I'm not sure there's any limitation from the vehicle perspective.

Length between crossbars for each cargo box manufacturer is going to be the main limitation, as long as you don't take the rear hatch clearance when open (because you can set max opening height). Desired vehicle speed is also a limitation as they can really move around in the wind, depending on length, surface area, and how much of it catches the updraft from the windshield.

 

I had a Thule box on my old Honda Pilot. It was sarcophagus shaped, long and skinny (presumably for skis), about 7' long and 2.5' wide. I could squeeze 4 bikes up top, two on each side, along with it. The roof bar separation on my Pilot was a tiny bit narrower than on my Solterra.

On the Pilot it generally worked fine, but the front end of the box would start to bounce up and down at highway speeds if the box was too far forward or had too much mass forward. I had to pack it thoughtfully and mount it far enough back that the rear hatch wouldn't quite open all the way.

I did toss it on my Solterra to see how it fit, but it hung even further over the windshield and I figured it would have too much lift. I gave it to a family with a minivan. I haven't looked into getting a new one yet - I'm not sure I'll need one since we'll now take two cars on trips that would've needed the box on the Pilot. But if I do, I'll aim for one a bit shorter.

 

I was looking at getting this Motion 3 Roof Box - XL Low-Profile and selling my old Yakima, since the styling and height would allow me to leave it on and clear my garage door height. Anyone have a Thule box on the solterra? Picture would be great I googled search and got nothing. Already installed Thule crossbars.

 

Rambox,
Did you ever get a response on this? I did the measurements for an 83" Thule mounted as far back as possible with the hatch open and found that it would hang about half way over the front windshield. I want to see what that actually looks like.

 

Here are a couple of photos with Thule Motion XT XL on top (length 215cm / 84,6 inches):

• Size: 215x91,5x44 cm.
• Volume: 500 liters

Rear hatch can open at full height.

 

Sorry for reviving this old thread... @yalla's post really helped us, and I wanted to add one more.

We were able to fit a Yakima SkyBox NX XXL (22 cu inches feet) on the top, but it did require the hatch to be lowered by 5-6 inches*, which means I now have to duck under it to get to the trunk.

And even then, it overhangs the front quite a bit:

And just barely avoids the antenna fin:

With the trunk opened to the new, lower max height:

The reason we wanted something so big was to fit two Oru folding kayaks in there, and this was the only box size that could easily do so. The Thule Force 3 XXL could also fit them, but with a lot more finagling — the roof wouldn't easily close with them inside. No such problems with the Yakima.

------------------

*PS: To program the hatch max height, you first open it all the way up with the standard button. Then using your hand on the handle, very gently pull down on it little by little until you get it to the right height. (If you pull too hard, it'll trigger the auto-close and you'll have to dodge away before you get decapitated.) Once it's at the right height, hold down the left button on the hatch (the open/close one, NOT the lock one) for about 3 seconds. It should beep 4 times, indicating the new height has been set. From then on, it should only open to that height.

 

Because I was a new user, it wouldn't let me post links

The roof box: SkyBox NX XXL

 

Nice! How does it impact mileage?

(Biggest damned 22 cubic inches I've ever seen! )

 

Nice! How does it impact mileage?

Not sure yet! We just got the car a couple days ago, and the roof box today. Will report back after a road trip or two