[redvers76]

I've never had any sort of roof box before, and while I know the Tarraco has rails as standard, I imagine I need to get bars to go across before I fit a box? Or are there any boxes that will fit straight onto the rails?

Anyone who already has a box on their Tarraco have any recommendations?

 

[SeriousDave]

I have just been InTouch with the roofbox company just Google them, there prices and service are fantastic, you want a box that opens either side with a car this tall but they will advise you on all that

 

[stellamaris5]

Yes it has roof rails but you need and the roof bars across first.

 

[redvers76]

Yes it has roof rails but you need and the roof bars across first.

Generic or would it be recommended to get the Seat ones specific to the Tarraco ?

 

[Driver]

Yes it has roof rails but you need and the roof bars across first.

Generic or would it be recommended to get the Seat ones specific to the Tarraco ?

I've been looking at this myself recently as I'm looking to purchase a roofbox and rails for our holiday later this summer.

My personal opinion was that it was better to get aftermarket rails and boxes as generally the maufacturer ones are just rebranded versions of whatever aftermarket manufacturer they have a partnership with. Also, if you go aftermarket its much more likely that you can re-use on another car should you need to by purhasing the correct footpack for the other car and reusing the other components.

There are various options for roof bars and they vary in price depending on what you want. They are either made from steel or aluminium with the aluminium ones being more expensive - lighter weight / stronger etc. The shape of the roof bars affect noise and fuel economy so going too cheap may be a false economy depending on how much noise you're willing to put up with.

The Tarraco has roof rails so any roof bars you buy will clamp onto these rails. I opted for the Thule Wingbar edge for their aerodynamic design.

Thule WingBar Edge 9585

These bars are designed to sit low on the roof rails and they do not protrude over the edge of the roof bars and are wingshaped for noise reduction. The disadvantage is that the load area for the roof bar is narrower because of this.

Thule also have their standard wingbars that protrude over the edge of the rails which will allow you to fit a roof box and also a bike or two on the roof due to its wider load area.

You'll need to buy the wingbars and also the correct footpack to clamp onto the Tarracos roof rails. According to the Thule website, the parts required are:

Thule WingBar Evo 127
SKU 711300
Thule Evo Raised Rail
SKU 710400

Like I said though, I went for the Wingbar edge because I think they look a bit sportier but they aren't cheap. RRP is about £320 but you can get them on Amazon for about £250.

With regards to the roofbox that sits on the bars and actually holds all of your stuff, most roof boxes will fit on most bars and are not manufacturer dependent. I went for the Motion XT X-Large:

Again, depending on the roofbox size, material, shape, features, manufacurer you can go cheap or expensive. The one I picked has an RRP of around £500 but can be had for much cheaper if you shop around. Unfortunately for you and me, summer is the wrong time to be buying roofboxes...

Just note that the weight of the roof bars and roof box count towards the maximum load weight that the car roof is reated to carry.

 

[redvers76]

Many thanks for that post, funnily enough I was looking along the same lines for what to get box wise.

Only annoying thing I have found, the Tarraco is only rated for 75KG load on roof including the box/rails (which have a combined weight of 30KG in the ones you've gone for)

 

[Driver]

Many thanks for that post, funnily enough I was looking along the same lines for what to get box wise.

Only annoying thing I have found, the Tarraco is only rated for 75KG load on roof including the box/rails (which have a combined weight of 30KG in the ones you've gone for)

Yeah it's staggering how much 2 aluminium bars and a plastic box can weigh!

45KG of stuff should be enough for us to take some stuff away for an Airbnb break. I'm more worried about the drag factor and height restrictions. Will need to measure the height including the roofbox and put it on a post-it note in the cabin or something. 😁

 

[SeriousDave]

https://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel3.php?emulate=roofbar&query=8675

Here is a good link, if you have questions just call them there service is fantastic, they also do offers on boxes with bars and foot packs

 

[redvers76]

There's a flash sale on at Halfords today, I'm close to pulling the trigger on a Thule Motion XT XL for £432 delivered! Although the Hapro 8.6 can be had for £380 and that's fifty quid I could put towards having a proper set of bags for loading up the box...

 

[SeriousDave]

There's a flash sale on at Halfords today, I'm close to pulling the trigger on a Thule Motion XT XL for £432 delivered! Although the Hapro 8.6 can be had for £380 and that's fifty quid I could put towards having a proper set of bags for loading up the box...

Go online and register with the Toyota's owners club and pay £14 to become a member, you then get sent a discount card for 15% off everything at Halfords except bikes which are 10% discount 😉

 

[Driver]

Pulled the trigger on a set of Thule Wingbar Edge roofbars in silver. They are pretty low profile and were easy to fit.

Wingbar Edge M/L (aka model 9585).

I did initially want the black version but when it came to the crunch I actually thought the silver looked better / blended in better with the chrome on the car.

 

[Driver]

I pulled the trigger on the Thule Motion XT XL roofbox. It fits nice on the wingbars and compliments the vehicle I think.

The box is well made (as you would expect for the price) and it's the perfect size for the Tarraco. First impressions are good although I've yet to use it in anger.

The total height is around 2m but we managed to comfortably fit under a 2 meter height restriction coming out of Halfords carpark - not sure if the height restriction bars are actually set higher than they state to provide a margin for error?

 

[redvers76]

It looks fantastic but at £480 it seems a bit pricy for the number of times I know we'll use it... although saying that I spent £245 on the black aero bars already

I'm close to pulling the trigger on the Hapro Traxer 8.6 for £380, similar box for £100 less! Or at £295 there's the Hapro Traxer 6.6, only 410 litres (as opposed to 530) but that should still be way more than enough space for what we need! Or even cheaper still is the KAMEI Husky XXL for £285... And this is why I haven't bought a box yet.

 

[Driver]

It looks fantastic but at £480 it seems a bit pricy for the number of times I know we'll use it... although saying that I spent £245 on the black aero bars already

I'm close to pulling the trigger on the Hapro Traxer 8.6 for £380, similar box for £100 less! Or at £295 there's the Hapro Traxer 6.6, only 410 litres (as opposed to 530) but that should still be way more than enough space for what we need! Or even cheaper still is the KAMEI Husky XXL for £285... And this is why I haven't bought a box yet.

I know what you mean about the price. I was looking at the Hapro Traxer 8.6 and the Kamei boxes myself - basically all the boxes on roofbox.co.uk before you scroll down to get to the Thule XT XL 😆

The Hapro looks good and like you say a very similar box for 100 quid less! I think it looks just as good as the Thule one and dare I say it - even more aerodynamic. However, I was fortunate enough to have a family member get me the Thule one on a staff discount so it actually came in cheaper than the others at £360.

What I like about the Thule XT XL is that it sits very low on the roof - the way it is shaped and mounts onto the wingbars it probably sits a smidge below the line of the Tarraco roof rails.

We took the car out with the roofbox today for a 150 mile round trip and I can report that with the combination of the wingbars and the Thule box there was no additional noise that we could notice. We wouldn't have known it was there in a blind test.

 

[redvers76]

Just ordered the Traxer 6.6, it should be plenty big enough and a little easier to store than the 8.6!

Interestingly there's a 5% discount at roof box if you go via the uk caravanning website

 

[redvers76]

Well my Hapro Traxer 6.6 has arrived and it is MASSIVE, looks way too big for the car! Have put the roof bars on this morning before the heavens opened, will play around with fitting the box when it's dry.

Glad I didn't go for a bigger box, this seems way too big let alone a box 25cm longer!

 

[Driver]

Well my Hapro Traxer 6.6 has arrived and it is MASSIVE, looks way too big for the car! Have put the roof bars on this morning before the heavens opened, will play around with fitting the box when it's dry.

Glad I didn't go for a bigger box, this seems way too big let alone a box 25cm longer!

It will look smaller when it's on top of the Tarraco than you think. I had the same worry with the Thule XL and was having 2nd thoughts about getting it but once it's on top of the car it doesn't look so massive.

Hot tip: When you first lift the box on the car for the first time, leave plenty of room for the boot, and then open the boot and slide the box back as far as it will go without coming into contact before tightening the grips. Perfect alignment done easy. 😁

 

[redvers76]

So had a great trip with the new roof box, we also bought the "special" bag set to ensure that the luggage would all fit, worked perfectly for our week away! Now home, box cleaned up and put away, question is, do I leave the roof bars in place or remove them? (Thule Wingbars)

 

[Zygis]

hi, maybe you have picture how Traxer looks on your Tarraco, because I am thinking about same roof box
thanks