Bike carrying options on A4 Avant S-Line?

[interbear]

Hi all,

Looking for some advice please. I have a 58 plate A4 Avant S-Line. Loving the car, it's been great so far.

I need to be able to carry 3-4 bikes (2 adult, 2 kids) and have spent the last couple of hours trying to find the answer at Halfords, with no success. To be fair, the Halfords staff were extremely helpful, it seems though that the car is presenting some challenges.

Option 1 was rear mounted bike carriers, but none of these would work with the Avant. The S-Line spoiler proving to be the limiting factor it seemed.

Option 2 was roof bars. Should be straightforward I thought as the Avant S-Line has roof rails. Apparently however, they are not the type of roof rails that can take the "footpacks" however, I need another non-standard fitting kit first. Which poses the question - what use are roof rails unless they can accommodate standard roof bar kits (from Thule or Halfords for example)?

Option 3 is towbar fitted bike carrier, which would mean I need to get a towbar fitted (my technical knowledge extends this far ). I have no idea how much this would cost though.

So, any ideas, guidance, experience of trying to carry bikes with a A4 Avant S-Line would be very much appreciated.

[interbear]

So, having educated myself further on the subject of roof bars, it would appear that there are some reasonable options......

For anyone else interested, in my search for info I came across a superb web site on all matters roof bars, boxes, bike carriers, that presents exactly which solutions are available for specific car models in an easy to use website...............roofbox.co.uk.......

[ScottyUK]

I got my OEM roof bars from a guy on ebay. He used them once and was selling as they didn't carry as many bikes as he wanted.

He bought a tow bar kit for his A4 Avant but he didn't have the S-line body work. You do know you can get a towbar fitted by Audi? It's far from cheap though.

Since you want 2 + 2 kids bikes you may be ok.

Oh and Thule bars do fit the A4 Avant. See here :

http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2755904

You'll also notice my comments in that thread about the Audi bars noise. Mine howl between 40mph and 60mph. I didn't expect silence but I'm not impressed. I'm not sure how they are faster as I've only used them in town once. Perhaps a roof box would also change this.

[jakerade]

i presume in theory you could change the roof bars to the ones fitted on the all-road (similar the raised one on the B7). That would give you a few more options but no doubt would be an expensive exercise!

[Two Audi family]

Interbear,

I have a 2002 A4 2.5TDi Quattro avant sport, and I have a roof bar system that I bought from roofbox. I only carry 2 adult bikes, but I know you can fit 4 of them with no weight problem. It is a Thule system with the "different" feet, and is fantastic. It was expensive, but is rock solid and to me worth every penny. You will need the streamlined crossbars if you want the silent version.

PM me for details and I will dig out my invoice details with the part numbers etc.

TAF

[awtaylor]

Been there, done that! See here:

https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...46&postcount=8

[jakerade]

you sure the A4 is designed to have a roof rack and doesnt need a £3000 cooling fan modification?

[interbear]

Been there, done that! See here:

https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...46&postcount=8

Good stuff.....and exactly the option I'll be going for, the web site is excellent and the Altera bars seem the best option - less messing around with fitting kits etc......

Thanks for posting.

[interbear]

Interbear,

I have a 2002 A4 2.5TDi Quattro avant sport, and I have a roof bar system that I bought from roofbox. I only carry 2 adult bikes, but I know you can fit 4 of them with no weight problem. It is a Thule system with the "different" feet, and is fantastic. It was expensive, but is rock solid and to me worth every penny. You will need the streamlined crossbars if you want the silent version.

PM me for details and I will dig out my invoice details with the part numbers etc.

TAF

Thanks, appreciate the offer of help. However I've decided that the Altera bars via roofbox.co.uk are the best answer for me, so will likely go down that route.

Still, it's kind of frustrating that the cheaper rear mount carrier options are not a feasible option on the new Avant.....they were fine on the previous B7 model. That would saved a fair few pennies........

[BMWBig6]

Been there, done that! See here:

https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...46&postcount=8

[I posted these questions in the other Thule thread too, but I'm not sure you're subscribed.]

Approximately how tall are the black feet, and how many cm is the bar above the centerline of the car (at the shortest clearance distance)?

Does it make much noise at highway speeds?