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Short Wide roofboxes
Medium Long Medium Wide boxes
Long Medium Wide roof boxes Long Thin roof boxes
Long Wide roofboxes
For maximum capacity - 2 boxes!
Going camping?
We believe our Family roofboxes will suit your needs.
In spite of their different nominal capacities (330 litres to 480 litres) we can get the same amount of standard luggage into each of these boxes, demonstrating that it's length, width, and low profile box to bar fittings that make the most difference to actual usefulness. Box height is the least important measurement unless you have something specific to carry. On this subject, if you find that you can't get your children's buggy into the roof box, usually because it's too wide and deep, we suggest that you put the buggy in the boot and the contents of the boot into the roof box.
Here’s the range:
>> Delphin 340K
and bar package, RH opening
>> Delphin 340K
and bar package, LH opening
We've always liked KAMEI's Delphin range – they’re the preferred choice of all our staff here. No frills, but they have the strongest locking system on the market, are very user friendly, seem to last for ever, never go wrong, win product tests, and keep looking good when other more obviously styled boxes look a bit weird even 3 years up the line. When we did mail order roof box hire the Delphins were the only boxes that could stand the punishment meted out by both the carriers and the customers. The 340s have the same aerofoil base as the Husky (see above) and the award winning Corvara 390s, but a different shaped lid. They're available in right or left hand opening, and there’s also a fabulous "carbon design" version - see below. They’re suitable for carving skis up to 180cm.
If you think that 340 litres seems a bit small, don't worry. KAMEI are scrupulous about measuring capacity, but other manufacturers are prone to exaggeration. The Auto Express testers didn't ask for this box but their photographs show that they fitted as much into KAMEI’s 330 and 390 litre boxes as they did in another brand's 480 litre! Low profile box to bar fittings also make a difference, but the messages should be clear enough: (1) don't get too hung up about nominal capacity, (2) good value is not a matter of how much nominal capacity you get for your bucks.
>> Delphin 470
and bar package, RH opening
>> Delphin 470
and bar package, LH opening
Looking for an ideal box for a family of four or five which leaves space on the roof bars? Look no further!
2nd Prize in the Auto Express 2009 roof boxes test: “Use this roof box, and you’ll love it! On paper, it seems a poor deal as there’s no central locking, the lid opens on one side and fixing involves plain U-bolts. Yet it’s easier to latch the two locks separately when the box is full of luggage. And O-rings in the fixing holes stop the U-bolts dropping as you tighten them. Feels bombproof, and that shape maximises volume.”
Thule EasyBase 949 and options. Thule Easybasket 948-3, Thule EasyBike 948-1 and 948-2,
Thule BackUp 900 and Thule EasyBag 948-4
We will of course be delighted to take orders for boxes of any size and shape, but the purpose of this section is to show you the boxes that have proved in our experience to be the most appropriate for general family use. Many families will be happy with e.g. a short wide box, (with space for one bike carrier if used on aerobars, e.g. a Hapro Roady 422, or a KAMEI Delphin 380); others will go for a maximum capacity Long Wide box. But if there are (say) four of you, and if you think you’ll need to carry bikes as well as a roof box, then consider a “Medium-Long Medium Wide” box – decent capacity with space for one or even two bike carriers on aerobars, or (this is ideal for five people who also carry bikes) a Long Medium Wide box, a similar width to the Medium Long boxes, but with more capacity.
Click on a box image or name for further details. This will also take you to on-line ordering.KAMEI's elegant Corvara 475s incorporate all the best of their engineering innovations - U bolt grippers, sliding box to bar fittings front and back, the "Click to lock" central locking system (all the virtues of central locking but none of the hassles), and an ultra low-profile "push-push" quick fitting system - lean into the box and, with minimal effort, push the spring loaded tensioning arm up and down a few times to tighten the box onto the bars. Keeping the fittings as low as possible maximises the usable space in the box. With their gas strut assisted dual side opening, 75kg loading limit, and all round elegance, they’re the best quality big box available anywhere.
The Corvara 475 may well be the box for people who appreciate undoubted quality and technical innovation, and want a big box which will leave enough space on Atera or Thule roof bars for e.g. a bike carrier. The shorter version of this box won the Auto Express Best Buy award in both 2008 and 2009. They focussed on quality and ease of use. Safety is also an increasingly important part of roof box design, to which end the KAMEI Corvara series is the proven winner. The Corvara 475 is the wider version of the Corvara 310 which set the benchmark for safety in Germany’s recent ADAC tests.
We aim to keep a few of the
cheaper ‘right side only’ opening Corvara 475s in stock for
those who want to buy into the features, the quality and the styling but
don’t need the dual side opening.
You'll find these on the Roof
Box List.
These boxes have an elegance and all round sophistication that only Thule's Spirit series and Excellence box can match, with pricing that is both realistic and sensible. The DuoLifts were launched last summer, so it was the Long Thin version, the Corvara 310, which won ADAC's roof boxes test in December 2006, the most thorough roof box test ever devised, with for the first time a proper focus on safety issues. ADAC is Europe's largest motoring organisation.
The Corvara 390K seems bigger than its 390 litres might suggest. Its external width and height are comparable to the biggest boxes in this sector, but it's a tad shorter than some, one of the design briefs being to look just right on a VW Golf, allowing the rear hatch to be fully opened but without too much front overhang. It's also designed to carry carving skis up to 180cm long, as well as a family's summer touring gear; the consensus here is that KAMEI have got it just right. Choose between plain silver, titanium metallic (a deep gloss silver-grey) or gloss black.
We aim to keep a few of the cheaper ‘right side only’ opening Corvara 390Ks in stock for those who want to buy into the features, the quality and the styling but don’t need the dual side opening. You'll find these on the Roof Box List.
These three boxes are also available as package deals with Prorack Whispbar roof bars: silver, titanium metallic, black metallic.
KAMEI Husky
330 litres, 190 x 75 x 38cm
from £154.95
>> KAMEI
Husky right hand opening
>> KAMEI
Husky LEFT hand opening
This new box from KAMEI includes all the essential attributes of any KAMEI box - good looks, ease of use, top quality mouldings, excellent security, wide opening on gas struts, safety tests that are up with the best, but all the non-essential items are of a cheaper specification, giving a useful saving on what you'd normally expect to pay for KAMEI quality. Some people reject it (and the Delphin 340 below) because they think it’s small compared e.g. to Thule’s Atlantis 780 at 480 litres. Check out the pictures on the Husky product pages – you’ll see that the Husky and the Atlantis cartons are almost the same size, and you have to trust us when we tell you that you can get approximately the same amount of luggage into both boxes. The reality here is that Thule has a reputation for being enthusiastic with their stated roof box capacities, but perhaps KAMEI have also underestimated the Husky’s capacity.
It’s also available as a package deal for only £194.95 with CRUZ roof bars - right hand opening or left hand opening.
The Carver II 440 is a large Medium Long Medium Wide roofbox, an all round family luggage carrier which should allow space on the roof bars for at least one bike carrier, especially if fitted to aerobars, and will take carving skis to 185cm. It squares up as a very worthy alternative to the Thule Atlantis 200 / 780 boxes, having dual side opening with 3 lock / hinge points on each side for extra security and strength, and a 75kg loading limit thanks to its steel reinforcing ribs.
We have a limited number of the superb KAMEI Corvara 475 "White Star" DuoLift in a gloss white finish, a white top on a white base. Almost £395 a pop, but you're paying for exclusivity as well as quality, and of course they'll reflect the sun better than any other box available!
