It figures that if Porsche was going to offer its customers one of those roof-mounted cargo boxes, the product would be designed for high-speed travel. Indeed, that’s the case with the new Performance roof box developed by Porsche Tequipment.
The first such unit, which holds 480 liters or nearly 17 cubic feet of stuff, is designed for the Taycan Cross Turismo. The box was designed for everyday usability, Porsche said, but also for travel at speeds up to 200 km/h (124 mph).
Porsche Tequipment says it’s in the process of testing with other Porsche vehicles.
Design of the roof box was done with Studio F.A. Porsche and features “a slight counter-curve shape and a separation edge,” in keeping with the form follows function philosophy.
“In the same way as for vehicles, the designers worked on a 1:1 clay model at an early stage,” Porsche Tequipment reports. “In spite of increasing digitalization, physical prototypes help the de-signers to assess whether their designs achieve the desired effect in three dimensions. These models can also be used for initial wind tunnel tests in order to aero-dynamically optimize the design.”
The boxes can be customized to match the vehicle as the side blades are available in black, silver, white or gray, or can be painted in any Porsche vehicle color.
“The test program for the roof box was very demanding,” Jochen Schmid, Tequipment director, is quoted in the news release. In addition to wind tunnel tests, he noted “several thousand kilometers” on test tracks assuring vehicle controllability with the box at high speeds.
Porsche added that the new roof box can be opened from either side. It is priced at €1,150 ($1,390), with an additional charge for colored side blades.