Originally Posted by js from nc

Has anyone installed the Q5 roof racks and driven highway speed, but without any accessory or cargo box attached to the racks? I can't believe the loud, whistling noise that starts around 60 mph. I've had other vehicles with permanent racks that make virtually no noise. The attachment points to the rails are not flush so I assume that's where the problem is. Still, this seems like a significant design flaw. I haven't attached and driven with my cargo box, so perhaps the wind noise from that will drown out the pronounced whistling. I was considering a "duct tape fix" to close off the open seams and gaps at the attachment points.

Hi js from nc,

This is one common problem, because of the shape of the roof racks. Tape fix is a good idea i think, until or unless it looks good.

The Euro Aero setup is a bit different, the fitments land a bit closer to the side of the roof, so no open sky issues. Also, they torque down off the end-caps of the bars, so the feet are a bit sleeker then the US style. Check this out roof rack.

Hope this find you good.

Regards,
DILEEP

We have a Q7 and have the same racks. We have the whistling at normal speeds. We have fitted some rubber gasket that goes with the load bars and it is still whistling. We also think it's a design flaw. We're going to take the ski holders off and see if the load bars whistle by themselves. I suspect it's anything attached to the load bars that is not flush. Have you figured anything out?

The dealer warned me about that whistling noise so I didnt bother putting the roof rack on, i have no use of it anyways. I wouldnt mind the whistle but hopefully there will a better fix than the duct tape one

Actually, once I installed my cargo box (Yakima), the whistling disappeared, and the wind noise was very tolerable. So the moral of the story is...keep the racks off until you need to install something on them.

I am just commenting on this I also have roof rack go over about 40 and it drives you crazy...my car is in the shop for the 3rd time trying to pin point the noise...