Do you need a cargo carrier for your Subaru WRX? You can find one below. We are here to introduce some popular options that you can use to load more luggage with your Subaru WRX.
Why do you need a cargo carrier for your WRX? You want to load more luggage and bring more friends on a road trip or other outdoor adventures. You want to load dirty sporting gear without messing up the clean trunk or the decent cabin room. You want to make your outdoor living more enjoyable with professional equipment. They are the most popular intentions that most outdoor enthusiasts have when buying cargo carriers for their vehicles.
If you are still confused about why people need a cargo carrier, you can refer to a post to check on some common reasons for your concerns.
A cargo carrier is an added storage space on your car that you can use to load items and transport stuff between locations, so cargo carriers are mainly designed for outdoor needs. Most people use a cargo carrier to carry camping equipment or sporting gear, so they put fishing rods, golf clubs, camping tents, clothes, shoes, hiking gear, hunting equipment, camping tools, and devices in a cargo carrier for transportation.
Unfortunately, Subaru WRX only has 12.5 cubic feet of trunk space, so you should find a way to build extra storage space. We find some popular ways to create an additional trunk for your WRX, and the roof-mounted cargo boxes are our favorite options.
Before adding a car roof box to your WRX, you better follow the roof loading limit and never overload the car roof. Overloading the car roof can cause serious accidents. We checked the car manual and found that the Subaru WRX can load up to 150 lbs of items on the car roof.
If you want to use a cargo box to load things on your WRX, you need roof racks (a pair of crossbars). Can you find existing roof rails or bars on your WRX? If you do, it is much easier for you. If you see an empty or bare car roof, you require to purchase roof racks (crossbars) before adding roof-mounted cargo boxes to your car. No worries, we are here for you.
Subaru WRX is a high-performance sports car manufactured in 2017, and the 2022 model is available now. The all-wheel drive is the outstanding feature of the 2022 Subaru WRX that may open a new era for sports vehicles. Although WRX has 271 horsepower, you better not drive too fast with a cargo carrier, especially when the cargo carrier is fully loaded. These cargo carriers below fit on Subaru WRX 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The recommended roof racks are not universal to all WRX models, so you can contact the local Subaru dealer to check compatibility or get OEM crossbars instead.
Quick-Pick List of Cargo Carriers For Subaru WRX
Recommended Roof Racks (crossbars):
Yakima JetStream Crossbars
It is for Subaru WRX without roof rails. Yakima is one of the favorite outdoor brands that we love to use. The JetStream bars are aerodynamic, sturdy, waterproof, and easy to install. You can install the Yakima JetStream bars onto your WRX without a tool, but you should follow the manual carefully and not make mistakes. All the cargo weight will stand on the crossbars, so you should pay attention to the installation.
We trust the quality of the Yakima JetsStream bars. The bars are 50 inches long, and you don’t need to trim them to fit on your WRX. These aero bars won’t create much wind noise, so you don’t worry about the extra waste on gas consumption. If you want to find some solutions to the wind noise problem, you can find methods here.
The Yakima JetStream Crossbars can hold up to 165 lbs of items, but you should follow the car roof loading limit. These bars have an aerodynamic shape that controls the airflow to minimize the vibration caused by wind, especially in high-speed conditions. With these bars, you can mount cargo boxes, baskets, bags, bike racks, kayak carriers, and other rooftop-mounted carriers.
Skyline Towers For Yakima Crossbars
You need four feet to connect the JetStream bars and the car roof. You can use these Skyline Towers to lock the Yakima crossbars in position and make them ready for jobs. You can find the fixed points roof rails on your WRX, so you can use a flat head screwdriver to open rubber flaps and find connection points. After having the crossbars installed, you can start to choose a roof cargo box.
Note: You can find crossbars for your Subaru WRX on Amazon or Ebay, but you better order a pair from the local dealer with compatibility check.
Detail of 5 Roof Cargo Boxes For Subaru WRX
We recommend 5 roof cargo boxes for your consideration.
Goplus Rooftop Cargo Box (Smallest Option)
After having crossbars on your WRX, you can use a Goplus roof box to create an additional 8.83 cubic feet of trunk space on the car roof. Goplus roof box allows you to load up to 121 lbs of items, and its dimensions are 52L x 30.5W x 12H inches. You can use the measurement to check if you can load your stuff in the box or not. If you find the Goplus box is too small, you can check the options below (the final one is the largest). If you cannot find a large enough one for your demands, you can find the biggest roof cargo boxes in another article.
When choosing the Goplus roof box as your additional storage space, you must pay attention to the crossbars and check if the distance between the two bars is between 18.5 and 36.61 inches. If the distance is too small or too large, you cannot mount the Goplus roof box on the roof racks.
Thule SideKick Rooftop Crago Box
Thule SideKick is the smallest Thule roof box, but it is the best option to mount with other roof-mounted cargo carriers like biker racks or ski carriers. Its dimensions are 54L x 25W x 15.5H inches, so you can use the numbers to compare with other options.
It is made of high-density ABS plastic materials, and you can use it in extreme weather conditions like storms. It opens on the passenger side, so you better mount it on the passenger side, not the driver’s side. When driving with a roof cargo box, you should follow these tips. Safety is always the priority above everything you have in mind, so you can read an article to increase the security of your properties on the roads.
The Thule SideKick roof box weighs 16 pounds, and you can lift it alone for installation. The installation process is straightforward without tool involvement. You can finish it under 10 minutes.
Rhino Rack Master Fit Roof Cargo Box
It is another heavy-duty roof box for most outdoor adventures. It is much bigger than the above options. You can load long gear up to 180 cm in the Rhino-Rack roof box without a problem.
The revolutionary mounting hardware allows you to twist to tighten the roof box to the roof racks in minutes after the first-time position adjustment. If you want to know the best position of a roof cargo box on the car roof, here is the answer.
Rhino-Rack Master-Fit roof box is made of high-density ABS and ASA materials, and the advanced construction offers weather resistance, UV protection, impact-proof, and added security.
Its dimensions are 78L x 36W x 18H inches. It provides 14 cubic feet of interior loading space. It is larger than the above options.
Yakima GrandTour Premium Rooftop Cargo Carrier
It is another beautiful Yakima product that we want to share with you. GrandTour roof box is an aerodynamic cargo box with a sleek look, ample loading space, premium features, and an SKS lock system; consequently, you won’t be wrong after choosing it as your second trunk on your Subaru WRX. It weighs 55 pounds, so you may need to ask someone else to join the installation process for better results and enhanced accuracy.
The Yakima GrandTour roof box comes with internal lid stiffeners that hold the lid when it is open, so your hands are released when loading or unloading the cargo box. The dual-side opening feature means you can pack the roof box from either side of the car with better convenience. If you find the cargo box is too high to reach, you can find accessories to make a cargo box easier to use.
You can use this Yakima roof box on most roof racks: round, square, aero, and factory crossbars. A compatibility check is not required if you choose the above Yakima crossbars.
Yakima Skybox 16 Carbonite Cargo Carrier
It is another Yakima roof box that we want to put on top of your Subaru WRX. It is the largest option in this article compared to the above ones. Thus, if you have more luggage to load, you can consider using this one as the added storage space on your WRX.
Its dimensions are 81L x 36W x 15H inches, and you can use these numbers to see if it fits your outdoor needs. The Yakima Skybox 16 can hold gear up to 215 cm in length. It loads up to 450 liters (15.89 cubic feet) of items, approximately MAX 76kg.
The manufacturer uses recyclable materials to build the Skybox 16 to make it eco-friendly. You can refer to an article to learn how to deal with used cargo boxes. Skybox 16 also fits on most rack systems like factory racks, round, square, and aerodynamic crossbars, but you must ensure the distance between the bars is between 24 and 35 inches (61 cm – 91 cm).
Other Cargo Carriers
Roof Bags
Roof bags are much cheaper than hardshell cargo boxes. If you have a limited budget, you can go with roof bags. However, roof bags are not for long-term use but for temporary outdoor use. We have discussed the differences between roof boxes and roof bags, and you can read more for knowledge building. It is not a mistake to prepare a soft roof bag in the car trunk to prepare for emergency situations. Most soft roof bags are foldable for easy storage. We find some popular roof bags for your Subaru WRX. Note: you don’t need roof racks (crossbars) when using a soft roof bag.
Cargo Baskets
Cargo baskets are not as popular as cargo boxes because they are open to the air without a lockable lid, so they are not secure when you are away from the car. However, roof baskets can be used as a large platform to hold other cargo carriers. Unless your vehicle has a large roof loading capacity, you don’t mount a roof box on a roof-mounted basket. We have a post on cargo baskets – learn more.
Bike Racks
There are several types of car bike racks. You can use a roof-mounted bike rack beside a cargo box on your Subaru WRX, but you don’t overload the car roof. Your WRX doesn’t have enough roof loading limit to hold that much weight, so you can use hitch-mounted biker racks. We recommend you study the article about types of car bike racks and build knowledge to find the most suitable options for your WRX. Hitch-mounted or trunk-mounted bike racks is the better solution to carry bikes on your Subaru WRX?
Hitch-mounted cargo carriers
After mounting a rooftop cargo box, you want more space to carry more. What to do? You can use a hitch-mounted cargo carrier to create another loading space at the rear of your Subaru WRX. A hitch-mounted cargo carrier connects and locks on the hitch receiver head, so you need to check if your Subaru WRX has a hitch receiver or not. If not, you can find one online or drive to the local dealer to order one.
We have two posts that specifically talk about hitch-mounted cargo carriers.
Final Words
In this article, you can find roof racks (crossbars) for Subaru WRX. After choosing roof racks, you can start to find a suitable cargo box to add on top of your WRX. We give 5 options to readers. These options rank from small to large, so readers can quickly find the appropriate one.
We also provide detail about these cargo boxes for readers to compare them from different perspectives like price, features, specifications, design, and more.
Finally, we give other alternatives that people can use on their Subaru WRX to carry things. We offer short descriptions of roof bags, baskets, bike racks, and hitch cargo carriers. If readers are interested in knowing more about these cargo carriers, they can use the links in the paragraphs to find more info on that topic. We recommend you use the menu section to find more valuable topics that may help you to know more about building a cargo management system for your Subaru WRX.
Note: you can use these products not only on Subaru WRX but also on other Subaru Models like Ascent, BRZ, Crosstrek, Forester, Impreza, Legacy, and Outback Wagon. We find compatible roof racks for other Subaru models: Outback, Crosstrek.
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