Toyota Auris accessories for the snow

Have you come across occasions when the things you need to transport are either too big or awkwardly shaped to safely squeeze inside the car? Mountain bikes, canoes, skis and flat-packed furniture… even the proverbial kitchen sink. What happens then?

Toyota’s range of official accessories caters for a broad range of needs and activities, covering comfort, convenience and styling options. Unlike universal-fit accessories, every item is designed to function perfectly with the specific host vehicle. And as they carry the Toyota name, all the products are manufactured to the highest standards to ensure their quality meets customers’ expectations of the brand.

A recent road trip to the French Alps in an Auris Hybrid Touring Sports helped to illustrate the range and functionality of accessories available for this model.

A key requirement for the trip was the ability to carry up to five people, their luggage and a mixture of winter sports equipment. This required the addition of cross bars to the standard roof rails in order to fit an extra wide ski and snowboard holder. Due to French road laws we also needed to carry a European safety kit.

The accessory packs can be ordered through your local Toyota dealer or via our official Ebay store. Most articles are kept in stock at a central warehouse, so the turnaround for delivery is rapid – usually within two working days.

The cross bar kit is supplied with the sturdy roof rail clamps already inserted into the aerodynamically shaped aluminium cross bars. The bars also feature plastic end caps so there are no sharp ends protruding.

The inner edge of the roof rails have already been machined with four pairs of locating holes that the clamps sit in. A nice thoughtful touch is that the kit comes with pre-cut clear adhesive labels to protect the surface of the rails.

The symmetrical positioning of the cross bars can be measured before tightening using a pair of supplied rulers.

The roof clamps must be securely fastened for safety. Toyota’s attention to detail shines through here with the supply of a bespoke torque driver to ensure the clamps are tightened to a pressure of 4Nm.

Security is assured with a locking function that stops the roof clamps and cross bars from being unscrewed from the rails.

The central channel of the cross bars can be filled with a special rubber seal for some carrying duties, while other accessories are designed to use the channel as a secure fixing method.

The ski and snowboard holder is hinged on one end and uses a scissor action to securely hold the equipment within thick rubber grips.

Inserted into the cross bar channel and tightened down with simple Allen key fixings, the ski and snowboard holder can also be locked in place for security. The rubber seal can then be easily cut to fill the gaps in the channel to avoid wind noise.

See more:
Auris to Auris: a road trip to the Alps
Should you fit winter tyres in cold weather?