Fuel Economy Of Roof Rack Vs Luggage Box

Hitch racks or roof racks which one should you choose.

Fuel economy of roof rack vs luggage box.

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. Mileage went from 41 mpg at 65 mph to 40 mpg. Hitch racks by the time you get the whole family loaded up in your vehicle there s no room for all the luggage and gear. In fact it significantly cuts your highway mileage all the time it s installed whether there s weight up there or not.

That s why you ve decided to invest in a cargo carrier. For some people the. Adding any rooftop carrier cargo box or ski rack doesn t come free. But that s where you ve found a dilemma.

He found that compared to the baseline of no roof rack the empty rack reduced his mpg by 12 7 and the roof rack with a bicycle reduced it by a whooping 27 3. On my maxima i was able to get 25mpg with no rack at all when i added a yakima fat cat 6 loaded with skis i got approx 20mpg. For comparison the additional fuel consumption caused by roof racks is about six times larger than anticipated fuel savings from fuel cell vehicles and 40 percent of anticipated fuel savings.