refthimos

I have a Q5 on order and want to be ready to head up to the snow as soon as it arrives.

For those of you with roof racks on your Q5, a couple questions:

Question 1: Am I correct that the roof rails arrive on the vehicle when you take delivery? They're built in and not removeable in any way, right? It would seem they must be, otherwise there would be some kind of hole in the roof, I would imagine.

Also, I see this from the Audi USA website:

Roof Rack Detection System

The roof rack detection system in the Audi Q5 is directly linked to the Electronic Stabilization Program (ESP®) control unit. When the crossbars are installed, a signal is sent that adjusts driving-dynamic relevant parameters according to the center of gravity. When the crossbars are not installed, the ESP® program adjusts dynamics to allow for more enthusiastic driving.

I have seen posts warning that you must use a "factory" roof rack in order for the detection system to work. I cannot for the life of me, however, locate this "factory" roof rack. In fact, looking at Audi USA's Q5 accessory brochure, I see bike mounts, cargo boxes, etc., but not a "roof rack" (i.e. foot pads aka crossbar mounts and crossbars themselves): http://microsites.audiusa.com/ngw/10...20Brochure.pdf

I have also seen folks state that the "factory" roof rack is identical to Thule. I went on Thule's website and it tells me that a 2010 Q5 uses the following components to constitute a "roof rack:

460 or 460R Podium Foot Pack
KIT4002 Fitting Kit
RB47 Rapid Aero Load Bar Pair (aka crossbars)

Question #2: Is there a "factory" roof rack for the Q5? Is it the same of different from the Thule configuration above? If I use the Thule configuration above, will it be compatible with the roof rack detection system?

Robert

bayridgeguy

North American Q5's come with cross bars. The cross bars are removable. It is very quick to put them on and to remove them. There are no holes in the roof. Check out this link: http://www.iamaudi.com/audi-q5-roof-...d-audi-expert/ I prefer driving without them since they produce wind noise / whistling at high speeds and that annoys me. I purchased a Thule Sidearm bike rack and it connects just fine to my OEM Q5 racks using the xadapt9 kit from Thule. I believe that the Thule Aero bars are almost exactly the same as the Q5's.

refthimos

Ahh... I did not know that my Q5 would come with cross bars... That should eliminate my need to buy the Thule foot packs, load bars and fitting kit. That also explains why Audi's accessory guide only shows mounts and not the actual cross bars... Will look into the xadapt9 kit, as Thule prices, while certainly not cheap, sure beat Audi prices when it comes to mounts, cargo boxes, etc. And if you ever need a replacement part... I would hate to have to go through Audi rather than just hit a local bike or sporting goods shop.

AudiCO

The factory rack is not required to change the ESP characteristics, only the factory crossbars. I agree that the crossbars go on very quickly, I had mine on in less than five minutes. They come off just as quickly, such that they can be put on only when needed. The only weird thing is the included wrench, which is supposed to have an integrated torque setting, but I couldn't feel any 'click' when tightening the hardware.

As far as getting racks attachments, you can use any rack that you can get compatible clips for (to attach to the crossbars). I looked into it a while back but it seemed availability was limited because the Q5 is relatively new. I expect they should be available soon, if not now.

bayridgeguy

i picked up my bike racks on craigslist. 2 used thule 594 sidearms with locks and xadapt9 kits for the cost of 1 brand new rack.

refthimos

Did you need the xadapt9 kits because the 594's mount to the standard Thule (square) crossbars rather than aero crossbars? I am thinking that Thule mounts that are made to mount directly to Thule's aero crossbars likely will not need any adapter to mount to the Audi crossbars (which I have been told are essentially Thule crossbars).

bayridgeguy

refthimos i think you are correct. if something mounts ok to thule aero bars, you will most likely not need any of their xadapts to mount that rack of your choice to the oem crossbars...

bayridgeguy

Here are some pics of my MTB on my Q5 mounted using the Thule Sidearm 594 and xadapt9. Sorry for some blur in them - it was getting dark.