KAMEI Corvara 310 black metallic DuoLift roof box...

There's a general consensus that KAMEI, based in Wolfsburg in Germany, makes the best quality boxes on the market. Don't just take our word for it! They're a specialist box manufacturer, Quality Assured to ISO 9001, represented in over 40 countries, with numerous Best Buy awards over the years, including the Auto Express 2008 and 2009 "Best Buy" which was awarded to the medium length version of this box (the Corvara 390), the third time in a row that KAMEI has scooped this top award. And the cheaper single side opening version of this box was given 1st prize in the German ADAC test of 8 boxes (December 2006); as well as being the most waterproof it was, much more importantly, the only box which passed their city crash test. See test summary. With their innovative and intelligent designs, top quality materials and engineering, and outstanding build quality, it's no surprise that KAMEI are Original Equipment box suppliers to several major manufacturers, including Audi, Mercedes-Benz and VW. And their boxes have the longest guarantee of any manufacturer in the car rack systems sector - 6 years!

The superb Corvara DuoLift range of boxes was launched in summer 2007; it's KAMEI's 'flagship' range, and incorporates the best of their engineering innovations, including their new low profile "push-push" quick fitting system.

The central locking system has the benefits of central locking without the potential drawbacks. Turn the key and the lid opens wide on its gas struts, but to close it you just pull the lid until it clicks shut - no need to hold the front and back shut while simultaneously turning the key. And you can’t lock the keys in the box inadvertently because the keys can’t be withdrawn from the lock until the box is properly shut. That's clever engineering...

The box to bars fitting system is extra low profile to maximise the useable space in the box. Push all four U bolts into the guides below the box - they're held in place with special grippers so they won't fall back onto the roof - and then, placing one hand into the box, push the spring loaded tensioning arm up and down a few times - "push, push, push" - to tighten the box onto the bars. It's a one finger operation, strain free!

Some other features:

• Corvaras are made from top quality 'DUROKAM', an ABS plastic developed by KAMEI to optimise weight, stability and impact resistance. If you'd like to see samples of KAMEI's plastic, to see the colours and feel the quality, please click here. We'll post three 10cm x 10cm squares by 1st Class post, free of charge to UK addresses only. Silver, titanium metallic (a dark silver grey) and metallic black. These will make very good coasters but in any event we hope that you'll appreciate the quality differences between Durokam and the run of the mill material that is used in most roof boxes you'll see on UK roads.
• The shape was refined after wind tunnel testing, and the whole range is TÜV and GS (security) tested and approved.
• This Duolift box opens from either the left or the right hand side, making it very easy to fix to roof bars (no stretching into the box is needed), as well as providing full choice about where you position it, depending e.g. on what else you are carrying on the roof. It's also available in silver-grey (cheaper), and in 'titanium metallic', a deep gloss silver-grey.
• The DuoLift system includes patented gas struts for wide and easy opening and closing.
• There are sliding box to bar fittings at all four fitting points so there’s never a need to drill new holes if the distance between your roof bars is non standard.
• The locking mechanism uses metal components throughout, including the catches in the lid; there are 3 locks and 3 hinges.
• This box comes with fittings to accommodate roof bars up to 44mm wide. A set of "T-track" adapters suitable for Atera, CRUZ, Prorack and Thule aluminium aerobars is also supplied. If you are using another brand of aerobars, please check the adapter links below, and order the KM52087 adapters if necessary. If your roof bars are wider than 44mm, with no "T-track" slots, you'll need to purchase adapter set KM52088, also listed below.
• See KAMEI newsletter for more information; we'll put up pictures of the new struts etc. just ASAP.
• 6 year guarantee.
• Weight 14kg empty, maximum load 75kg, gross loading limit 89kg, but only if 89kg is within your car roof loading limit.

This season we are offering a free roof box hoist to give you a superb deal. Boxes are bulky items so the ideal place to store them is above your car in the garage, or perhaps in a shed. Many people will leave the box attached to the bars, and also use the box for storage.

If you don't need a box hoist, our alternative gift is a set of 3 Fasty straps - 0.5m, 1.5m and 3.0m. Although of much less financial value they will be useful for 1,001 things, time and again. To order the 3 straps, tick the Alternative free gift box below. Please note that only one box hoist or one set of straps will be included per roof box ordered.

The KAMEI box passed with flying colours. It is important to note that Thule modified their fitting system after these tests, obtaining a "Gut" rating in the retest. Crash testing to ADAC standards is now an important part of roof box development for the main three roof box manufacturers, Hapro, KAMEI and Thule.

Please note that this video is 13.4MB.

You'll also see how the box is just pulled shut and then the key removed.

External dimensions: 220 (l) x 60 (w) x 36 (h) cm

Internal dimensions: 208 (l) x 50 (w) 32 (h) cm

Volume: 310 litres

Weight: 14kg

Max load capacity: 75kg

Max number of skis: 5

Opens from: both sides

Type of struts: hydraulic gas struts

Opens how wide: 35cm

Fits bars up to: 42(w) x 32(d) mm*

Distance between roof bar fittings: 57 – 92cm

Guarantee: 6 years

Colour: metallic black

Useful information:

* 20mm T track adapters also included to fit most aero bars including Thule, Atera, Cruz, Whispbar and some other OEM bars. 25mm T track adapters available separately to fit some other aero bars (e.g. BMW), see below for details.

Very few customers know much about the roof box market before they visit our site. We have a lot of information about the things to think about before buying, and the “real world usefulness" of various roof box features, but you’ll be buying sight unseen, and you probably won’t have used a roof box before, so there is inevitably some luck in getting a box which you’ll be happy with.

We want to remove the risks of buying these large and often expensive items, perhaps from brands which almost every other roof box retailer doesn’t stock, and so we have a unique “90 day Exchange Scheme” for roof boxes.

This allows you to use a roof box and, with the benefit of experience, to exchange it for a new one within 90 days of invoice date. Most exchanges are from a shorter box to a longer one, or from a wider box to a narrower one.

These are the rules of the Exchange Scheme:

• You are allowed one exchange only.
• The original box must be in "as new" condition, subject only to fair wear and tear.
• The replacement box must be a different model.
• The replacement box must not be part of a package deal or be from our Bargains section.
• Roof bars are never part of the Exchange Scheme.

This is how the exchange scheme works:

• We charge in full for the replacement box, including the appropriate carriage charge and a charge for any packaging needed for the return of the original.
• We arrange the collection and pay the return carriage costs.
• When the original box arrives back here we refund you for the invoice value of the original box, but you won't get back more than the invoice value of the replacement box. In other words, if the replacement is cheaper than the original we won't be giving you "extra cash back".