V60CC Roof Bars

[Sub2]

I'm looking to get roof bars for my V60 Cross Country to use for bike carriers and occasionally a roof box (with bike carriers removed.). I'm hoping to go for flush bars rather than through bars for better aethetics.

I was originally going to go for Thule WingBar Edge as they are a known quantity and come in black which would match my existing Thule bike carriers. However, the feet on these are quite big and I'm concerned that this will limit the amount of useable bar available when I come to use my roofbox. The roofbox comes close to fouling the feet on my existing car, and that's with a longer bar and (Whispbar) feet which look to be smaller than the Thule equivalent. I am therefore beginning to wonder about going for the Volvo flush bars instead as they look to leave a lot more bar exposed on the top.

I have a few questions:
Could anyone with either the Thule or Volvo bars kindly measure how much of the rear bar is left exposed when they are fitted to the feet?
I've read some reports of the Volvo bars being quite noisy. These seem to be relating to older designs, how have people found the Volvo bars for the SPA cars?
Does the silver of the Volvo bars match the silver on the V60 CC roof rails? I'd rather have them both in black given the choice, but if the two silvers match then it's not quite so bad.
Any general thoughts on Thule Vs Volvo bars?

[HamDenFede]

I have an XC60 with the OEM Volvo bars. I think those are a different length though, but the mounting feet are identical. The black part stretches roughly 11cm (each side) into the bar, where you will not be able to have anything grip around the bar (e.g. a box with "fast click" etc.), but if you use the t-functionality to mount stuff in the rail of the bar, that should no be an issue, as the top of the bar not covered. The available length of the bar would then be the same measure as the measure from outside-to-outside between your rails if you use the t-mount, and the same length minus 2x11cm if you use stuff that has to grab around the bar.

The OEM ones are very sturdy quality though and makes no noise at all. That being said, I normally limit my speed to 110-120 km/h when I have stuff on the roof.

The Volvo bars are silver and match perfect with the mat silver roof rails, the trim on the windows, front and bumper cover on the early R-Design cars.

I think Volvo in general use Thule to manufacture their roof bars, boxes etc., so the quality should be the same. The Volvo stuff is just rebranded, with subtle Volvo logo in the foot of the bars, instead of the white Thule logo.

[Sub2]

Thanks for the info. The roofbox will use the T track so it sounds like it should work fine.

Do the Volvo bars have the rubber that needs to be cut to suit the spacing of the T track adapters or do they have the 'Quickaccess' arrangement which I believe the newer Thule bars have which doesn't need cut?

[HamDenFede]

Included with the bars are two rubber strips, to be put in the rails. I only have a box that grabs around, so I just cut them full length. But I guess you will need to cut them accordingly if you use equipment that use the t-thing.