Roof Rack Options for 2015 SportWagon (WagEn in US)

doctorkb

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2001
Location
Canada
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagon TDI
I have Yakima universal ones (the ugly, noisy round bar) for my Mk 4 wagon and they work fine. If the bars had been long enough, I could have used them on my Mk7.
 

ochoada

TDIClub Contributor
Joined
Feb 8, 2012
Location
Indianapolis
TDI
2012 Jetta Sedan 2012 Jetta Sportwagen
I really enjoy my Thule Aeroblades with the Crossroad feet. They are very quiet if you use all the gap filling trim and I am able to fit 2 bikes and a Yakima 16S pro box on the roof.
 

claddaugh

New member
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Location
Panama City, FL
TDI
Jetta Sportwagen 2014
Shimming Whispbar S53s

You can shim the s53's to vent, just not fully open. The GSW uses are smaller height rail, which puts the bar closer to the pano roof. What I do is loosen the front rail, and slide it to the back. This takes all of a minute, and you end up with the rails in the back area, not visible in the pano roof, it will open fully then if you wish.

Just ordered the Whispbars. Has anyone figured out how to shim them so the pano opens on a 2014 JSW? What do you use for shimming?

Thanks!
 

makattack

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2015
Location
Boston, MA
TDI
2015 VW Golf Sportwagen TDI/S/Manual
https://goo.gl/photos/Nc6SWbA8Roo2ChwBA

Using the Yakima RailGrab Towers, which I ordered after getting the vehicle. I already had the standard round yakima bars and bike accessories, but needed to do some surgery on the load bars to remove the old end-caps, clean off the rust, install the rail towers, replace the end caps (which came with the RailGrab towers) and finally install the bike accessories. All in all, it took about 2 hours due to the PITA end cap removal from rusted bar ends.

Ii also have a Wind Fairing which I didn't install just to see how bad the wind noise is... it's bad. Anything over 50mph, and I hear a howling. I'll be adding that back when I have time.
 
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N.CaTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Location
NorthBay San Francisco, CA
TDI
2005.5 Jetta
Are the Yakima railgrap towers easy to take on and off? We have the Yakima towers on our Jetta and like them for the easy on off but they required a mounting system bolted to the car which I would doubt you could do with the rails on the GSW
 

makattack

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2015
Location
Boston, MA
TDI
2015 VW Golf Sportwagen TDI/S/Manual
Are the Yakima railgrab towers easy to take on and off? We have the Yakima towers on our Jetta and like them for the easy on off but they required a mounting system bolted to the car which I would doubt you could do with the rails on the GSW
Just saw your question. In my opinion, they'll be easier to take off and put back on after the initial installation... they are a little fiddly to first put on. You have to adjust them when initially putting them on such that you use the right sized metal rail grab part (they come with small, and medium I believe, with the small already attached -- and the 2015 VW Golf SW roof rails worked with the small attachments).

The railgrabs, once installed on the bars don't need to be removed from the bars (and won't easily be removed without removing the end caps).

The railgrab/load bar assembly, is secured to the VW roof rails via a hex screw that adjusts the tension of the railgrab onto the roof rail. Removal should be to lift the hinged plastic piece covering it (on mine, secured with yakima key locks) and using a hex/allen driver to loosen it. Once loosened on both sides, the whole railgrab and bar should just come right off.
 

N.CaTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Location
NorthBay San Francisco, CA
TDI
2005.5 Jetta
Not as easy but doable. Our towers the locked plastic cover runs plungers which hold it on to the base. We also have the locks. No rush for a 2016 GSW so will see how things go. Thanks for the information
 

Bikebits

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Location
Southwestern Ontario
TDI
TDI Sportwagen 6MT
I had a coupon for 15% off from the dealer so picked up a set of OEM VW bars today. It is an exceedingly well thought out setup and even comes with a torque sensitive Allen wrench for installation. I haven't driven at high speed yet, but small aerodynamic tabs are evident on the underside of the bars, so a lot of though has gone into noise reduction.
 

Colville

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 14, 2013
Location
North Carolina
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI SEL "The Modern Squareback"
I love my OEM bars on mine, but has anyone figured out how to stop the little whistle above 40mph? Turning the stereo up always works fine and i've sort of just ignored it but thought id ask… Thanks.
 

doctorkb

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2001
Location
Canada
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagon TDI
I love my OEM bars on mine, but has anyone figured out how to stop the little whistle above 40mph? Turning the stereo up always works fine and i've sort of just ignored it but thought id ask… Thanks.
Did you put the rubber insert strips in the top groove? I've never had that whistle - the rubber strip has some angled raised bits in it that should disrupt the airflow in a way to cut that out.
 

Colville

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 14, 2013
Location
North Carolina
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI SEL "The Modern Squareback"
I love my OEM bars on mine, but has anyone figured out how to stop the little whistle above 40mph? Turning the stereo up always works fine and i've sort of just ignored it but thought id ask… Thanks.
Anyone?
 

Shife

Veteran Member
Joined
May 8, 2015
Location
Michigan
TDI
2015 GSW SE DSG White/Beige
Drive faster..

I know the whistle you're referring to as I have the factory bars as well. I only put mine on when I'm going to be using them, so I haven't bothered to try to get it to stop.
 

Grigg3

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Location
Lexington, VA
TDI
05 Jetta wagon, 15 Golf wagon
Have y'all ever compared fuel mileage with and without the bars, just the bars, nothing else up there?

I have, it's not good for your mileage. My 98 and 2005 each lost a couple MPG with just the round bars and brackets up there.
Perhaps these fancy new ones are more slippery in the wind, but I expect still an increase on fuel consumption.

The advice to only install them when in use is sound. While in use likely whatever else you have up there makes wind noise, so it's then not a real concern for what to do about the bars themselves making a little noise.
 
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Z85rado

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 21, 2017
Location
Highlands NJ
TDI
2015 Sportwaged TDI
I picked up a pair of thule 450 and bars off CL for 140 cash... will work just fine. I had OEM bars on my R56 cooper S and they were no treat with anything attached to them. That car also had a pano roof which i could no longer tolerate to open on the highway.
 

BobbyWires

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2017
Location
Northern VT
TDI
2015 GSW manual, 1991 Syncro Vanagon, 2004 Audi A4 Avant 6man, 1990 Ford F250 351 "farm truck" 2014 Q7 TDI Sline
Will OEM roof bars from an JSW work on the GSW?
 

GIDDY_UP_GO

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Location
Indiana
TDI
10 Jetta 13 Beetle Convertible 15 GSW
I just purchased a 2015 TDI Golf Sportwagen last week and am looking for a roof rack setup if anyone has participated in the buyback and kept their roof rack. Preferably would like to have the OEM setup. Thanks.
 

cpavelko

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2015
Location
San Diego
TDI
2014 Jetta Sportswagon
Bump.
Just picked up a '15 GSW TDI to replace my '14 JSW. Have the '14 cross bars. I tried the old cross bars on the new wagon. The rear bar fits from mid rail forward. The front cross bar is too wide. Was wondering if anyone has done this yet or had any mods?
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
love my thule areo bars, with a hex bit in the cordless drill removal/install is a 10 min job.


They are silent and in the 53" verity can hold multiple sheets of 4x8' plywood no issues.

they do have good amount of overhang thou.
 

toneman

Veteran Member
Joined
May 6, 2004
Location
norcal
TDI
2011 JSW
Bump.
Just picked up a '15 GSW TDI to replace my '14 JSW. Have the '14 cross bars. I tried the old cross bars on the new wagon. The rear bar fits from mid rail forward. The front cross bar is too wide. Was wondering if anyone has done this yet or had any mods?
Interesting that a bar fits in the rear. Is it the case that the OEM front cross bar is not wide enough to reach both rails? I don't understand it being too wide. Thanks 'cause I'd like to transfer over my JSW cross bars, if possible.
 

hause

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
Location
Charlotte (Noda), NC
TDI
MK4 Golf Tdi... all souped up also a MK7 Sportwagen on its way to greatness
I just picked up a hardtop and like the look of the lower profile models, what type of fuel economy hit are you talking using these?
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
Anyone have the instructions handy that specifies the placement of the OEM roof bars?
I just picked up a set of the OEM bars (5G9071151A) and indeed, much more robust than the universal cheapies (CargoLoc, I think?) I had previously. But I didn't get instructions with them (nor the key, for that matter - that was an easy $12 "fix" from VW service dept), so was just wondering how far set back from the front of the rack they should be, and what the recommended gap between front and rear is.
 

The Tortoise

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Location
Ottawa
TDI
2015 GSW Trendline - White
The spacing usually depends on what you're trying to mount to the rack.

For example, if it's a canoe, I would go as widely spaced as you can.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
agreed, my rails have a slight downward bow from when i may have overloaded our roof top box when it was shifted all the way back. If you run your thumb between the rails and the roof, you can feel it dip down by the B pillar then back up by the mounting points.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
Forgot to update.
Got the service guy at my dealer to dig out a manual and took these photos of the installation pages and put them into a .pdf.
Pertinent details: front bars 50mm (~2") from the front attachment of rail to the roof of car (measurement "a"); ~750mm (30") between the rails ("b" in the diagram). Very fussy about that first measurement. Torque the bolts to 8Nm (I was surprised at how tight that felt - with the rubber pads, you do a LOT of cranking to get to 8Nm; I left mine at the lowest measure of my Snap-on digital torque wrench of 6.8Nm because that already felt like we were pushing "too tight".)


 
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