# Yakima Flush Bar Questions - 2020 Tiguan with no pano roof



## delaware guy (Sep 4, 2015)

I'm thinking of adding the Yakima Flush Bars. has anyone installed them? How do they look/work? Any noise? Any impact on mileage? Do you take your car through the car wash with them on?


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## zackdawley (Oct 4, 2011)

I didn't see any yakama bars that fit. My Thule aeroblades are great though, unless you have a sunroof you want to use.

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## dp0p (Aug 8, 2020)

I use Yakima towers, bars and a fairing with my tiguan that has a pano roof. I came from an oem vw rack on my Jetta that was insanely loud, and this Yakima rack is practically silent in comparison.










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## zackdawley (Oct 4, 2011)

Bars with carrier... It wasn't cheap though. Only audible above 75, doesn't get real loud till well over 109 mph









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## zackdawley (Oct 4, 2011)

Just bars









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## delaware guy (Sep 4, 2015)

zackdawley said:


> Just bars
> 
> 
> 
> ...


do you run it through the car wash the flushbars installed?


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## EVANGELIONHD (May 9, 2012)

Was your car by hand...

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## delaware guy (Sep 4, 2015)

EVANGELIONHD said:


> Was your car by hand...
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


good theory, but doesn't happen often!


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## zackdawley (Oct 4, 2011)

I don't take it through touch car washes... I use the self wash mostly, and only because I live in an apartment.

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## dp0p (Aug 8, 2020)

delaware guy said:


> good theory, but doesn't happen often!


Any car wash has signs that say they’re not responsible for damage caused by roof racks. I’ve heard horror stories about the brushes grabbing the rack and pulling it off. It’s not worth taking the risk in my opinion and I always wash it by hand or go to the manual one where you use quarters. 


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## Sopey15 (Mar 12, 2019)

delaware guy said:


> do you run it through the car wash the flushbars installed?


I have no pano and have tried Whispbars (Yakima Railbars) but they were way too low for me to be comfortable with them. I ended up getting the same Thule Aeroblade Edge bars from the pictures zackdawley posted. They work great and I've gone through a standard carwash a bunch of times with no issues.


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## gerardrjj (Sep 4, 2014)

I'm seriously asking:
If your tig has the roof rails on it, what's the point about asking about the cross bars?


If you don't have a load the cross rails aren't on, right?
If you have the cross rails on and have a load, isn't the LOAD the major source of noise and is using the sunroof really a priortiy?

This and similar questions, on the face of it, seem an exersize in vanity.


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## Sopey15 (Mar 12, 2019)

gerardrjj said:


> I'm seriously asking:
> If your tig has the roof rails on it, what's the point about asking about the cross bars?
> 
> 
> ...


I can't speak for OP but in my case I leave the cross rails on all the time. Some people like the look but there's also the convenience of already having them on the car. The cross bars themselves make an almost nonexistent impact on gas mileage and they're already on the car when I attach my cargo box for trips. In the past, before I got a hitch rack, I had bike mounts on the roof rack so it was always ready when I needed to bring my road bike somewhere.


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## delaware guy (Sep 4, 2015)

gerardrjj said:


> I'm seriously asking:
> If your tig has the roof rails on it, what's the point about asking about the cross bars?
> 
> 
> ...


I had yakima cross bars back in the early nineties (the round ones) and they made a ton of noise. I'm assuming the aerodynamic shape of the Flush Bars will eliminate that but want to be sure before spending the cash. Obviously cargo boxes, and baskets will make noise.


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## rkfast (Jun 28, 2018)

Got em, love em. 

I have had Flushbars, formerly "Whispbars" before Yakima bought them, on three cars now. Quietest and most fuel-efficient bars out there. They aren't dead silent...no bar is. And no bar has zero mileage penalty. Drag is drag. But Ive tried them all and Ive found these to be superior.

They sit plenty high off the roof. I would not take ANY car with aftermarket rails through an automatic car wash. Either go to a "hand" car wash where instead of machines there are people with brushes and sponges in the tunnel or wash by hand. 

Go here, punch in the car specs and youll see all the info you need, including pictures!

https://fitlookup.yakima.com/


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## zackdawley (Oct 4, 2011)

rkfast said:


> Got em, love em.
> 
> I have had Flushbars, formerly "Whispbars" before Yakima bought them, on three cars now. Quietest and most fuel-efficient bars out there. They aren't dead silent...no bar is. And no bar has zero mileage penalty. Drag is drag. But Ive tried them all and Ive found these to be superior.
> 
> ...


Sorry, but there's no way you've tried Thule aeroblades and have this opinion.

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## rkfast (Jun 28, 2018)

zackdawley said:


> Sorry, but there's no way you've tried Thule aeroblades and have this opinion.
> 
> Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk


I did. They were pretty good but sat very low on the tig's roof plus the design of them resulted in less actual bar space to mount things. I couldnt mount anything to them that required external bolts and wing nuts due to them being so close to the roof of the vehicle. So they didnt work to me.

I work part time for a large bike shop with big inventory of both Thule and Yakima....so I was able to mount several different types of bars and roof bike rack on this car to figure the combo that worked best. YMMV.


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## zackdawley (Oct 4, 2011)

rkfast said:


> I did. They were pretty good but sat very low on the tig's roof plus the design of them resulted in less actual bar space to mount things. I couldnt mount anything to them that required external bolts and wing nuts due to them being so close to the roof of the vehicle. So they didnt work to me.


Oh well not if you're going to mount anything sticking down below the rails... Other than the claws for a cargo box. The flushness is the draw for most, as there's less air movement under the box and lower drag.

I'm not joking that I've had the box on at 120 mph, and it was a little loud, but honestly manageable. Not that you need to go that fast, especially with a box on, but it relates to how quite it is at normal speed... I only lost about 2mph with the cargo box on.

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## zimmie2652 (Feb 15, 2015)

I have the Yakima Jetstreams, 50” bars with the timberline footings and the setup is flawless in my opinion. Low profile enough, allows opening of pano roof, don’t overhang the vehicle excessively and dead silent until I hit about 90+ mph.










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## Sopey15 (Mar 12, 2019)

zackdawley said:


> Just bars
> 
> 
> 
> ...


zackdawley I just noticed, why did you put your Aeroblade bars on backwards?


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## zackdawley (Oct 4, 2011)

Sopey15 said:


> zackdawley I just noticed, why did you put your Aeroblade bars on backwards?


Oh yeah, I forgot they were backwards in those photos  I honestly don't know, it's fixed now.

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## delaware guy (Sep 4, 2015)

I got them, they work and look great!


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## delaware guy (Sep 4, 2015)

Here it is


















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