mmcd87

iTrader: (1)

Hi,

I've seen a few posts regarding bike racks for the Impreza. I spent a good week or so researching a decent setup for my wagon (blobeye) and ended up going with Thule as they seem to be one of the best on the market. I found buying new hard to justify so bought my setup from eBay/Gumtree. Here's what you need to know...

To make a setup from Thule you basically have 3 main components -

1) Feet - these attach the bars to the rails/roof of the car
2) Bars - these attach to the feet, and support your bike/roofbox/etc
3) Bike Rack - attaches to the bars, and holds the bike in place

I went on the Thule website (http://www.thule.co.uk/) and found what components I needed for my car. For a blobeye Wagon (I suspect any newage but suggest you double check the rails are the same for all, etc) you need the following -

1) Feet - Thule 755 (old model) or 757.
2) Bars - Thule 760 (black, square) or 860 (alumimium, 'aero' streamlined).
3) Bike rack - Thule 591 (top spec - 'aero' style) or 561 or 530 (basic).

I've got the 755 feet, 860 bars and 591 carrier. Good quality, fairly lightweight and looks nice. Also does not seem to mark the car at all (even the bars). Another bonus is that the feet physically lock (with a key) to the car, and the bike rack locks to the rails.

A few tips -

1) Quite expensive, but if you look on eBay, etc you can see you should get most of your money back if you buy secondhand and look after everything.
2) Once you know what components you need, have a good Google and see what other cars also use the same components (i.e. not just Impreza). This might help you get a bargain - I got my feet from a Landrover owner for example, and will sell the bars on.
3) Have a look and see if any manufacturers sell the parts you need as OEM i.e. is the Vauxhall system for one of it's cars actually made by Thule and fits your car? This can be good on auction sites etc where selling as car specific can limit bidders...
4) You should get 2 keys for the bars/feet but if not you can get spares online quite cheap (keys have number on them so you know what ones you need).
5) Have a play with part numbers on eBay/Google Images, etc so you know what you are looking at/for.

Here's mine (755/860/591) -





Hope that helps some people.

Ruffy-WRX

iTrader: (1)

Cheers, fella, useful info that.

Very timely for me, too. Was only talking to the wife at the weekend about getting feet for my old Thule roof bars and, although I have a towbar mounting multi-bike carrier, I had wondered about a roof bike carrier for when I'm out on my tod.

Kedlestone

iTrader: (9)

Don't suppose you know if they do a system for the blob eye wrx saloon? That's with the sti spoiler fitted btw.

mmcd87

iTrader: (1)

Looks like it - https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...rack-pics.html

Use the fit guide on the Thule site - looks like there are a few possibilities. Check for all specs of the car i.e. WRX/STI as well as standard to see if anything changes (might be different strips in the cars roof etc).

Regardless of what spec the car is, at the end of the day it's a Subaru Impreza saloon. Can't imagine the spoiler would make much difference - you would just have to watch that nothing clashes when you open the boot.

The ends of the cycle carrier I have fitted have plastic caps so if a mistake was made it wouldn't be metal to paint...

I've only fitted the carrier once so far and the only issue I've come across is that the 591 bike carrier would clash with the boot spoiler if you opened the boot all the way - I suspect I can prevent this by shifting the bike carrier forward.

Zaim

iTrader: (3)

Was just thinking about this earlier today as my old bike rack marks the hatch on my wagon. Great write up, really useful.

bonesetter

iTrader: (9)

Anyone know if the integral roof bars you see in the pics which the rack system is mounted on can be added if they aren't there?

mmcd87

iTrader: (1)

From what I have read the rails are physically bolted through the roof of the car - it's a bit of a PITA to install/remove them. If you have a saloon it looks even less bright as the wagon rails are too big for them. Seems plenty people want rid though so wouldn't have though it would be hard to get a hold of some if it's a wagon you have...

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&xhr=t...940ee4607a5f41

bonesetter

iTrader: (9)

So, the integral bars can be fitted

Here's an installation thread I found from your link

Kedlestone

iTrader: (9)

Spot on, just followed a link to a pic of a blobeye saloon with the roof bars and bike rack