Applicable to: '90 - '97 '99 + 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
Nice looking stainless steel luggage rack attaches to trunk lid. Price from Serious Auto Accessories is $195 plus shipping. Delivery was very prompt. Installation is temporary, or the rack can be left on all the time if you prefer. Very sturdy construction. Said to carry up to 75 pounds, this limitation would be imposed more by the trunk lid than the rack. The rack sits on 4 padded feet about 1 1/4 inch square. Four padded clamps go along the edge of the trunk lid which are tightened with an allen wrench. A padded hook at the front prevents the rack from sliding back. The rack has a bar at the rear to help prevent items from sliding off. Appearance is similar to the Anco racks that used to be popular on the old British sports cars.
The first time that I installed the rack I noticed that the feet did not fit flush against the trunk lid, and I thought that this might result in dents. In order to get the feet to sit flush on the lid, I removed the protective soft plastic covers from the feet and replaced them with some 1/8 thick self adhesive foam which is used for ski boot fitting. It is pretty incompressible and won't absorb moisture. I sanded the foam to form a slight wedge shape, and once the feet were flush with the trunk lid, I glued the plastic protective material onto the foam. When I attached the rack to the lid I tightened the mounting screws just enough to slightly compress the foam and hold the rack firmly in place. I used the rack for a week long road trip. When I removed it at the end of the trip there was no damage to the trunk where the rack had been mounted. The attachment of the rack did not loosen at all during the trip.
I recommend this product. The one drawback is that luggage mounted on the rack interferes with vision to the rear and you have to rely more on the side mirrors.
Under 5 minutes to remove
| Back to Product Reviews | 15 June, 2001 |