Eric Barr Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 I test drove a new (06) Outback Sport Wagon today and the cross members on top of the car caused a very load wind noise (turbulance) above 40 mph.No other Subaru I have owned does this. Could never tolerate this on a full time basis. 0therwise I like the car.Any thoughts on this. I know I can remove them but want to have them for use. Tried moving the front one rearward but did not help. Salesman did not have a clue about it but he sure noticed the noise .Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 I test drove a new (06) Outback Sport Wagon today and the cross members on top of the car caused a very load wind noise (turbulance) above 40 mph.No other Subaru I have owned does this. Could never tolerate this on a full time basis. 0therwise I like the car.Any thoughts on this. I know I can remove them but want to have them for use. Tried moving the front one rearward but did not help. Salesman did not have a clue about it but he sure noticed the noise .Thanks my97 OBW does this, i turn up the stereo. Look to see if the cross beams are installed backwards. They are directional and can make wind noise. Also they do come off it reall does drive you nuts. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulcheese Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 You can buy these things to cut out exactly that. Yakima sells one for there racks. It looks just like an 8 inch wing that snaps on to the front crossbar. If you look at some truck hauling racks they have something on there to cut down on the noise. It is a common problem with all racks. As far as a stock suby rack I dont know but I bet there is something out there that will do the trick, maybe the Yakima one will work. Also the fairings made by Yakima or thule are designed for exactly that. That is what I have and it cuts out the noise 100% but I also have Yakima rack on so not quite sure if it will fit stock. Do a google search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSubiefan Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 My Dad's 2000 OBW did that - He just removed the cross bars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheetah8799 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 I own a 98 Legacy Outback and use a Yakima rack with extra wide bars with a set of kayak rollers and pads, as well as two bike trays. I also keep the stock cross bars in place for stability, since technically it's only rated for 100lb, and a canoe and kayak combined can go over that... Ya, the noise gets bad at freeway speeds. But there is no way around it. In the winter, I pull them off to avoid snow buildup and corrosion on the rack. Very noticable difference. If on the car you tested the noise is from the stock rack, then something is wrong. I most definately do NOT hear any extremely loud noise with just the stock cross bars in place. At least no more than if I pulled out the cross bars. And that is in any position, even if they are backwards, which the probably are. I'm not sure if they were changed after 98 though to be directional. As for the Yakima wind fairing. I own one, but never use it on my Outback. I did use it on my old Ford Taurus, and actually found that it caused WORSE gas mileage by up to a couple mpg. So I chose to live with the noise instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meprntr1 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 My 05 Impreza RS SW does the same thing. You really do get used to it. How can you tell if the racks were installed backwards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtsmiths Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 I don't know haw hard it is to relocate the cross bars on a stock roof rack (ours isn't). But I've found that if I slide the front cross bar back to just in front of the 'B' pillar the noise is greatly reduced. I suspect it takes it out of the acellerated slipstream coming over the windshield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Barr Posted April 14, 2006 Author Share Posted April 14, 2006 Now that I think about it--this car had the "spoiler" on top of the rear hatch door. Wonder if that in combo with the rack is creating the howl. The idea that the rack cross pieces were installed backwards is very interesting--am going to pass that on tho the dealer. That could very well be it. Thanks for the replies and help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 My 05 Impreza RS SW does the same thing. You really do get used to it. How can you tell if the racks were installed backwards? The cross peices tell you what direction they go in. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pos009 Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Just test drove an '06 impreza, too, complete with howl intact. Unacceptable, in fact, and the dealer just said "the Sports all do that".... with some mumbo-jumbo about car weight compared to the bigger OB... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjo Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 it could just be the laminar boundry layer going turbulent... eh :-\ what is it.. .the reynolds number hits 1/2 a million and BAM, you get turbulence...sort of... i'd check to see if they're on backwards/upsidedown... i haven't seen one myself, but i'm guessing they're some sort of airfoil design.. When i first bought my 97 OBS when i hit 40mph it would hit like.. the resonance frequency for the bar spacing (roof-bar distance) and it would make a nice howl... i just drove faster or slower.. until the problem went away... but i've since removed the factory racks... eh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 My obw doesnt do it all the time, the wind has to be the right speed and right direction. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPX Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Have you tried spacing the cross bars differently? Maybe move them all the way back when not in use? My Suburban has a crazy resonance when the cross cars are too far forward and too close together. Space them out and move farther back and the sound went away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2X2KOB Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Technical Service Bulletin 1510401 addresed this wind noise problem on some of the Outbacks. I think the fix was to add some vinyl tape to cover an open slot on the bottom side of the crossbars. Sorry I can't find a direct link to the real TSB - It's probably in alldata.com or techinfo.subaru.com $omewhere. I'm pretty sure I saw it on mycarstats.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forester2002s Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 My 2002 Forester has the airfoil type of cross-bar: the rounded nose faces forward, and the slightly sharper trailing-edge is at the back. The rack is not too noisy, EXCEPT when I remove the upper rubber strip (this covers the full-width accessory slot). When the slot is exposed, the wind-noise increases dramatically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broyer Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 My 2000 OBW did the same thing. Drove me crazy. Just this past week I decided to remove the crossbars. It made a tremendous difference. The car is much quieter on the highway. Also, I have the rear spoiler over the rear hatch. I don't know what impact, if any, this has on wind noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2X2KOB Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 Also, I have the rear spoiler over the rear hatch. I don't know what impact, if any, this has on wind noise. One of our 2000 Outback wagons has the rear spoiler, the other does not. It doesn't make any difference as to the wind noise, I don't think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Kuhlman Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 OK, next question: Several folks have mentioned they'd removed their luggage rack. Given what gas prices are doing it, I figure I fill the car's tank up far more frequently than I put something on the roof, so I'd like to remove the stock roof rack. What do you do with the holes in the roof? Does Subaru make a plug kit? (Volvo had one to offer for castrated Volvos) Rob Kuhlman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2X2KOB Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 You just take off the crossbars - the rest of it stays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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