Roof bars for Avant

**dirtmerchant** · 09-04-2010,08:14 PM

Hey guys, one for the avant owners really (although all advice welcome). I'm looking at getting some roof bars for my B6, are the Audi ones the best to go for or are there as good/better after market ones out there?

**Boy** · 09-04-2010,09:31 PM

Thule ones available from ********* seem just as good at half the price.
Look on fleabay as well for either sort.
Keep us posted on how you get on.

**andyroo82** · 10-04-2010,09:00 AM

I have been looking in to this and found some by a company called Atera but work out about the same as Halfords for the Thule ones. Been scouring eBay but not found anything yet. Good luck

**JohnHighfield** · 10-04-2010,09:06 PM

HI Dirtmerchant

I can certainly recommend the Thule ones as I have the aero bars which are extremely stylish & well made.

I also have Thule cycle carriers (which are really well engineered & stylish) & slot into the roof bars. All the Thule stuff has inbuilt locks & is very secure.

The Thule bars fit my A6 Avant & the wifes A4 Avant - so they are pretty versatile.

John C

**miniredcooper** · 10-04-2010,09:47 PM

Can't speak for the Audi ones. But I have Thule aerobars on mine when needed.
Wind noise is much reduced versus square bars from other (cheaper) brands which I have had previously.
They are very secure and quick and easy to fit and you don't need any tools to secure (or lose) all built into the feet.
You can also mount accesories (roof box, cycle racks etc) via the t-track system which again gives a very secure fit and less wind noise at speed.
Oh yeah - Halfords charge a fortune - same gear can be bought online for less often considerably. Gumtree/ebay are often good options second hand as there is very little to go wrong.
Only criticism from me is the 861 aero bars do overhang the roof rails just a few centimetres more than my eye would like. But that's just being super fussy.

**winnie070383** · 11-04-2010,08:27 AM

DID U NO!!!

the genuine Audi bars are made by Thule and no diffrent to the aftermarket Thule bars you can buy from halfords but to be honest you can buy them much cheaper online, i have bourght of these twice with no probs and much cheaper than most places http://www.skidrive.co.uk/bars/selector3.php?idx=1679

**mparsons** · 11-04-2010,07:00 PM

Originally Posted by andyroo82

I have been looking in to this and found some by a company called Atera but work out about the same as Halfords for the Thule ones. Been scouring eBay but not found anything yet. Good luck

I have had the Atera aero bars for a number of years and I really like them. They look great, the wind noise is almost none existant and I've converted all my accessories (box, ski rack, cycle racks) to slide in to the bars. Makes fitting really easy.

It takes less than 2 mins to fit them and they come with a special key which makes them heard to nick. They also come with rubber strips which fit into the bars in case you want to strap larger items onto them and stop them slipping.

I got fed up with Thule after all the locks suffered from salt damage up here in Scotland.

M

**dirtmerchant** · 12-04-2010,01:51 PM

All good advice guys cheers, going to begin the hunt

**dirtmerchant** · 12-04-2010,08:34 PM

Just bought some Atera aero bars, will let you know how I go.

**dirtmerchant** · 14-04-2010,07:42 PM

Originally Posted by andyroo82

I have been looking in to this and found some by a company called Atera but work out about the same as Halfords for the Thule ones. Been scouring eBay but not found anything yet. Good luck

Just thought i'd let you know, i got a set of aero atera bars from the roofbox company £93.35 delivered, look great on the car, just wondering now if anyone has been brave enough to cut them to shorten the overhang?