Open Sky/Roofrack dilemma revisited

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Crawfster

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Okay, I know this is a bit of a tried-and-tested favourite on here, but I could rather do witha definitive answer before I take drastic action.

In short: bought Open Sky A2 June 2002, but had no idea about inability to use roofrack. Want to carry 14' open-top Canadian canoe (only light - 25-30kg) short distances on Tay Valley. Only possible solution appears to be Thule system (in picture gallery by Dennis de Held), but serious doubts as to whether it will be safe.

Has anyone tried this system - or any other - successfully?

If cannot find solution by end of week, am unquestionably selling A2. Humph.
 
I've used the Thule system, but not on a Open Sky'ed A2. I found it to be 100% secure given the couple of weeks that I had it on the car.

It was used to carry a top box, crammed with suitcases and other holiday rubbish along the motorway and also around Welsh country roads, with plenty of tight bends and hills.Weight of the box and contents was probably similar to that of your canoe.

Sometimes I wish that I'd bought Open Sky, as I liked the light it gave inside the car. However, as I bought an ex-demo, there wasn't much of a choice at the time, since I wanted CC too.

Hope this helps.
Paul.
 
I would think it would be fairly unsafe to attach any roof rack to an A2 with the open sky system. I think you should really ask Audi before you attempt anything.

2001 TDI SE, Open Sky System, 16" six spoke alloys, Kenwood Mask CD.
A2 Owners Club: www.Audi-A2.co.uk
 
Absolutely, Stuart. And the reply that comes back from Audi is that they don't "know" (read "care") and that I can only try it and see. They say that they dopn't recommend it, of course, such that if anything goes wrong, they have no liability.

My fear is not so much that of the weight on the glass, but the issue of the gutter/lip being so small as to be unable to restrict sideways movement of the load.

Any other thoughts gratefully received!
 
You could try sending an email to Thule for an opinion.

I don't think the weight of the canoe is the only issue, it's also the apparent weight/lift created by wind resistance. The open sky creates a huge hole in the roof, so the strength in the roof must be reduced over the non-sky version.

MartinW - Dolphin Grey 1.4SE
 
Hi,

The maximum roof load of the A2 is 30 kilo. You should be very careful since the canoe almost weighs that much !
Before you buy the roof mount ask the weight !



Dennis de Held

Amulet Red 1.4 Tdi
 
The open-sky roof fits very exactly between the panels in front and behind it. It also has to fit very exactly vertically. I'd not want to take a chance on messing up that fit because it would be very difficult and expensive to correct.

Chivers ':)'
'02 A2 1.4TDi SE
 
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