[shiftonthefly]

Ok, so i can easily fit my bike inside my car, but then my dog barely fits in the front seat. I would like to eventually get a rack.

Another member here posted the pics of his Subaru rack a few weeks ago. He said it was very noisy but installed easily. I've had roof racks in the past, but I'm not sure that I want to take away from the aerodynamics/sleek look of the roofline.

Ideally, I will want a hitch receiver rack that you take on and off. Who else is in this same boat? I would love to see some photos if anyone has done this yet. And where should we get the receiver hitch mounted? Thanks!

[Edvig]

I would love to put a hitch receiver on my STI, but the US government crash regulations won't allow SOA to sell us the hicth receiver for our cars.

I'm going to put the OE rails and fork mounted trays (rebadged Yakima Viper trays) on my car this weekend. I'll wrap the front bar with a bungie cord. I'll report back on how loud the rack that set up is.

[redbread]

I don't have an STi yet, but I've been eyeballing options for carrying bikes and skiis. One bike inside is nice, but for carrying multiple bikes, something better is certainly needed. I use a bolt-on Thule rack for my current car, a Z3 M Coupe and it's great. The car, like the STi, is nice and low, so it's not nearly as bad as trying to put a bike on the roof of say, a Suburban.

I still prefer hitch racks, but I would suspect that like my car, the STi with the silly dual exhaust will make a hitch hard to do. My car also has the battery right in the middle of the mufflers, so a hitch is nearly impossible to do. I ride a 29er most of the time, so only a few of the wheel holding hitch racks work, which keeps the roof rack coming back up for the Subie.

It looks like the factory rack fits into the roof rails, which is nice. I'm driving my buddy's 04 STi right now, and I don't like the paint contact that a regular roof rack demands, it also messes up the window seals. So if the factory mount doesn't touch paint, that would be a bonus. Plus I already have trays and ski/board carriers, so I wouldn't have to buy new stuff, and the hitch racks don't seem well suited for board and ski hauling. One last advantage of the roof rack is that with a basket and tie downs, carrying track wheels is pretty easy.

[shiftonthefly]

Please post pics and let us know Edvig.

Redbread.. Is your car red? I've seen a red M parked at Mockingbird Station with a roof rack. Looks good.

[Josh@EpicSpeed]

I posted pics of the Subaru rack that I bought a few weeks ago, and I've decided on the SportRack "Viper fork-mount" racks for the bikes. They mount with a bracket that goes around the crossbars and have great reviews. They're ~$60 per and seemed better than using one of the hacked together kits to get Yakima or Thule racks to fit on these crossbars.

[redbread]

Originally Posted by shiftonthefly

Redbread.. Is your car red? I've seen a red M parked at Mockingbird Station with a roof rack. Looks good.

Yeah, that's probably me, I commuted to Ft Worth for about a year and parked at Mockingbird. My wheels are powdercoated a dark grey too, not that there are a lot of red M Coupes with red bike trays on them!

[subielife]

for my 598 Criterium trays i am going with:
460R Podium Aero Fixpoint Foot
RB47 Rapid Load Bars
3068 Fit Kit

[fourseasonsandles]

I have a cheap one for my trunk. It works fine since I am wingless, but when I had the wing the brake handle would grind into the wing after a bit. Even covered it still damaged the wing. I modified the rack a bit so it never did it again, but it still took some fiddling to get it to fit right.

I think your best options are a trailor hitch rack or a roof rack. If I had the extra money, I would go with a Thule roof rack. Then I could use it for my skis as well.

Edit: Er I just saw you have an 08 and this is in the 08 section.. der. I would think any rack would work then. You would just have to find the correct mounting points for a trunk rack. And any roof rack would fit as well.

Again though, if money is no object, go with Thule.

[shiftonthefly]

I'm really hoping to get the hitch mounted one. I'm sure someone out there is working on one.

redbread---definitely was you. great looking car. I live a couple blocks away from the Mbird station

[RIDE]

While I am not an STI owner yet...working on an '08 ...I am an avid cyclist and have been for years. I have used them all....roof top, hitch mounted, Yakima, Thule....you name it.

From my experience, the hitch mounted are very convenient, but I just don't like the look. Granted with no bikes on the car and the rack removed it looks cleaner...but I still like the look of the car with a rack on it. And I much prefer the bikes on top of the car...with a fork mounted tray (front wheel removed).

That being said...for me, Thule makes the best racks. They are very clean in design, and work flawlessly. The 518 Echelon tray is their top of the line...and looks great too. But any of their fork mounted racks will work well.

Hope that helps!

RIDE

[kris]

I race road and MTB. Inside is fine for one CLEAN bike, but dirty or two or more means outside. I had a hitch mount on my 05, but I had to get rid of the hitch when I added an aftermarket exhaust. As much as I hate roof racks (noise, mileage, cross winds, time to take on and off) I think I'm going to get a Thule or a Yakima. It's a bit nicer up top with the built-in channels for the rack.

Keep the rubber side down!

[hairlesswookiee]

yeah but its always a pain in the rear to put the bike on top... and im sure its pretty loud too. the closest park with trails is about 30 minutes away and i hated the noise mine produced with the roof rack on the VW

[redbread]

Originally Posted by hairlesswookiee

yeah but its always a pain in the rear to put the bike on top... and im sure its pretty loud too. the closest park with trails is about 30 minutes away and i hated the noise mine produced with the roof rack on the VW

The '04 STi I'm driving now is quiet with the fairing on, but a noisy mess without it, but it is pretty noisy even with just one bike up there. My car is quiet without a fairing, but the rack sits pretty far back on the roof, and even with bikes on, it's reasonably quiet, especially if everyone has plugs in the ends of the bar. I usually run the goofy looking bike bras when going more than 50 miles, and those do cut down on noise (and bugs) a good bit. I would guess, without having looked closely at the 08's that you could keep the rack far enough back to cut down on noise that it wouldn't bother you too much.

[PBR600RR]

Curt Trailer Hitch

A few people have done the trailer hitch, including me! In fact, the bike is in the parking lot right now just waiting to get a workout after, well, work... Oh wait, do you have an 08? Look up etrailer.com...

[Edvig]

The 08s don't have any hitch receiever options, unless someone decides to buy a EDM/JDM Subaru hitch receiever.