Let's roll!

 After resisting externalizing cargo for at least a decade, our camping trip last summer was just too space constrained, if I'm honest.  We were really wedged into the van, using bungee cords to hold cargo in the back, having items stacked in the center aisle, behind people's feet, just anywhere it would fit.  Planning a southwestern adventure, it became clear that going external would create more space in the car and make everyone more comfortable and most likely happier.

There was much deliberation about how to go external.  Initially, I thought about a trailer hitch and a hitch-mounted cargo tray.  Depending on the system, accessing the tailgate could be challenging.  It also would strain the rear suspension, as weight would be added well aft of the van.

Eventually, I decided that a roof box was the way to go.  My local dealer did a fine job installing the roof rails and crossbars, and we ended up selecting the biggest possible roof box we could find - the Thule Motion XT XXL.  Good grief, it's a big beastie.  At over 7.5 feet long, more than three feet wide, and 1.5 feet tall, it represents an additional 22 cubic feet of space.  The thinking is that everything we need to sleep, including 9-person tent, camp chairs, camp table, and assorted tarps will fit easily.  Since it is so long, I'm also thinking that we can be more efficient from a packing standpoint by putting the sleeping bags in there, unrolled and flat.  We shall see, as we need to do a variety of test loads to determine what will fit while staying within the 165 pound load limit of the box itself.

Overall, on the van, it looks...big:

So big that you can see it when you look up through the sunroof.

It's not particularly large from the front, with comparatively small frontal area:

However, from the back, it's a different story.  Mostly because it looks like someone added another story to the van:

One of the features I really like is the variable position mounting system, allowing the box to be positioned on the roof rack while still allowing full tailgate access:

Securing it to the crossbars is very straightforward.  I haven't taken it for a test drive yet.  I'm looking forward to doing that this weekend to get a feel for wind noise, and to see if I can perceive any significant change in vehicle dynamics.

As an aside, one thing I thought was kind of funny was this picture from the owner's manual:

Where have I seen that shape before?  Ah yes, my dearly departed Passat:

I've always thought the Passat had clean, timeless, well-proportioned lines.  It really was a good-looking sedan back in 1998, and I think the design weathered time pretty well.