Adding any rooftop carrier cargo box or ski rack doesn t come free.
Fuel economy of roof rack vs luggage box.
In fact it significantly cuts your highway mileage all the time it s installed whether there s weight up there or not.
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.
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.
I have personally tried both options on two different vehicles and i can say positively a cargo box gives you more mpg s.
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.
That s why you ve decided to invest in a cargo carrier.
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.
For some people the.
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.
Hitch racks or roof racks which one should you choose.
But that s where you ve found a dilemma.