I looked at all the above options and in the end we purchased the boot bag, (last one shown), in the hope we may be able to go touring at some point.
It seems to be a bit of a no brainer to me looking at the other options. The carbon frame would have been my 2nd choice but it’s silly money and you still need to purchase a suitable bag /box to fit it.
The other option of “suction cups” may well work but I would spend most of my time looking in the rear view mirror “just to check”…so the bag seems to make most sense particularly as it is also the lowest cost option.
Ours arrived and while we have not had the chance to fit it yet it seems fairly robust and should prove waterproof. I guess my only concern would be security if you leave it on the car, but I guess that’s the same with all of them, and you just need to make sure any “valuables” are stored in the boot and only use the bag for clothing and such like…
The straps have clips that “uplug” so once strapped on it’s easy to unclip and either put it in the car or take it with you if you stop at services etc.
The straps are plenty strong enough. What you should do however is have an old towel and sheet of plastic to put on top of the boot contents. We did a trip from west Herts to Lockerbie once in stair rod rain nearly all the way, Water wicked along the straps into the boot., not in massive quantities but might spoil something vulnerable unless you catch it. I suspect it’s rare to have a long enough journey and heavy enough rain for that to happen but think about it if it’s wet.
EDIT: I should have added that, despite hours of very heavy rain, no water got into the boot bag itself - only the boot!
Bought and used a boot bag for going to holiday in cornwall last summer. Despite the rain both ways no wet inside, but just for peace of mind anything damp sensitive was in the boot. On the way back I was on my own with 13 of those large shopping bags full of the rest of the family’s clobber so you can carry quite a lot in these cars, with a bit of effort in packing.
The boot bag can be off and on in a couple of minutes so I just took it off and bunged it on the seat whilst at service station
I’ve just read your posts. I’m looking to try the revo vacuum rack. I have the RF mx5. Didnt like the the straps on the boot. Like the questions raised in original thread. Keen to hear other opinions and experiences before purchase.
We went on holiday to Lake Garda in our Mk4 in September '18, a Scenic Car Tours job. We packed light and just used the boot, but one of the Mk4’s on the trip used a Revo rack. It worked fine as far as I know. If Ian is reading he might confirm that!
There is a security cable available that anchors in the boot, but that is about deterring casual theft not catching it if it falls off. I’d consider a Revo myself should I decide I need a rack.
I owned the Mazda carbon fibre one with the suitcase, briefly, but after we decided we could manage another 10 day trip for the NC500 without it it seemed unlikely we would use it and I sold it on. Nice bit of kit and includes a high level brake light, but much more expensive.
I’m really torn now. When I first posted the query I was edging more towards the Revo “suction” rack but nervous about it falling off or getting nicked. A number of replies have recommended the boot bag but, like you, I’m not keen on the straps. Sigh
Did a couple of weeks in France with a boot bag on my BMW Z4M Roadster (which has a very small boot, as the battery takes up much of the room) and it performed brilliantly.
Lent it to a friend with an MX-5 NA for his trip to France and he also found it excellent.
Thank you. Thats helpful. We going to harris and its the fishing gear that takes up the space. Plus hillwalking gear.
I’ve been going to lochinver for over 20 years and last year go a body board in the passenger seat. But that was me. This time to harris its 2 of us!!
So looks like the revo for the RF. Does security cable come with rack?
Years ago my section at work used to stick film cameras on cars using high quality 100mm (110mm?) diameter industrial glass suckers (strange German name I cannot remember Grift-Zu perhaps?). The platform would have three or four suckers each with their own ball joint to conform to panel profile plus a safety line or two.
The extreme care taken in pad maintenance and cleaning the car surface had to be seen to be believed. Three main reasons.
The cars were usually expensive,
A tiny bit of sand between sucker and paint would mark the paint
A tiny scratch on the rubber pad would cause the vacuum to fail.
They only had to hold for ten minutes or so, because that was how long the magazine lasted in the film camera. They were rechecked after every run, and even then the odd one might have let go!
So I would never even dream of sticking anything with suckers to the outside of my car for a long journey, even with the safety lines!
We overnighted at Lochinver in May '19. The chap we B&B’d with suggested we digressed to Achiltibuie to view the Summer Isles, which we did, and had our morning coffee at Polglass village hall. You must know it well.
It looks like the security cable is not specific to an MX-5. Its total diameter is 3.5 mm, whereas the MX-5’s boot lid has a 2.7 mm panel gap which means it could damage paintwork in the panel gap.
In the end I took the cheaper route and opted for the boot-bag. This is what I learnt in the few weeks I’ve had it:
There are no meaningful instructions. You have to go on YouTube or the fitting video online to find out how it’s done. Despite the manufacturer saying they designed it themselves in 2008, clearly that’s not sufficient time to put it on a pdf. What’s supplied has a diagram that looks like it was crayoned in primary school. No wonder they’ve had claims of broken strap buckles.
Nevertheless I figured it out and fitted the bag, filled with just short of 10kg of clothes, to my precious MX-5; and took it for a blast. After 20 minutes on the motorway I felt confident all was well and returned home. However, as an MX-5 MK4’s boot narrows towards the rear, the lateral strap had slipped backwards. The result was a loose strap and the bag had started to slide a little to the rear; straying off the mat. If I’d driven a couple of hours without checking it might have been much worse.
Lateral strap slid down and bag moved towards edge after 20 mins:
Despite claims to the contrary, the straps can move; so I imagine they could rub on paintwork. I wonder what would’ve happened if I’d driven it longer; could the strap have slipped right off? In future I’m going to have to remember to re-tighten after driving a short while.
Quickly glancing behind while driving, I could see air-flow raising each side of the bag say 5 mm. Curiously, the 2 middle straps are fixed 15cm apart in the middle of the bag rather than equally spaced across the bag’s width. On stopping, I found the two longitudinal straps were still tightly done. Re-tightening the lateral strap might’ve helped prevent slippage.
In short I think it’s OK for carrying stuff you don’t mind being squashed in transit. It’s fairly cheap in comparison to a rack and it can be folded up and stored in the boot. But it’s really important to check the straps for tightness and slippage; especially in the first part of a journey.
…we recently purchased one of these bags but as yet we have not tried it, so many thanks for the “heads up”…
…may try and configure something to hold the lateral strap in place using a secondary piece of strap through the “holes” at the back of the boot lid frame?
Good idea. I was thinking of doing something similar. At first I thought I’d route the strap below the hinges but a video I saw somewhere said to lay it over them. No idea why. Perhaps it would create too much strain on the hinge mounts.
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