There are several threads on Gen II Prius Roof Racks but not on Gen III. I have a 2011 Prius - no solar roof option. I want a roof rack to haul my kayak. It is 15' 9" long, 22 inches wide, and weighs 52 pounds. From my house to the Intracostal Waterway (Wrightsville Beach, NC) is only 1 1/3 miles and the speed limit is 45 MPH but you can drive 35 MPH on this road and no one cares. With such a short distance to haul the kayak I am not concerned about the effect on MPG. I do want a rack that's fairly easy to put on and take off. I go out on the kayak about twice a week and I would want a rack to put on just to haul the boat and then take the rack off. Does such a rack exist for the Gen III Prius? Thx.
I'd also be interested in if there's one that could be used with a solar roof. Not a great need (I might have skipped the solar roof if this was important), but it might be nice to have one occasionally, and I'd also not want to permanently mount it. With the solar roof, it would probably have to attach on the metal edges of the roof only, I'd be concerned about putting weight on the glass.
Found these with Google: Vehicle Specific Products > Toyota > 2011 > Prius (Page 1) - CargoGear Car and Truck Accessories It appears most or maybe all aren't recommended with the solar roof, but you may be fine. I have no experience with any of these, or with this online store (you can probably buy these racks elsewhere too). They have a hitch too, although Toyota doesn't recommend towing.
I would like a good rack system also. I was thinking about getting a hitch and makeing a T bar and using one roof rack for my 16' kayak. The only problem is virtually no place to tie down on the vehicle. I was thinking about the eyes that screw in to the front bumper for loading the vehicle on a tow truck could be put in place to hold the bow steady. Of course the bar on the roof would hold it down and the T bar in the back could hold the stern.
For those without sunroofs, the most solid, easily-removable option is permanently mounted Yakima Tracks. This setup is described in another thread, posts 9 and 20: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...ns/76884-gen-iii-recommended-roof-rack-2.html As for tiedowns, I got a second towing eye. A front tiedown is important, I never use a rear tiedown. The front one should go straight up from the bumper to the hull of the boat, not angle forwards to the tip of the bow. And it can be just snug, not tight. Its purpose is to snub out vertical oscillations of the boat. If the tiedown lines flutter annoyingly in you line of sight, you can sometimes use a bungie cord to damp out the vibrations. Never use bungie cord to tie down a boat, though: their stretchiness may allow a hard gust to bounce the boat up and down. I've carried 27' and 31' rowing shells for thousands of miles on the highway, no problem. Back when I used to drive fast, often at high speeds.
I have a 2011 Prius with sunroof and solar roof. After reading all threads I could find, I bought the Whispbar roof rack - no rack system is described as suitable for use with the sunroof. While the rubber feet for the towers partially rest on the glass of both the sunroof and solar panel, most of the weight rests on the metal frame of the roof, and I am not concerned about damage (though am afraid I might hit the switch to open the sunroof by accident!). I don’t think any rack system will allow the sunroof to open, but could be wrong (Thule seems the most likely candidate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uts7WBsjXQ ) I found this roof rack to be unnoticeable when driving - it's just as quiet as the demo wind tunnel video (comparing it to other leading racks), and no need for a wind fairing. In terms of fuel efficiency, I track mileage by gas tanks, not individual trips. I had the rack on for 3 tanks between Nov-Jan, and compared it to the two prior and two subsequent tanks. I only lost about 1.65 mpg, or 3%, of my fuel economy (54.47 to 52.82 mpg). I'm consistent in my driving habits and trips (50 mile commute, predictable traffic), and the weather was fairly consistent, so I think this is close to accurate. At no time during this driving did I have a load on the rack, so this is only looking at the impact of the rack itself on fuel economy. After the tedious first install, I think the rack should be pretty easy to put back on. I marked the edges of each foot/tower with fine-point permanent marker, because it’s a pain to use a measuring tape each time, and I couldn’t care less about these tiny marks.
