Yakima vs. Thule on P5

[localkineguy]

Hi all,
I'm trying to decide between a Yakima and a Thule bike rack...mainly because those are the only two I know of. I have a bare roof.
1) Are the Q78 towers necessary for our P5?
2) Is there a difference between Yakima and Thule? What is it?
3) Is anybody selling one with a fairing locally (Delaware, Maryland, S. Jersey, Penn.)?

 

[azuelke]

Sub... I too have a bare roof and am in search of a bike rack.

 

[reut1]

I had a thule rack on my civic for a few years and really liked it. I had yakima cobra bike trays because they were on sale and liked how they held onto the bike.

the big difference between yakima and thule is yakima uses round bars and thule uses square. not sure if there is a big strength difference or not.

I had the Thule 400XT foot pack. http://www.rackattack.com/product-pages/thule-400xt-aero-foot-pack.asp

You also need a Thule 2069 FitKit for our cars.

Also i had the old style of fairing which covers more space and gives your more adjustment as to where the fairing sat on the roof.

If i were to buy new trays I would probably buy the Thule sidearm tray or the Yakima High roller.

It said it on rackattack.com this morning but its gone for some reason, but until May 16th thule products are 20% off msrp. Just call to place your order, i got myself a Thule T2 hitchrack for my p5 this morning and they took care of the discount over the phone.

A thule roofrack kit is much stronger and more stable i feel than the factory rack

 

[localkineguy]

Regarding the Thule 2069 FitKit, is it absolutely necessary?

 

[reut1]

Regarding the Thule 2069 FitKit, is it absolutely necessary?

yes. thats the rubber feet and "brackets" that hold the rack to the car

you need fitkit, towers (foot pack), loadbars. then you can choose the bike trays

 

[Ride92]

There really isn't a huge difference between Yakima and Thule. I've worked at bike shops that sell both and they are both great products. Thule is based out of germany and Yakima out of beaverton Oregon. The towers and fit kit are nessesary for any application, it's vehicle specific. If you have the factory roof rack on a P5 check out Yakima's Forklift bike trays. I have them and love them, just need to cut off 4" in the back so you can open the hatch or you can mount them backwards on the factory rails. Yakima and thule will cost about the same, and both have lifetime warranty so pick what ever system you'd like and what you're going to carry.

 

[localkineguy]

do you all notice any difference in MPG?

 

[reut1]

i really did in my civic. went from avg 32-34 to 28 usually without bikes on, just the rack and trays. on some trips with bikes on the roof and 3 of us in the car id get 25mpg

never did much roof rack stuff on the p5. got rid of it for a hitch set up

 

[Ride92]

I never really noticed a drop in MPG's

 

[localkineguy]

i really did in my civic. went from avg 32-34 to 28 usually without bikes on, just the rack and trays. on some trips with bikes on the roof and 3 of us in the car id get 25mpg

never did much roof rack stuff on the p5. got rid of it for a hitch set up

holy crap! That's a lot of MPG to sacrifice...anybody else have experiences with racks on a P5?

 

[Ride92]

Like I said, I have factory cross bars and yakima fork lifts bike mounts. Drove 5 hours to the camping spot with two hardtails up top with the EZ-Up sun shade in the middle and still got 29.78mpg for the trip. With nothing up there I get 30-31mpg so not a huge difference. I don't see how a complete Yakima or thule rack would change that much.

 

[XxCorradoxX]

I'm a Newbie to the Mazda world and need the factory roof rack/cross bars for a 2002 Protege5 4-cyl 2.0L. I need these ASAP if possible....have a trip coming up. CAN ANYONE HELP? PLEASE email me at Sedlmeier11@hotmail.com if you have any information that can help.

Thanks in advance.