Roof box v ski rack

Driving to the Alps on the 31st.

We're a bit stuffed for space as 5 of us in the car and we're trying to decide whether to try and get hold of a topbox - borrow or hire.

We usually just use a rack, but thinking of how much extra we can fit into a box.

Anyone use them? Are they worth using? Thinking of fuel consumption from drag, weight. Will that weigh out benefits of carrying more? Do they fit as much in as they claim?
Obviously realise they come in different lengths and we'd need a long one

Apologies if asked before, can't remember seeing topic before.

Dids.

A top box is a great investment if you have a car or estate. I often use one even with an extended 7 seater van. On a long trip the passengers are less cramped. For water sports you can keep the wet stuff out of the vehicle, likewise for camping.
I have a large box and it makes maybe one or two miles per gallon difference on a long haul.

Dont forget it may put you over height for the crossing and could incur extra charges

Trencher wrote:A top box is a great investment if you have a car or estate. I often use one even with an extended 7 seater van. On a long trip the passengers are less cramped. For water sports you can keep the wet stuff out of the vehicle, likewise for camping.
I have a large box and it makes maybe one or two miles per gallon difference on a long haul.

Thanks for that. I think we'll go for it. (subject to the below...)

Tony_H wrote:Dont forget it may put you over height for the crossing and could incur extra charges

Thanks, that has occurred to me. We're going on the tunnel so was going to give them a ring today before I made a final decision.

Your car with roofbox needs to be less than 1.83m I use a roofbox with ski rack alongside which will carry 3 pairs of skis leaving the roofbox free for ski poles etc as ski bindings take up a lot of room

Now that's a good idea. So a narrow box as well as ski rack.

We have an estate car, even with roof box will be under the max height allowed.

Borrowed a roof box when we drove to Austria in Feb, worked a treat for us as we had 5 in the car and wanted the extra space. Took food etc. going and on the way back any boots, ski boots and used ski kit we put in in black plastic bags and shoved in there. Loads of room in them and doesn't cram the car full.

No extra fees if you are over 1.85m on Eurotunnel, you just go in a taller train, best to book it and if you don't take the roof box they will just put you on the earliest train anyway.

Bit of a pain for us as there were 3 vehicles in our group, we had to wait for a the next train with the taller ceiling as we were at 2m, so the other 2 went on ahead and had to wait 20 minutes when they got off in Calais.