Yeah that's super efficient. I hardly have any miles on mine with the Rivian but I've driven it a lot with model Y. Efficient was much worse than 7% for me. But also I noticed a huge difference at speeds. Around town or 45mpg there was almost no difference. But above 80mph it was like 25% difference or such.
Thanks for sharing the photos and your review. Is there any room on the crossbars for Thule bike racks while the Motion 3 XXL is mounted?This past weekend, we packed the twins, their teen friend, two adults, a dog, and gear and provisions enough for two days of camping into our Gen 1 R1S. We drove 240 miles round trip to Sparrow Bend River Retreat west of San Antonio, TX. (Great spot. Highly recommended.) We hauled gear in our new Thule Motion 3 Roof Box XXL mounted atop our Gen 1 R1S. Here are some quick impressions for those looking for a larger storage solution.
As our two kids grow, we need more tents, larger tents, bigger sleeping bags, more food, more water, and more space to adventure. When they invite their friends, we need even more. To pack it all, we needed a voluminous roof-mounted storage solution that was aerodynamic and could mount on the crossbars. The Motion 3 XXL fit the bill.
I mounted the Motion 3 XXL on the rear two crossbars of our R1S. Mounting it on the front two placed the roof box (most roof boxes, for that matter) far forward, creating a long overhang that's difficult to get gear in and out of and creates significant aero drag. Since I run three crossbars at a time, I worried the box wouldn't clear both the rear hatch and the front crossbar. It did.
The Motion 3 XXL swallowed:
That's a lot of gear. Without that extra storage, we'd have needed to bring two cars. We kept the third row down to hold two coolers and several boxes of camping gear and food. We filled the frunk to capacity with water bottles and clothes.
- 5 collapsable chairs
- 1 foldable camp kitchen
- 1 camp shower
- 2 tents, one large, one small
- 2 collapsable wash buckets
- 5 sleeping bags
- 4 sleeping pads (one was a double)
- 1 camera tripod
Aero drag was about what I'd expect from a roof box. I recently changed my tires (to Toyo Open Country A/T III EVs) so I couldn't do a controlled drag comparison, but I estimate I lost 14-16% efficiency on mostly highway driving (60-80 mph) due to drag. I found the loss entirely worth the additional storage the box provided.
The big surprise was how quiet the box was at high speed. It wasn't silent but I never noticed it. It didn't whistle, rattle, or flap. Others report that the front of the XXL can bounce around and make noise but I didn't experience that over 240 miles.
All in all, the box is well-designed, the hardware is well-made, and it does everything I need it to do. And it looks pretty good too.
Recommended.
Pretty cool setup, and it's things like this, that make me want the R1S over the T... Sometimes.This past weekend, we packed the twins, their teen friend, two adults, a dog, and gear and provisions enough for two days of camping into our Gen 1 R1S. We drove 240 miles round trip to Sparrow Bend River Retreat west of San Antonio, TX. (Great spot. Highly recommended.) We hauled gear in our new Thule Motion 3 Roof Box XXL mounted atop our Gen 1 R1S. Here are some quick impressions for those looking for a larger storage solution.
As our two kids grow, we need more tents, larger tents, bigger sleeping bags, more food, more water, and more space to adventure. When they invite their friends, we need even more. To pack it all, we needed a voluminous roof-mounted storage solution that was aerodynamic and could mount on the crossbars. The Motion 3 XXL fit the bill.
I mounted the Motion 3 XXL on the rear two crossbars of our R1S. Mounting it on the front two placed the roof box (most roof boxes, for that matter) far forward, creating a long overhang that's difficult to get gear in and out of and creates significant aero drag. Since I run three crossbars at a time, I worried the box wouldn't clear both the rear hatch and the front crossbar. It did.
The Motion 3 XXL swallowed:
That's a lot of gear. Without that extra storage, we'd have needed to bring two cars. We kept the third row down to hold two coolers and several boxes of camping gear and food. We filled the frunk to capacity with water bottles and clothes.
- 5 collapsable chairs
- 1 foldable camp kitchen
- 1 camp shower
- 2 tents, one large, one small
- 2 collapsable wash buckets
- 5 sleeping bags
- 4 sleeping pads (one was a double)
- 1 camera tripod
Aero drag was about what I'd expect from a roof box. I recently changed my tires (to Toyo Open Country A/T III EVs) so I couldn't do a controlled drag comparison, but I estimate I lost 14-16% efficiency on mostly highway driving (60-80 mph) due to drag. I found the loss entirely worth the additional storage the box provided.
The big surprise was how quiet the box was at high speed. It wasn't silent but I never noticed it. It didn't whistle, rattle, or flap. Others report that the front of the XXL can bounce around and make noise but I didn't experience that over 240 miles.
All in all, the box is well-designed, the hardware is well-made, and it does everything I need it to do. And it looks pretty good too.
Recommended.
Don't have Thule bike racks but there is some room left. Maybe for one bike.
I purchased the Thule Motion 3 XXL during the recent Memorial Day sale and just test fit it this weekend. There’s a decent amount of adjustment from front to back, but I didn’t try the configuration you mentioned yet. I‘m traveling for work all week, but I’ll try this next weekend and post a pic for reference.
Looks really sharp!I purchased the Thule Motion 3 XXL during the recent Memorial Day sale and just test fit it this weekend. There’s a decent amount of adjustment from front to back, but I didn’t try the configuration you mentioned yet. I‘m traveling for work all week, but I’ll try this next weekend and post a pic for reference.
Mounted to the rear, there’s plenty of clearance for the liftgate. Looking forward to having the extra storage space for our roadtrips this summer.
Here’s a pic of it mounted on the front two bars and moved as far back as it will go. It’s definitely more accessible in this configuration.
Oh, perfect, thank you for this. There’s not nearly as much overhang as I thought there would be, although there is still some. Aesthetically speaking, I absolutely agree with you, it looks better in the rear.Here’s a pic of it mounted on the front two bars and moved as far back as it will go. It’s definitely more accessible in this configuration.
I know your motivation is different than mine regarding the positioning, but I personally think this particular box looks better mounted toward the rear.
Thank you! I’m one of those people that will hand wash their car on road trips. It’s plenty weird, but I haven’t been able to shake the obsession of keeping a clean car over the years.
I am also one of those weirdos who hand washes their vehicles on roadtrips, much to my wife's chagrin.Thank you! I’m one of those people that will hand wash their car on road trips. It’s plenty weird, but I haven’t been able to shake the obsession of keeping a clean car over the years.
After correcting the paint, I ceramic coated the car when I first got it home a year ago. One thing that’s often lost in that conversation is just how little effort it takes to wash the car after a ceramic coating is applied. Regular wash maintenance becomes much easier. I referenced the condition of the paint at delivery in this thread.
Regarding the tires, I stumbled into the Continental Terrain Contact A/Ts when purchasing a set of sport darks for a neighbor. Long story, but I ended up with this set. I didn’t expect to have an A/T tire, but these have been great so far.
My wife really likes black cars, but I’m not so sure that would be the case if they weren’t (mostly) always this clean.
