Video Transcript for Mount: Thule Motion 3 Rooftop Cargo Box on a 2023 Subaru Outback Wagon

Hi everyone, Aiden here with etrailer, and today we're gonna be taking a look at the Thule Motion 3 16 cubic foot roof box. And we're gonna see how it fits on the top of our 2023 Subaru Outback. Now the Motion 3 comes in two different color variations for this large size they have. We have today the Titan finish, which is just a dark gray, and then, of course, just black. So if you don't like the way this looks with this particular color Outback, or maybe your own, if you've got a different color, that's okay. Standard black is available, but for people that want to match the gray to maybe accent a certain color on their Subaru, or match, if they've got a gray finish, this might be a really unique option.

Now to open up the box, you're gonna get a key that can be used on either side, depending on what's more open and available to reach. And once you've twisted it to the unlocked position, just squeeze the latch until you see a bit of red and hear the lid pop. From there, you can push it up and open, and the hinges will keep it open for you, allowing you to access that 16 cubic feet of storage space inside. As far as interior dimensions go, you've got 71 and 13/16ths of usable space on the inside, front to back, 28 and 3/16ths of an inch, side to side, and for your usable height, 13 and 15/16ths of an inch. It's a pretty tall box on the inside, so you get a lot of usable space there.

You can also hold 180 centimeter-long skis, so pretty good amount of room to fit a variety of items in there, long enough for those longer skis, tall enough for things like camping gear and luggage. And one thing I actually really like about this gray finish in particular is the inside of the lid is a really light gray, borderline white, but it actually does a lot reflecting light back into the box, just making things a little easier to see. When we worked with the black box earlier today, the black lid sucks up a lot of light, and it just is a lot darker inside. So loading and unloading, this actually might be a little bit nicer. And while the Outback isn't the tallest vehicle, you do get this pull cord on the lid just to help you close it, so that you don't have to grab onto the glossy painted parts.

You can touch just that handle, which is this more matte material, and won't show your fingerprints as much, keeping this looking a little bit nicer for longer. But that's not to say that the box is without its limits. You have 165 pound weight capacity, and using this with the factory bars on your Subaru, that's gonna probably be a limiting factor for you, because the box, on its own, does weigh about 43 pounds. Then factor that in with the limited weight capacity of your factory bars, you're probably not gonna be able to fit much up here in terms of weight. That's why I recommend light things like clothes and camping gear, things that aren't heavy, but take up a lot of volume.

But the good thing is, you still have plenty of room around the back, thanks to this really cut and taper design, to access your cargo area, and open up your hatch. We have no interference anywhere around the Outback, so we still retain all the factory features of our vehicle, except for a sunroof if you've got it, because this just sits so close to the roof. You're not gonna want it open anyway because of all the wind noise. So it's just something to keep in mind that you still have this cargo space available. When it comes to wind noise, though, that's just the nature of adding anything this large to the top of your vehicle, and particularly with the Outback, how small this gap is between the roof and the box. Some of that wind will want to travel underneath, and that's why I say you wouldn't wanna open your sunroof anyway, because this is gonna be right above your head, and you'll hear it. With the doors closed and everything, driving around just at normal highway speeds like we did earlier today, it's really not bad. I expected there to be a lot more noise in that small gap, but driving around with the radio off, you barely hear it, and it only really starts to appear around like 50, 55 miles an hour with some pretty strong winds here in Missouri today. So with some music, a podcast, even just talking to your passenger, I don't think it'd be anything obnoxious, and trust me, I've had some pretty obnoxious things on my roof that do catch wind noise. This one's a really low pitch, and you kind of just tune it out, but the last thing to consider is your height added to the Outback. From the top of the crossbar to the tallest point of the box, it's gonna be right around 15 inches. And again, even though the Outback isn't a super tall car, still watch out for low clearance areas, like your garage. You're probably not fitting in there with this box on. And the last thing you wanna do is drive into your house with the box, and potentially break it, damage your house, anything like that. Well, one of the things I do really like is from side to side here, you can see how well the width actually occupies the Outback, making that dual side access from either the driver or the passenger really easy. So fitting the roof box of the vehicle is one of the biggest things I think can be a challenge for some people, just because it's hard to know what you need, but this one, it's gonna fit really well and it's gonna make it easier to load from both sides because of that. But that's really all there is to it. When it comes to roof box options for your Outback, I think the biggest thing you'll run into across the board is that limited weight capacity with factory bars. If it's possible, and weight is a concern, I would suggest looking into a hitch and a hitch cargo carrier. It's just gonna be easier to reach, but your weight capacities will be much better, still probably limited by that of your vehicle's max tongue weight, but something to look into if you need to load heavier items. But if you have landed on a roof box, I do think the Thule Motion 3 is a really solid option, and especially because the clamps work so well with your factory bars, that can be a bit of a limiting factor for other boxes, just because the factory bars are small, and most clamps aren't designed to work super well with them. But I'd feel really comfortable putting the Motion 3 on top of the 2023 Subaru Outback. My name's Aiden, and thanks for watching.