Thule Motion 3 XL Low Roof Box

Review by Paul Gallaher

In combination with our recently installed Thule WingBar Edge Roof Rack system we also were able to test a new Thule Motion 3 XL Low Roof Box on our 2024 Subaru Outback Wilderness Edition.

Design

First, this roof box is able to:

• Safely carry gear in an alternative space to what’s available inside your vehicle.
• Carry 14 cubic feet of cargo including skis up to 200cm long and 112 pounds of gear.
• Be available in glossy black or glossy titan (silver/gray)
• Be installed or removed quickly and simply. It is possible to install or remove the box in about 5 minutes with Thule’s PowerClick mountain system
• Be aerodynamic and provide improved fuel efficiency as compared to other roof boxes.
• Look great while hauling around your luggage and gear

Stats

• Internal dimensions in inches: 80x29x12
• Box weight: 52.9 lb

Installation

The installation of this cargo box is amazingly intuitive and simple. There are four “twist knobs” inside the box that actuate the “grabbers” that hold the box tightly on your vehicle’s crossbars. Of note, for this particular cargo box, these grabbers slide forward and back from inside the box to accommodate crossbars between roughly 22 and 36.5 inches apart.

The other important thing to note is that if you intend to install this box on a vehicle with a rear entry hatch that opens upward, you will need to ensure the length of this box will accommodate your vehicle including how far forward you will have to mount it to ensure hatch clearance. Thule has a nice compatibility feature on their website that will cross-reference your vehicle make and model with cargo boxes.

Thule has a handy-dandy installation video available on YouTube.

Features

• The box can open from either side, which is very nice depending upon the locations you want to load or unload your box.
• There are some very handy “lid-pull straps” on each side that helps humans that are not seven feet tall to be able to safely close the box lid.
• Thule encourages users to use the internal tie-down straps in the box to ensure items don’t rapidly shift inside the box, especially during strong acceleration, cornering or braking.
• Thule actually crash-tests these cargo boxes. I feel confident in knowing that this box does not compromise the safety of our vehicle.
• The box securely locks on both sides with a key. There is also an option to purchase locks for the crossbars that will help prevent the theft of the entire box from the vehicle.
• The XL Low version of this box was short enough (top to bottom) to fit inside our garage while on top of our vehicle with installed crossbars. This was a feature we were not willing to compromise on.

Performance

This Thule Motion 3XL Low Roof Box works very well for us, coupled with the Thule Wing Bar Edge roof rack system. We were motivated to get a roof box because we travel to do outdoor activities with skis or just gear and luggage. Our two dogs own the back of our Subaru Outback Wilderness behind the back seats and we realized we were pretty space limited when traveling with the dogs. This cargo box frees up so much space for us! We can save the back seat for a cooler, backpacks/laptop bags and essentials. The cargo box will fit ALL of our alpine or Nordic ski gear on a trip to include clothing. Game-changing!

This “Low” version of the cargo box allows us to drive in and out of our garage with the box onboard. Additionally, we can fully open the box in the garage without it hitting the ceiling or garage door opener. We live at high-altitude in the mountains and being able to park our car inside during a snowstorm is definitely nice!

The aerodynamics of this box seem to be pretty decent. I’ve only noticed a couple of MPG decrease in fuel mileage with the box on the roof.

Even though the system is “low-profile”, the factory power moonroof is able to fully retract or tilt up with the rack system and cargo box mounted to the car.

Since this system is designed for aerodynamics, we don’t hear much wind noise at highway speeds with the cargo box on the car. The exception to this is when I’m driving during a crosswind, I do hear a bit more wind noise from the cargo box.

Final Thoughts

The Motion 3 XL Low roof box works wonderfully for us. It securely carries our skis, gear and luggage and looks sleek!

Paul Gallaher

Paul grew up in Minnesota where he learned to love the outdoors, riding his bike, fishing and canoeing in the summers and skiing in the winters on Minnesota’s 300 foot-tall “mountains”.

After finishing college, he was commissioned as an officer in the USAF eventually becoming a special operations and reconnaissance instructor navigator flying and serving around the world for twenty-two years.

Living and traveling around the world has given Paul opportunities to explore outdoor passions. He is an advanced scuba diver, a pilot, a sailor and has skied in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.