How Much Mpg Do You Lose With A Roof Rack

Depending on design and whether you have a deflector on the front these have been shown to reduce gas mileage by 10 15 even without anything on them.

How much mpg do you lose with a roof rack.

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. It caused a whopping 34 percent drop in fuel economy or 10 mpg. Disrupting airflow over the roof and causing turbulence has more of an effect the faster you drive. So if your car usually gets 30 mpg on the highway and you add a full roof rack your highway gas mileage will drop to 24 27 mpg.

Some drivers may see their gas mileage drop by as much as 20 percent depending on vehicle type and type of roof rack. If you must travel with a loaded roof rack try to choose the most aerodynamic roof rack you can. Roof rack with thule dynamic 800 aerodynamic cargo box. And since air resistance increases exponentially with speed the difference would have been even bigger at 70 mph many people drive at that speed.

Of course no one in their right mind would drive around with an oversized pool float fastened to the roof of their car while it.