Umlaut

Thule Criterium carriers on my Avant. These are very stable and secure and easy to get the bikes in and out. I can get the bikes up and down without trouble. Shorter folks can "cheat" by opening the doors and stand on the edge. If you're wondering, the bike on the left is a '97 DeKerf Team FS, the right is a full-custom 2002 True North.



<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/randomsample/Audi/photo#5188903528281109234"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/randomsample/SAKwRFj3cvI/AAAAAAAAAKw/BN0F6XkAhtQ/s288/DSC03820.JPG" /></a>

artinmoTTion

Don't want to block sat / nav reception when we're on a trip, and that's when we would have the box on. Did a fair amount of searching on this today, but most of the posts are on Q7's or allroads. Either you get a shorter box like the one in the link, or you have to get a long box that hangs over the front and rear and have it overhang the side of the car on longer bars (= noggin hazard). Wondering about maybe relocating the sharkfin to the back corner perhaps...<ul><li><a href="http://yakima.com/racks/cargo/boxes/product/8007154/spacecadet-15.aspx">Space Cadet!</a></li></ul>

Umlaut

The combined height of the bars and feet keep the box above the sharkfin, no clearance issues. The fin is completely "covered" by the box...I have had zero issues with XM reception. I don't have Audi nav, so I can't help you there.

You do have to position the box carefully to avoid the hatch smacking the back of the box. Not a big deal.

jt07a4

I had a large box on top for the past two winters which was over the "sharkfin" as you call it. I never had any reception trouble with the am/fm radio or the nav system.

I wouldn't worry about the box causing any reception trouble. It just looks awful on the car in my opinion.

artinmoTTion

Maybe we'll just get a regular box then instead of a short square one. None of them look that great, IMHO, but that's why it's only going to be on temporarily for trips. And crabby passengers... : )