On our subaru…
I drive an Element which is a pain in the ass to put the two kayaks we have on to of. Height is a issue. However my boyfriends car, a subaru outback, is a dream to load up because I can reach the roof of it. You do need something like the a kayak stacker or the j cradles, the factory cross bars are narrow as the vehicle is pretty narrow.
If you attach something like the kayak stacker to the factory cross bars, You can fit up to 4 yaks on it, provided the weight isn’t an issue.
On ebay you can pick these up used, wayyyy cheaper than direct from yakima or thule.
Very Impressive Setup
I am just amazed how you get two boats on saddles with those cross bars. But then again I have seen some real creative set ups on small cars with people from NYC.
Thule J bars and my Sit On Top
This was seemingly fine until I had it on I94. As tight and well secured as it was the shape of the Ride 135 did not fit well in the J bars. Much vibration in the wind. Lowered my gas milage. This was on a 2009 Rabbit.
Now I’m hoping VW comes up with something for a 2012 Jetta. They promised to split the cost with me, but I’ve no idea what rack they ordered except it is from Yakima. VW didn’t yet make their own rack for their newer cars.
I plan to use the bathmats with suction cups to protect the finish when loading, if I can’t find kids to tip to pick up or take down my kayak for me.
Find out more about that rack
We have a friend who just got a Jetta TDI and ordered the rack from VW, expecting it’d be the Yakima-made rack that was the same quality as the ones they sell direct.
It wasn’t - the towers etc are a lighter than the ones you’d get straight from Yakima. I don’t recall if this is VW’s own rack now or a Yakima-made variation of their usual one, but you might want to find out more about what this rack is going to look like. Or maybe you figure that for half out of pocket price you get…
yakima with Impreza
I have a 2009 Impreza. I’m not a big fan of the factory rack. The Yakima rack works great and the “landing pads” bolt into the existing holes on the roof for a very clean installation. The “control towers”, with the bars, quickly attach and detach from the landing pads. The capacity of this system is 165 pounds.
I prefer the Mako saddles (lower, easy to adjust), but the J-cradles will use less rack space. I went with the 66" bars to have more room.
I highly recommend a fairing. Without them the bars were a ROAR that made it difficult to talk in the car. The fairing is a bit of a PIA because it limits where you can put accessories on the front bar, but the sound reduction is dramatic.
BTW, Yakima recently bought Whispbar and is now offering them if you prefer a more streamlined cross bar. I haven’t seen them yet, but the marketing looks good.
Greg Stamer
Yakima
Yakima with round bars and Q towers (assuming you have a naked roof).
Stacker to put them up sideways
Fairing to cut down on the noise.
They are quick and easy to get on and off the car.
Re: Subie Weight Limit/Keepin’ It Simple
Consulted Subie Owner’s Manual. Listed weight limit for '011 Subie Impreza OBS crossbars is 75 kg/165 lbs.
So I’m thinking that, even with the weight of the J-cradles, two plastic kayaks is likely fine, unless they’re some sort of extra behemoth-y sit-on-tops (which I’d never buy or use).
Oh, and neither I nor my GF have a canoe. Did I say I did somewhere? If so, I need to lay off the caffeine.
Anyways, yes, what I’m going for is simplicity, if that works: Just clamp the J-cradles to the factory crossbars.
Is this good? Yes? No? Maybe so?
Fairing sounds like a VERY good idea
I assume Thule has one too?
Fairing
Yes, Thule has a fairing, and also a system similar to the Yakima landing pad/control tower system that will fit the holes in your Impreza’s roof (cleaner than a clip system).
I have never needed a fairing with my other cars but due to the location, a rack on an Impreza makes a ton of wind noise.
Fairing or not, your mileage will suffer. Without a rack I get about 28mpg. With a rack and two kayaks I get about 21mpg (and that drops down to 19 if I want to get there in hurry).
The Impreza is a nice car. I would prefer a little more room, a little longer roof line, and better MPG, but so far it hasn’t let me down.
Greg Stamer
Canoe part
– Last Updated: Aug-11-11 2:40 PM EST –
You indicated above that you had canoed in this area - also rental then I guess.
You probably should call Yakima, and Thule. Just tried running a vendors car/rack fit tutorial and either the software is having a bad day or there is something that I and the software is missing about your vehicle.
before you buy
try wrapping a spiral of rope around front bar. Windings don’t have to be tight.
The buffeting noise is due to a particular type of turbulent flow instability, rope breaks it up. If it doesn’t work, you can always purchase the fairing 
My factory oval bars on Subaru create one heck of noise when mounted correctly ( as in following the front arrow suggestion). Weird thing is - if they are mounted incorrectly, as back-to-front, the noise virtually goes away. Funny thing aerodynamics.
Re: Canoe
::Celia wrote: You indicated above that you had canoed in this area - also rental then I guess. :
Not to be difficult, and I really do appreciate how helpful you’ve been, but… I never said anything 'bout a canoe. Haven’t been in one since I was a kid. Ditto GF.
I even re-read all my posts in this thread, just to see if I was hallucinating or something. Me no mention canoe.
Not that I have anything against 'em.
Whoops
Different thread, not wildly dissimilar requests from yours.
Sorry about that. But if you ever want to add a canoe, I confirmed today that the 58 inch crossbars will just exactly handle one Bell Merlin II canoe and one kayak against a stacker. Unfortunately that information won’t even get you points in a game of Trivia.
A big ‘Thank You’ to all…
Thanks to everyone who gave info/advice.
It’s looking like J-cradles clamped directly to my Subie factory crossbars, unless there’s no objections.
Either Thule Hullaport Pros, or Yakima Bowdowns.
Concern re Yakima bowDown Instructs
– Last Updated: Aug-13-11 8:38 AM EST –
There is another thread running recently where someone using the Yakima bowdown system apparently per specs had their kayak fly off the roof and end up being dragged behind them. Happily it didn't land on a car, and the break appears to have been an unusual one.
But take a read of it - there are good suggestions for how to avoid such a mishap by the use of a bow line and an additional strap front and back over what Yakima seems to recommend. Yakima's original instructions seem odd at best, or imprudent, in that they do not recommend a bow line and do not ask that the boat be anchored to the cross bars at more than one point. Never, never carry a boat without a bow line.
The thread has fallen down a page or two under Advice - look for the title "Yakima bowDown saddle break".