Pano Glass Roof & Roof Rack experience

[RobJ]

I picked up an older Audi A3 which has the full length glass pano roof/sunroof and no gutters, factory rails etc. A number of the major rack manufacturers caveat that their rack won’t work while some say they will. I don’t want a trunk mount either. SeaSucker was in the running but the showstopper is that it can’t be secured to the vehicle.

Anyone have any experience to share about a particular rack in use with the glass roof? Only carrying one maybe two bikes; gravel/road. Thanks.


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[teleguy57]

Successfully using a Yakima roof rack with the appropriate model-specific towers and mounting pass on my wife's Ford Edge with a panoramic roof. Was able to adapt my old round bars to the setup so I could use all my existing toy holders.

[eddief]

it does not show roof opening and closing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpXLxRgs9zk

by the time you get all the parts for a roof rack you could get a hitch and a 1Up and you won't kill your bikes in your garage door opening.

[ntb1001]

I have a Q5 with a Audi roof rack and the full pano glass sunroof. Everything works great...but the Q5 have the roof rails, so I don’t know if that matters or not.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190811/419b64d5d48736413b0154f2e25a5fbc.jpg


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[gavingould]

had a roof rack on my VW sportwagen with pano roof before VW bought the car back. still have all the parts, it's the Whispbar S53 set expect i can't find my damn key for the locks...

i did have to put some thin rubber pads (like you'd put on chair feet) on top of the rails so the crossbars would clear the glass when it opened.

[Ttx1]

OE Audi rack is the way to go.

That said, I have the pano roof on my avant, and I rarely open it... I’d be fine with Whispbar or similar.

[CDollarsign]

My pano opens all the way with whispbars. B8 A4 Avant.

[Bentley]

I don’t know how many bikes you want to haul, but they make a 1/2/3 bike carrier, you could always add a single to a 3 if you need 4.

Works great

Ray

[rrudoff]

On my 2018 Tiguan I had to do a bit of research to find a rail set that works with a panoramic roof, VW ones did not look that great, and I wanted Thule or Yakima accessory options. Also the VW and some of the other offering rails don't extend beyond the clamps, which is not ideal for some of the things I carry such as multiple surfboards. All the options but one from Thule cautioned about using panoramic roof while rails mounted, I think they run a bit too low and can interfere. However the Thule Evo Wing Bar mounts high enough to not be in an issue. Your mileage may vary on an A3-and I was careful to do a fit check with nothing secured to be sure of clearance. The Thule and Yakima fir guides seem pretty complete.

[RobJ]

On my 2018 Tiguan I had to do a bit of research to find a rail set that works with a panoramic roof, VW ones did not look that great, and I wanted Thule or Yakima accessory options. Also the VW and some of the other offering rails don't extend beyond the clamps, which is not ideal for some of the things I carry such as multiple surfboards. All the options but one from Thule cautioned about using panoramic roof while rails mounted, I think they run a bit too low and can interfere. However the Thule Evo Wing Bar mounts high enough to not be in an issue. Your mileage may vary on an A3-and I was careful to do a fit check with nothing secured to be sure of clearance. The Thule and Yakima fir guides seem pretty complete.

Excellent data point! Thanks. It looks like this might be the one I go with too, though I do like the more aero ones (that don't extend past the towers) but probably good to have for expandability.

[Moyboy]

I have an 2019 X3 with the OEM cross rails riding on roof rails from the factory. No issues or strange limits on weight.