Bike Racks - 3 door S-Line?

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iainjo

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I've searched the forum and a lot of the threads are quite old so I wanted to see what people would recommend nowadays.

I've a 3-door 2009 (8P) S-Line, there's no roof prep that I can see that would accommodate roof rails, my preference anyway would be a rear high mount rack for 2 bikes, the concern is the rear roof mount spooler.

I don't want to spend the earth as it won't get used a huge amount, however I want something that's secure enough for the odd 6 hour trip to Scotland on some rough and ready back roads.

Had a look at the Saris racks and thos available through Halfords but it's often generic car pics which don't give you a feel for them on an A3, so feel free to share your pics :wink new:
 
Image

I use a seasucker hornet, I highly recommend it and it's so easy to use and then I just throw it in the boot when I'm not using it

They also do roof mounted versions for multiple bikes https://www.seasucker.com/shop/mini-bomber/#tab-description
 
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BurgoS3, certainly interesting and different, never seen a suction mount rack before and from their race car video you can see it's robust. Out of curiosity, from the handlebars back, how is that stopped from moving around?

I do really need a frame for 2 bikes, they don't have quick release wheels and are quite heavy (cheap'ish). I don't want to obscure the lights although that doesn't seem to worry many on the roads, so a higher mount is preferred. I might out of curiosity see what Halfords can recommend at least so I have some idea of the options.
 
I hook a bungee cord under the sill of the boot door and through the eye of the frame under the seat post and back under the boot sill. The bike only weighs 12kgs so It doesn't budge when I do that. Another thing to note is that if you have auto wipers then you have to deactivate the rear wiper from operating when you go in to reverse, I found out the hard way lol

Good luck and hope you find what you need/want
 
Looks a neat solution and thanks, useful to remember about the auto wipers as no doubt whatever I find will have some footprint on the rear window.

I've the journey from Sheffield to near Inverness (Nairn) in a few weeks so if I can't find what I want/like then it might be a thick groundsheet in the back of the car and some very careful positioning.
 
I'd recommend these.. called peruzzo, about £50-80 depending on model. Most are offered in steel tube and an aluminium option. To get the clips to fit over the Spoiler I had to open the boot and then close it once they were on. Solid though!

 
Thanks AudiA3JJ, that's certainly what I'm looking for so will explore further.

I nipped into Halfords this morning and they had two of a similar design, their own brand for around £50 and an Exodus (?) which said it fitted the A3 hatchback - the S-Line spoiler is the key though. They also had a Saris Bones but not sure that suits a hatchback. I might as well have looked online as they only had the boxes on display, nothing to see or play with and no staff available to help.
 
Thanks for the advice, it was of help despite me picking the following bike rack :redface: I just liked the fitment and the ease for mounting the bikes, particularly as it'll fit our other car and the missus can probably cope with this one without banging the pedals into the bodywork.

It's the Saris Gran Fondo 2-bike Rack. A little more expensive than some of the others but ticked all the boxe although not tried it yet. Apparently I can return if it doesn't fit.

gfrack12-mounted2.jpg


Still likely to interfere with the rear wiper so I've had a look on VCDS and I think the following is the correct setting to change: 09 - Central Electrics - In the long coding settings Byte 2 will be 1E once I've changed Bit 0. Yet to test that change, not sure if it's the setting linked to reverse, from the description it isn't so I may need to keep trawling through the Bytes (21, seems to a common one).

Upload 2016 8 4 12 12 20
 
For anyone that may be interested here's the Saris Gran Fondo fitted to my A3. The straps don't put any pressure on the rear spoiler and the frame doesn't interfere with the rear wiper so all good. I've not road tested it yet, the first trip will be a 400 mile trip up to the north of Scotland...in at the deep end. Note: side and lower straps weren't in place in the pics and I'll probably move the lower support bar down so it's closer to the lower wheel support for stability.

Upload 2016 8 14 13 46 8


Upload 2016 8 14 13 46 40
 
Thread resurrection :)

How're you getting on with your bike rack mate, I'm having a look around for my S Line...
 
The Governor said:
Thread resurrection :)

How're you getting on with your bike rack mate, I'm having a look around for my S Line...
Click to expand...

Sorry for the very late reply, the car had an unfortunate end in January this year and I'm just checking back in to grab the photos I uploaded as the bike rack is to be sold. It's proved excellent, we took 2 bikes up to the north of Scotland, an 850 mile round trip and no problems at all. It takes a little getting used to as you can see the bikes sway a little and there is an intial paranoia that they're going to come away. However they're rock solid, on the stop to Scotland I checked and tightened the straps although there probably wasn't any need. Perfect, just a shame it doesn't fit my new coupe :grumpy:
 
i use a 2 bike rack from halfords and it clips top off boot ( hinge part ) and bottom clips go on unneath off boot door and all you do is put some soft cushion in the clips works a treat
 
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