About to purchase an '07 C2S coupe. I do alot of cycling and am planning to put a roof rack on the top....Ive seen the racks on suncoastparts.com which I believe are Thule compatible. Im curious as to what other racks have been used or what others are compatible. Pics are welcome.
Thanks in advance

 

I am also a biker. The BEST setup I've found is the factory crossbars combined with the Rocky Mounts Euro Pitchfork rack. I have that combination on my Panamera. On the C2S I have the factory crossbar with the factory fork mount rack. The Rocky Mount rack is FAR superior. Very sturdy and everything locks - the rack to the roof, the bike rack to the crossbars, and the bike to the rack. And it's CHEAPER than the inferior factory bike attachment.

DMoore
'09 C2S
'10 P4S

 

You should really search in the 997 & GT3 forums under "roof rack" and "trailer". This is covered frequently and I've commented regularly.

I would consider myself an expert at transporting sh*t on the roof of a 997 (many would consider me a fool).

For starters, ignore everyone who will tell you to go out and buy another vehicle.

I will speak specifically towards Thule & Yakima. I have not seen other manufacturers which are superior. For the 911, you have 3 options for bars & attachments.

1.) Yakima: Yakima makes round crossbars; rubber (roof) footed mounts (which screw into the roof flaps). Yakima round crossbars extend a bit past the "control towers". This is either an aesthetic negative or a handy, extra attachment point. You will need 48" crossbars for the 911 unless you wish to get longer bars for more attachments. There are many, many specific attachments which I will not into and all depends on your hobby and bike.

2.) Thule: Thule makes rectangular cross bars and hard-mounted (not on roof) mounts. HOWEVER THIS OPTION DOES NOT EXIST BECAUSE.... (See #3)

3.) Porsche: Porsche has contracted with Thule to manufacture the Porsche parts. There are a few unique design qualities but the mounting mechanism is a traditional Thule in-the-roof-rail mount, which is ideal. All of the other accessories and attachments are typical Thule high-quality, again with just enough design difference not to compete with it's regular Thule-branded attachments and to justify Porsche's extortionist prices.

Fortunately, Porsche has not gone down the road of wild and unique design, much like Audi. Audi's roof mounts are virtually incompatible with Yakima & Thule systems requiring you to buy all of their parts. Porsche (/Thule) is obviously compatible with all Porsche parts (should you choose to give away your money) and Yakima.

Also, fortuitous is that Yakima & Thule generally play nicely together. Their attachments you can usually, safely mix-and-match.

So, my suggestion.......
Cross bars first. You'll have to decide if you want pay extra for the Porsche-branded Thule bars. These are arguably designed better and are more aesthetically pleasing. Also, their mounting system is internal, meaning no significant portion rests on the roof of the car. The Yakima bars are a bit cheaper (you can buy them anywhere or online) and you can select the width according to your needs; but even the normal 48" will stick out a bit. Also, Yakima "control towers" (mounts) have a rubber footing that does contact the surface of your car. I have the Yakima kind and am a very cautious with it. It has never damaged the roof of my car, but in my mind I would prefer it not make contact. Though I do recommend it.

Next, your attachments. Here's the easy part. Buy whatever will fit your bikes best. There are so many and you can pick between Porsche, Thule, & Yakima.

Ultimately, If I did it again, I would buy the Porsche cross-bars and Yakima accessories. But I have appreciated the extended Yakima bars (as seen below). Porsche/ Thule will be narrower and could limit what you put on. Suncoast is probably the best place to buy the Porsche bars.

Shown is my now infamous photo of my Jed Clampett setup when I travelled across-country with my bikes, cage, 2 cargo bags, and wheels.

 

Thanks KK for the reply, appreciate the info.

 

I have a 2011 C2S and my wife and I are avid cyclists. We just recently returned from a 6,000Km. trip to Monterey and Palm Desert with our new 911 and had the dealer install the Porsche roof racks (they threw them in after the deal was negotiated!). With the Rocky bike racks and two road bikes the car drove beatifully with little wind noise. We are very happy and it extends the use of the car dramatically. We had a 2007 T4S and the ability to have roof racks was one of the main reasons to make the change along with PDK. Go for it.

 

This is an excellent photo (Thanks JTSmith) to show what I could not.

Look very closely at the mounting points, where the cross bars rest on the roof. If you have not discovered it, the little flaps/doors in the longitudinal roof trim flip up, exposing a mounting thread. The Porsche/ Thule system, shown in the photo rests inside and on the plastic trim.

The Yakima "control-towers" also screw into the mounting points but their footing rests on the plastic trim with some overlap onto the roof.

Like I said earlier, the Porsche/ Thule system certainly looks better, is a few hundred more, does not contact the roof, but will limit your width (which should not be a problem for a couple of bikes and tires).

The real advantage to the Yakima cross bars are that (besides price) you could use the extra length of the bars for more attachment points should you need it.

Additionally, I have also researched roof rack options for the GT3, as this is an aspiration of mine. However, Porsche no longer installs the hard-point access trim on the 997.2 GT3, only the 997.1 GT3 (So 2008, not 2010).

I would love to know if any 997.2 GT3 folks have ever popped the plastic roof trim off to see if the hard-mounts points are actually their and just not the access "doors" on the roof trim.

 

I have a set of Porsche rails in my garage that I bought from someone here that I've never used PM me if you're interested with email address. I'd ask only what I paid. Quite a bit less than Suncoast.

 

Hi Ryem..I cant send PMs yet as I dont have enough posts, Im interested in the rails you have, you can email me at eyernman@***.net
Thanks
If you have apic of them too, that would be great

 

If the above doesn't work out I'm very interested in the racks as well.
langford at carolinaents dot com

 

I note from the photo that your Rocky Mounts are the external mount version - you can see hardware underneath the rear crossbar. The new Euro rack permits an internal mounting with slider bars that fit inside the crossbar, for an even cleaner appearance.

I've owned every bike rack there is at one time or another - Thule, Yakima, Porsche, even La Prealpina. (Anybody remember those?) The Porsche crossbars with Rocky Mount racks are the MOST solid racks I've ever seen. I love 'em!

DMoore
'09 C2S
'10 P4S

 

Nice rack!

 

You are correct, I was aware that they have a alternative to the exterior bar mount but I have square Thule racks on other vehicles and wanted bike racks that could be used on the other vehicles. I like the Rocky setup but have one complaint. We have two different bike makes and in both cases the front fork mount locking engagement barely engages due to the thickness of the fork! Thats why you see an external locking cable as an extra precaution. I wonder if that is a problem with other makes?

 

I cannot speak for Rocky, but regarding Yakima & Thule, there are many, many different bike mounts that you should be able to choose which will suit your fork needs best. I have a generic Yakima fork-mount that has a very wide fork receiver that works well for my road and mountain bikes.

Additionally, most of the newer Yakima & Thule attachments are interchangeable. I have the Yakima "Forklift" which has a very wide attachment points for "XYZ" cross bars. It will easily accommodate Yakima, Thule, Porsche, and even (barely) fit the proprietary Audi bars.

 

I went to the rack dealer yesterday and described the problem - they had no solution. I called Rocky Mounts this AM and the solution is simple - the dealer didn't know the correct way to engage the locking mechanism. Problem solved, I can very much recommend the Rocky Mounts bike racks. Whats nice is that they come in colors.

 

Hey Ryem3, still interested in your rails if you get this message, I dont have enough posts to PM.......got the 997 in the garage though now......WOOHOO!!! so tine to get the rack!
eyernman@***.net