pengrus Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 I was test driving Legacy 07 2.5i Limited today, and heard wistle sound when at the speed of 58-75 mph. The sales person told me that it is from the Roof cross bar, and by adjusting the cross link bar by a few inches should fix the problem. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it easy to fix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Roof racks can make all sorts of noises from whistling to humming. If you don't use or need to use the cross bars, take them off. If you have to leave them on, there's a bunch of things that can be done including plugging up the holes, installing a fairing, etc. But taking them off is still the best considering that roof racks do affect your fuel economy and not in a good way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pengrus Posted August 29, 2006 Author Share Posted August 29, 2006 Scotty, Thanks for your explanation. If it affects the fuel economy, I will take it off. Glad to know it's common, but it has some design flaw that causes the whistling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Not a design flaw, just aerodynamics. You should hear what an aftermarket roof rack sounds like w/o a fairing. Some of them don't use aero shaped cross bars and howl like a grey wolf with a paw caught in the sunroof. ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 I have a Yakima rack on my last car, without the fairing, the howling was so bad that it actually induced a vibration in the roof. I ran it without the fairing to see how it affected mileage. I didn't leave it on long enough to find out. But my last car, a Camry, would normally do around 32-33 mpg highway. With just a roof rack with a fairing, the mileage drop to about 26 mpg. 3 bikes on the roof dropped it down to 21 mpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottmcphee Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 The only whistling I hear is from the chicks as I drive by slowly in 06 wagon with cross bars. I figure they must be turned on by the aerodynamic shape of those things... To hell with gas mileage, I'm leaving them on fulltime. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccorry Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Driver side mirror whistles with the window down as well.... check that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spieldawg Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 The whistling with the subaru cross bars comes from forgetting to put the small plastic inserts in the bars when they're being installed. It's sort of an afterthought in the instructions, so a lot of people forget to do it. It's an easy fix though. There have been threads about it in the past, and lots of people (myself included) have had the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtahGT Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 I hear mine from the driver side mirror as well..but only speeds above 60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepFreeze2 Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Whistle tips FTW!!! YA RLY!!! Home of +2500 useless posts!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyd2005 Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Are the crossbars standard equipment now? Or are they the optional square bars. A smart dealer wouldn't let you test drive with it on. Just show it in the showroom. BTW, my '98 Outback cross bars whistled... then one day I noticed that I had them on backwards. DOH!!!! The '98 Outback cross bars have an aerodynamic shape and there is a front end to it. Otherwise, it was very quiet and had a very small fuel penalty. Maybe 0.5 mpg. My Yakima racks were a whole different story. Noisy and fuel inefficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagcars26 Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 New name fr a rock group,,"Whistleing Crossbars",,,you heard it hear 1st. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iyalla Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 The OEM racks whistle and sometimes the whistle sounds like its coming from the mirrors, but its not Or it just roars and hums. 1. Make sure the plastic end caps are still there. 2. Make sure the plastic ruler tabs underneath are there. The OEM rack is Thule compatible so you can use a Thule fairing for the Thule square rack on it. If you buy the car make sure they give you the keys to the rack. My dealer lost the set for mine and had to order me a complete new rack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSiWRX Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Driver side mirror whistles with the window down as well.... check that. ^ +1. Not much you can do about this one, though. Well, except to drive either slower or faster. ---- Oh, and if you've accidentally displaced the window moulding/rubberstripping, that'll whistle like crazy, too! <-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges '16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dammitjim Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 http://my.execpc.com/73/F0/thimbel/smilies/bubbrubb.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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