar overhang, does that overhang generate
significant turbulence and noise?

- how easy are the Porsche ones to take on or off? I don't plan on
leaving the cross bars up when not in use but I'm hoping that is a 5
minute or less chore.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

I am curious as well. What did you end up choosing?

 

My Thule bars wouldn't fit, not enough clearance between the rail and the roof. The cynical view would be that Porsche did it intentionally to discourage aftermarket accessories, but who knows Don't know if Thule has a newer bar that fits.

 

I wrestled with this myself.

You already did the first thing right and got the rails (including this for those specing a new build). The allowed capacity with the factory rails is 220lbs while the after market clamp ons are limited to 100lbs. Any hard box/basket eats up about 40-50lbs by itself.

On the cross bars what won me over was the price. I got the OEM bars from SunCoast cheaper than I could get the cheapest Yakima's while they were on sale at REI and I had a rebate check to use. If you look at the silent/whisper options then its even worse.

If you aren't planning to just leave the rails on, then the extra cost of the whisper/silent options is wasted. When you are actually carrying something the bars are not going to be the majority of the noise.

One thing that had me confused with the OEM bars is that they are not clearly marked and they have a distinct placement (IIRC the longer bar goes in front). As you tighten them down a pin slides out of the base to help anchor it in place. The hole on the rails is on the inside (toward the center if the car) and you need to make sure it lines up. Not hard as long as you know to expect it.

You didn't specifically ask, but I found the Yakima/Thule boxes to be better/cheaper than the OEM options. The best deal I found at the time was a Yakima Skybox from Amazon with their Prime shipping.

With the car all buttoned up there was no significant noise on our VA->FL trip. We couldn't, however, open the sunroof to get air for the dogs as the noise was unbearable.

 

I went with the OEM crossbars and the Thule cargo box for our trip out west this summer. Worked perfectly. Little wind noise or vibration, but I do have the thermally and noise insulated glass option. Bring a towel to access the roof however so you don't scuff your seats.

 

That's not a bad idea. I had the rear seat folded down for the dogs so that wasn't an issue, but I was using the armrest on the door as my other foot hold.

How do you like the Thule? I looked at both and ended up with the Yakima as it seemed like a bit better construction and had better tie down points inside (though I didn't end up needing them after all). I was really keen on Thule's Boxter box, but it was about 2" too short (height) for something that had to ride up there.

 

I'm happy with it. Yes the height is constrained compared to other boxes, but it is very wide. We had four people on the trip and were able to put suitcases up there (the type that fit in overhead plane compartments). We did 6000 miles round trip with some high cross winds on part of the drive. The locking clamps on the crossbars stayed solid the entire trip. Even with it shoved as far back as the locking clams would allow, we had plenty of clearance for the rear hatch.

Accessing either side was a plus. We also went through some pretty heavy rain as well and everything stayed dry.

It does look like I'm hauling a photon torpedo up there however.

 

That sounds on par with my experience. I was amazed that I still managed a respectable 27MPG with it up there as well!

 

Which whispar bars were you considering? I can't tell if the whisper bars will actually fit. Do you need additional feet adapters to mount onto the factory rails?

 

I looked both the Yakima and Thule options, but based on their price I didn't look very long. Just like their cheaper bars you need to have the feet. When I was looking they didn't list the 2013 specifically, but the ones that fit the 2011/2012 fit the 13s and 14s too (they just hadn't "certified" it yet).

If you aren't going to just leave them on your car 24/7 then in my opinion the value just isn't there for the price they want. When you are actively using them (e.g. something is attached to them), then the load will generate more noise than the bars themselves. I also don't recommend leaving bars installed all the time as their mechanism can get all mucked up due to prolonged exposure (I had to use a saws all to get one set off a used car I picked up a few years ago). I can also say that driving around with the OEM bars installed for a couple weeks without a load did not generate any noticeable noise in the cabin with the windows closed (so another ding on the value compared to the much cheaper OEM bars).

So I would say OEM vs base systems is probably a wash based on which you can get cheaper at the time (though of course the OEMs look better). The whisper/silent/etc.. bars are too expensive for no significant gain.

 

I'm using the OEM cross bars with the Yakima MegaWarrior gear basket. You could definitely put them on or take them off in 5 minutes.

 

I've been reading on some threads that folks have been saying that the OEM bars are too wide to fit the Thule/Yakima storage boxes.

 

I have the Yakima Skybox 16 and it's clamps work just fine on the OEM bars. Not remotely questionable. Just works.

 

Which Thule box is this?

 

Thule Boxter 611, more info at the link. I bought mine from Rack Attack which gives you a bit of a discount off of msrp. Fits perfectly on the OEM bars, but so do some of the cheaper boxes. Thule has a fit guide which will indicate which carriers work with the OEM crossbars

http://www.thule.com/en-us/us/produc...r-611-_-611000