Trade offs..... the Yakima Landing Pads are just rubber skirts-- they conform somewhat to the roof line under pressure from the mounting screw. OTOH, they have that quick release, so you can pop the rails and towers off in seconds, then cap the bases and leave them on. But, round bars only, at this time. The Thule looks to have more legitimate custom mounts, with a curve that conforms to the roof and a piece that sits down in the rain gutter. And you can use aero bars with the 460R Podium foot.. However, it looks like it takes tools to remove the towers and rails, and then you're left with raw pads. Also, until the report that the WRX fit kit works with our cars it didn't appear they had anything but door frame clip stye towers for the CX-5.
I think I'll go with the Yakima, since the only reason to worry about aero is if you plan to leave the bars on a lot. With the quick release, I'll just put them on when I need them. Maybe pick up a fairing for long trip with a bike or whatever.
And yes, I was saying a few posts back that I had decided to go with the permanent tracks, but I just couldn't pull the trigger on drilling into the roof. I figured out that I can get level bars by using the front hole of the front mount and the front hole of the back mount. Using the front hole in front drops the bar a solid inch over the 5" spread of those holes, since the roof line has a fairly steep pitch at that point. And, of course, the front hole of the back pair raises that end up slightly. I should take a picture of the jury rigged level with feelers thing I made up to make sure. A little more fore to aft spread than I was looking for (some accessories might not work) but I've got an old Yakima bike rack that's 48" long, so I'm pretty good. I'll take pictures once it's put together.
