There are logs of discussions about roof racks on a Prius, but I haven't seen anyone discuss the spacing of the bars. We have a pair of Yakima racks and Q towers which were purchased specifically for the 07 Prius. They fit fine, but Yakima specifies that the front one is to be 10" back from the windshield, and the back one 30" behind that - quite close together. This means that for my 16' kayak, the boat wobbles a lot more than I like and needs to be tied tightly front and back. The roof is more like 60" long, so there is lots more room to spread them out. The boat would be a lot more stable if I put one bar close to the front, and the other close to the back, like I did with my previous cars. It seems like the roof edge would be stronger closer to the supports beside the windshield and back window. Does anyone know why the spec is to put them so close together ? Has anyone tried a wider spacing ?
I use Yakima and set mine 32" aft of the front. You could probably mount the front at 8", even six" back from the windshield. I use a fairing as well. H
