Thule AeroBlade Roof Rack w/ CanyonXT Cargo Basket + Extension - 2017 Hatchback

[Holtz]

Hello Community,

I live a fairly active lifestyle and like to do many different outdoor activities -- which generated my interest in taking on this project to transform my 2017 Hatchback into something that would be able to assist me in having fun going snowboarding and also when I travel by being able to have extra space for my gear/luggage of up to around 150 lbs. on top.

Since I've owned the car the longest trip I have taken was a 3000 mile round trip from NY - Key West. The best part of the Hatch was being able to sleep at the rest stop's laying down and being able to stretch out! I have also taken the car to upstate NY a few times and on a camping trip to Maine.

I have been looking for a roof rack option for our cars since my purchase about 6 months ago. It was a little upsetting to see that we were not offered an option to purchase a dealer OEM rack -- which I figure is mostly outsourced anyway, but nonetheless it was shown on the advertisements and just never came to be for the US.
Thule recently released a fitment for our hatchbacks. I purchased all of the following to make this happen:


ARB53B - 53 Inch wide support bars
480R - This is the foot packs that hold your aeroblade bars onto your roof
KIT1852 - This was the kit purchased to adapt the foot packs to our roof line
859XT - Cargo Basket
8591XT - 20 inch extension piece

Total pricing before shipping/taxes is about $960.

Below I've attached some pictures of how the product came and what It looks like installed on my car.

The Cargo Basket with extension is setup in a way that I still have about 1/2 inch of clearance when I open the hatch all the way up. Placing the basket all the way back as much as I could kept the front overhang to a minimum. I have attached a picture to show this.

You can choose to have your Aeroblades in all black or silver. I chose an all black setup to match my car and the powder-coated cargo basket.

The install was fairly straight forward and I would be more than happy to answer any questions to help any of you out -- if you were thinking about doing something like this or even just doing your own setup that consisted of the roof rack and another accessory, I can 100% say that the fitment is great and feels extremely sturdy. -- Thule is definitely making some high quality products!

View attachment 64187

 

[RedFK8]

Car looks great!!!! Now imma have to get me one of these for the wife's car thanks for sharing!

 

[CivicXI]

Hows your gas mileage?

 

[Holtz]

Hows your gas mileage?

I'll report on that on a longer trip. I can't really comment because I drive my car spiritedly everywhere! haha =)

 

[Holtz]

Car looks great!!!! Now imma have to get me one of these for the wife's car thanks for sharing!

Thanks man! It wound up fitting really nicely with the 20 inch extension.

 

[anntrn93]

How bad is the wind noise?

 

[Holtz]

How bad is the wind noise?

There is some wind noise, but if you listen to any type of radio... nothing major. Sounds like a very low level jet plane.

Anyway speaking of sound, was going back and fourth with a focus st yesterday on the parkway... his aftermarket blowoff valve defintely made me want to get some more sound from my car.... sounded awesome

 

[brienp]

Ive debated getting something along these lines, although with the amount of rain that falls here in the pacific northwest Id prefer an enclosed cargo container, but, to my real question: Are you at all worried about the connection points rubbing paint off? This is the only thing that has kept me from buying something like this, Im worried that when attached to the car, paint will be scratched or rubbed off at the attachment point.

 

[Holtz]

Ive debated getting something along these lines, although with the amount of rain that falls here in the pacific northwest Id prefer an enclosed cargo container, but, to my real question: Are you at all worried about the connection points rubbing paint off? This is the only thing that has kept me from buying something like this, Im worried that when attached to the car, paint will be scratched or rubbed off at the attachment point.

Nothing actually touches your door. The one connection point is inside the door pannel. The other part of the "foot pack" that sits on your roof has rubber footing. Once you tighten all four in place (they give your a "torque guide" wrench that automatically lets you know... the things dont move... it really is solid, i can grab my roof rack and shake my whole car and nothing shifts.

I like the open basket because its very versitle. You can alway get waterproof luggage options that fit nicely on top strapped down that you can take off and bring inside to the hotel/resort/destination as well as have room for bulkier items like a cooler on top of your car for long road trips

 

[himecraig]

Would you have room for a bike rack?

Always interesting to see how people adapt their cars.

 

[Holtz]

Would you have room for a bike rack?

Always interesting to see how people adapt their cars.

Not sure about this, however the suggested Aeroblades are 53 inches wide. Depending on how big the bike rack is... you could probably move the basket all the way to one side or see if a single bike top rack would be able to sit off to one side with the basket centered.

Just type in google images bike rack with cargo basket and you will see a few different options/styles to mount your bike to the actual basket itself.

 

[rosedraws]

I'm so glad to see this! None of the rack parts from my Focus fit the Civic, so I sold that, and will get the aeroblade version now. I'll be hauling a couple kayaks around.

Back when I had an Accord, I used a fairing to cut down on noise, but honestly, even without that on the Focus, the noise wasn't too bad. I'm really looking forward to how much better it will be with the aeroblades.

Someone asked about paint... just have a good coat of wax before mounting. I've used the roofracks on my leased Focuses for years and no marks at all. The wax also offers some protection from pebbles and bumps while loading. It's also good to just put a towel on the roof while loading stuff.

 

[Holtz]

I'm so glad to see this! None of the rack parts from my Focus fit the Civic, so I sold that, and will get the aeroblade version now. I'll be hauling a couple kayaks around.

Back when I had an Accord, I used a fairing to cut down on noise, but honestly, even without that on the Focus, the noise wasn't too bad. I'm really looking forward to how much better it will be with the aeroblades.

Someone asked about paint... just have a good coat of wax before mounting. I've used the roofracks on my leased Focuses for years and no marks at all. The wax also offers some protection from pebbles and bumps while loading. It's also good to just put a towel on the roof while loading stuff.

Thanks, been a while since I've been around here... but the roof rack has been awesome -- went on many road trips so far - 27,000 miles on it in the first year of owning it. love the car!

 

[CivicXI]

Thanks, been a while since I've been around here... but the roof rack has been awesome -- went on many road trips so far - 27,000 miles on it in the first year of owning it. love the car!

Congrats. I'm coming up on 25k for my first year. Has the noise been tolerable after all this time?

My hatchback definitely starts to drone when i'm cruising over 90. I'm not looking for lexus quiet but I imagine with a rack, i'd be going deaf. Normally I can fit 3 snowboards easy by folding down the passenger side rear seat so I store my boards inside.

 

[justinjspog]

This is probably going to sound stupid, but I plan to get this same kit, except with the bike rack instead of the basket, and I was reading and it warns to not open or vent the sunroof? Does anyone see that as just a standard warning or does anyone thing there’s any real danger there? The sunroof goes inside the roof, not over it and the sunroof on this Civic doesn’t vent very high, let alone high enough to touch the roof rack....

Does anyone know of any reason why one shouldn’t be able to open the sunroof while the rack is on or while the bike is on the rack? Seems utterly stupid to not be able to enjoy the wind.

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