Hi

Would like to possibly get a roof box later in the year , but Ive always wondered how safe they are travelling at high motorway speed and also what they look like on a ford focus hatchback?

As they can look a bit odd on smaller cars , not that a focus is small?

Has anyone got a roofbox on there focus hatchback , been looking at halfords and they seem to have a lot of own brand boxes but they also have Thule which I think is a good make?

cheers

I have Thule Pacific roof box for about 5 years now, did thousands of miles with roof box, have used it on different cars without any problems. If you need roof box the look of the car is the last thing you should worry about, but you can improve it with proper box. In general longer and narrower boxes look better, but it depends what you need it for. My box is 195cm long, 65cm wide - have chosen it because in this way I can carry box and two bikes on the roof. At the same time box can be used to transport skis, it was also proper to carry my kid's pushchair. Thule is more expensive but very good quality, good looking (especially when it is all black like mine) and has fast grips / power grips to fix it - no tools required, it takes only minutes.

According to manufacturers you should not exceed 80mph when travelling with roof box, but even 100-110mph did not cause any problems. Car becomes more sensitive to winds from the side, you have to remember about it when passing or overtaking lorries. Car will use more fuel as well.

Dont let stoney catch yer doin them speeds lol your neck of the woods as well

Take it easy mate, I do not drive like that in UK :D From time to time I travel to Germany where such speed is not a problem as very often there is no speed limit on the motorway. Anyway when travelling with my family and fully laden car I usually do not exceed 80mph there any more. I'm not in a hurry.......... or simply getting old -_-

Dont let stoney catch yer doin them speeds lol your neck of the woods as well

I'm sure he's referring to autobahn usage ;)

Take it easy mate, I do not drive like that in UK :D From time to time I travel to Germany where such speed is not a problem as very often there is no speed limit on the motorway. Anyway when travelling with my family and fully laden car I usually do not exceed 80mph there any more. I'm not in a hurry.......... or simply getting old -_-

Told you so :P ;)

To be honest, you're more likely to see me going by in a whirl of flashing lights, wailing sirens and clouds of dust going after someone who really deserves to get some of my attention. :D

I know plenty of people with roof boxes, and none of them have ever had a problem. My sister has a Halfords one, my brother-in-law has a Thule one. They're both happy with their respective choices.

The Halfords one bolts onto your roof bars with U-bolts, so fixing/removing requires a spanner. The Thule one has a clever clamp system where you turn a knurled knob to move a 'claw' that grabs the roof bar. A much neater and faster system, and probably part of the reason the Thule costs more. In both cases this is all done from inside the box, so they are safe & secure when locked.

Regarding boxes on small cars, I've seen roof boxes on a few Caterhams (obviously with a roll cage...). The Focus will easily handle one!

hey, thanks everyone