Roof Rack Cross Bars Gas Mileage

40 mpg roof mounted thule xtender 739 ski carrier with skis.

Roof rack cross bars gas mileage.

This means that adding an empty roof rack to a car that usually gets 35 mpg will drop the gas mileage to 32 5 mpg. In fact it significantly cuts your highway mileage all the time it s installed whether there s weight up there or not. A drop of 7 percent may not sound like much but it adds up over time. A five percent change in fuel economy is worth 75 each year or.

Your fuel cost is ten cents mile or 1 500 year. 5 6 l 100 km approx. Using a roof rack and toting bulky equipment on top of your car isn t the only thing affecting your gas mileage however. It is designed to fit just about any factory or after market cross bars on any vehicle type with the exception of convertibles.

A few years ago i checked my economy with and without rack over a few thousand miles and i was taking a hwy 10 mpg hit with a rack installed. Other modifications you make to your vehicle particularly those to. The cargo roof rack carrier is very easy to install including all necessary hardware and mounts to your vehicle s cross bars with four u bolts. Adding an empty roof rack to a vehicle can drop the gas mileage by about 7 percent.

Drag coefficient increases by speed squared. 42 mpg roof rack with thule dynamic 800 aerodynamic cargo box. Even with the sport rack box on the roof it was only a 2 3 mpg hit on the highway. He compared the gas mileage of his car at 54 7 mph 88 kph with 1 no roof racks 2 an empty roof rack and 3 a mountain bike on the roof rack.

6 0 l 100 km approx. They also created an energy inventory model that included rack usage rates vehicle stock vehicle miles traveled through 2040 and vehicle level roof rack fuel consumption penalties. Since then i dont run around with a rack or crossbars unless i am using them. Let s say that you drive 15 000 miles per year gas is 2 50 gal and your gets 25 mpg.

Adding any rooftop carrier cargo box or ski rack doesn t come free. 39 mpg thus the cargo box on the roof increased fuel consumption by about 5 compared to the baseline. 5 9 l 100 km approx.