I thought I'd pass along a little rack information. Having just installed the factory rails, I'm impressed with the look but disappointed that the furthest forward you can push the front crossbar is the back of the moonroof. This means the maximum distance between the front and rear crossbars is not ideal for big loads and the centerpoint of your load is nowhere near the halfway point between the bumpers. It's fine for bikes or kayaks, but a long canoe or lumber won't be as stable as it could be.

If you choose to mount a rack directly to the roof mount points, you'll get at least another foot (30 cm). If you use door clips, you can stretch the two crossbars even further apart.

Yakima appears to be working on racks for the CX-5, but they are infuriatingly quiet about it. Keep an eye on the Yakima website and hope they make a fitting for the Whispbar soon.

If you install the factory rails, you can either cut the black ditch moldings as described in the instructions or drill holes. I drilled holes and was pleased with keeping the ditch moldings in one piece, but beware that the large and oblong holes are not easy to drill. And you'll still need to cut a few inches off the back end of the ditch moldings. I'm not sure which method I would recommend.

 

Good to know. Our local dealers have said they're not getting rails in for a while yet still. Might be worth waiting on Yakima at this rate.

 

You can get the rails at mazdagear.com. After shipping, it still comes in a little cheaper than the dealer. I know the Yakima engineers have crawled over the CX-5 and taken measurements. But I have no idea when they'll produce fittings.

 

I don't have the cross bars yet. I'm wondering if the whole thing will clear the shark fin antenna. Stay tuned.

 

I just took the cross bars off earlier today. I think they don't quite clear the shark fin. You don't have to worry about the crossbar itself because the side rails won't allow the cross bars to go as far back as the shark fin or as far forward as the moonroof. But you do have to be a little careful loading things onto the crossbars. I think an item on top of the crossbar could hit the shark fin.

 

The Mazda crossbars are relatively limited in function. Loading anything wider than 27" may be unstable. Anything more than 35" is asking for trouble. Putting my canoe on top was questionable. I ended up buying rail mounts for my Yakima bars--a lot uglier and noisier, but a lot more functional. Thule also makes a good rail mount.

The Mazda crossbars should be limited to lighter and smaller loads. If you're serious about your roof racks, skip the Mazda side rails too. By mounting Yakima or Thule to the fixed roof points, you'll gain width and distance between the crossbars. Unfortunately, those companies have yet to produce a fixed point kit for the CX-5.

 

I am looking to put a basket on the top of our new CX-5. It came with side rails, and I'm considering the OEM crossbars at $108 vs ~$325 for Thule crossbars. This limits me slightly as far as what baskets I can add on top. We are primarily looking for more room for hauling camping gear.

I assume that there are limits as to how far back a basket can sit (rear fin clearance and hatch opening), but hopefully a basket can sit over the moonroof without obstruction.

Has anyone added a basket yet? Any pictures? And how bad is the additional wind noise, either just with the crossbars or the crossbars and a basket? Is a wind visor needed?

 

I don’t think you will have a clearance problem with the basket over the moonroof, but you need to check with the basket manufacturer about how much past the crossbar the basket can go. The limitation on how far forward (and back) you can locate the crossbars is dependent upon the side rails. The side rails don’t allow the front cross bar to go above the moonroof. Perhaps the basket can extend all the way over the moonroof, but too much unsupported weight will cause it to bend down onto the roof, particularly if you hit a big bump.

 

I installed the factory side rails and used the Thule cro$$bars for my luggage box (Yakima). The initial (last minute) installation found the box too far back and interfering with the rear hatch opening fully, so next time I will ignore the factory pick up points on the box, and drill my own holes so it can be mounted further forward. I did the same thing on my CRV, and it worked fine. I'll take a pic next time it's on the vehicle.

 

http://boldride.com/blog/wp-content/...X-5-Zobmie.jpg

Here is a photo showing basket on cx5