You might not believe this, but a roof box has quite literally saved the life of my Mini Clubman.
As a dad of two, our cars are under more pressure than ever to carry all the “essentials” — from prams to nappies to half the house. Even a simple supermarket trip can feel like a game of luggage Tetris, especially if the pram needs to come along. Thankfully, our Stokke YoYo3 (which I reviewed here) fits nicely into both the Mini Clubman and BMW i8.
But when we booked a four-night trip to North Wales, it was obvious the boot space wasn’t going to cut it. Once the pram, nappies, and travel bits were loaded, there was no room left for actual clothes. Cue the inevitable conversation about selling the Clubman for something bigger — a BMW Touring, maybe an Audi Avant.
Then, thankfully, came the bright idea: what about a roof box?
The search for the right box
Like any modern parent in a packing crisis, I hit YouTube and quickly discovered just how much you can cram into these things. Having never used one before (and with only a C in GCSE Physics), I’ll admit I had some concerns about how it all stays on the roof.
With just a week to go before our trip, I headed to Go Outdoors in Cardiff. My first thought was to pick up the Thule Ocean 200 (450L) for around £342 (member price). But when I saw it in person, it looked huge — maybe too much for the Clubman.
The staff were brilliant and suggested the smaller Thule Ocean 80 (320L) instead. It was cheaper too at £207 (member price), and they offered a no-risk swap if I kept the packaging and found it too small. I took it home to test.
First impressions
On the kitchen floor, we realised the Ocean 80 could swallow one large suitcase plus extras around it, or two large cases — one sideways, one lengthways. With a 50kg weight limit, it’s more than enough for our needs.
It’s compatible with most roof bar systems, including the Thule WingBars Edge (which we already had but had never used) and our Thule Slidebars with T-track adaptors.
Specs:
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Roof bar spacing: 540–900 mm
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Dimensions: 133 x 86 x 37 cm
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Volume: 320 litres
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Weight: 10 kg
Fitting to the Mini Clubman
Fitting is straightforward once you’ve done it a couple of times:
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Fit the roof bars (we use Thule Edge Flush Rail).
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Tighten the brackets using the Thule tool.
Thule roof bars -
Slide the T-track brackets along the rails (Thule adaptor kit 691-1).
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Position the roof box, attach to the adaptors, then tighten.
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Add the Thule end covers and lock them.
Top Tip: Rest the roof box on top first to measure bar distance before tightening everything. And be extra careful not to scratch your paintwork — we’ve got a wrapped roof, so we were especially cautious.
On the road
Our trip to North Wales took us along a mix of motorways, A-roads and B-roads. With the roof box loaded, I could feel the extra weight, but the Mini still handled well.
As expected, there’s a bit of wind noise (a light whistle at higher speeds), but nothing unbearable. Fuel economy didn’t seem noticeably worse, although more aerodynamic boxes might help if you’re bothered about that.
One quirk — the Ocean 80 only opens from the rear, not the side. It’s not as convenient, but for our needs it was fine. I also checked the brackets a couple of times en route, and they hadn’t budged.
Verdict
For the money, the Thule Ocean 80 has been a game changer. It saved us from parting ways with the Mini Clubman, gave us the flexibility we needed for family trips, and has been surprisingly easy to live with.
Next up is our summer holiday, where we’re planning to pack two large suitcases in the roof box and one in the boot— plus hand luggage. If it can handle that without fuss, I’ll call it a complete win.
If you’re short on boot space and considering a bigger car, try a roof box first. The Ocean 80 might just save yours too.
