Fuel Efficiency With Roof Rack

They found that in 2015 roof racks nationwide were responsible for 0 8 percent of light duty vehicle fuel consumption or 100 million gallons of gasoline.

Fuel efficiency with roof rack.

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. 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. 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.

Hitch racks or roof racks which one should you choose. That second run returned a fuel consumption of 7 06l 100km that s 0 6 litres more than our control run. Aerodynamics is the study of force and how an object moves through the air. This includes a roof rack bike rack luggage rack pair of bikes or anything else you may strap to your vehicle.

That s why you ve decided to invest in a cargo carrier. A close second was the kayak with 28 percent or a. The gear with the most impact were the dual mountain bikes strapped to the roof which impacted the fuel economy by 31 percent or 9 mpg. The more aerodynamic a car is the better the gas mileage it will have.

To find out how bike racks affect a car s fuel economy consumer reports tested a roof rack and a trailer hitch rack loaded with two adult sized bicycles on a 2019 nissan altima and a 2019 toyota. Their study was published recently in the journal energy policy in a paper titled fuel consumption impacts of auto roof racks. For some people the. But that s where you ve found a dilemma.

If you follow our coverage on fuel efficiency you know that real world mileage numbers don t always measure up to the official epa ratings. The empty roof rack had a nearly 2 percent impact on fuel economy which translates to a little more than three quarters of a gallon of gas.