Wanted to know the negative effects of a roof rack on mpg? What are you seeing? Just got the stuff for my Thule rack, no front spoiler, but I really like my 38 mpg and don't want to mess with that too much

 

I took the crossbars off my roof. Helps let the snow slide off in the winter.

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your fuel economy will decrease and there will be wind noise. if you value your fuel economy, sell your roof rack. are you just doing it for looks? what are you going to carry with it?

 

Kayak, I'm not really concerned about noise, it's a noisy car as is

 

I noticed a loss of 2-3 mpg with the rack and fairing installed while driving on the interstate and 1-2 mpg lost while driving 55mph or less. The wind noise isn't too bad. With 2 big fishing kayaks my mpg dropped to 29-30 mpg on the interstate.

 

I guess I'll just have to install it and see. I didn't get the fairing because I heard it would drop the mpg even more. If it drops too much I'll just mark the car some how and only install it as needed

 

Yeah I hear ya. I've been holding out on installing it so far by forcing my friends to pick me and my boat up. Sooner or later I'll have to bite the bullet though. At least its worth it!

 

I see about 10% drop with mine on. It's not enough of an issue to motivate me to put it on only when I'm carrying the boat, but since I don't transport anything in the winter I do take it off once it gets cold. Saves a little money, gives me a chance to wash/wax under the feet and also makes it easier to clear snow off the roof.

 

Just remove it when you're not using it, which is what is recommended. I have a Yakima, not a Thule; in the Yakima instructions it has a warning to remove it when not in use. The convenience of having the rack is nice; you get to keep your interior available for people and small gear.

 

I have a 2011 Fit S with Navi, and I can confirm BlackUp's figures. The Mileage diffrence gets worse if you are trying to go fast like 70 mph.

 

I did a test with my fit and a yakima rack. With the yakima and fairing, I lost about 4mpg. with just the yakima (no fairing, I lost between 1-2mpg). as for the noise, you can get "wind-jammers" for the yakimas and there might be something similar for the thule. It converts the yak round bars to be more aerodynamically shaped to cut down on noise. with my rack and these, the noise wasn't too bad and I only lost a mpg or two.

Fully loaded with a cargo box, rack, fairing, wife & child doing 75-80mpg, I was averaging 29mpg on the highway...

~SB

 

I got a highway average of 26 mpg, hauling 4 people, a trunk full of luggage and a 20 cf roof bag on top of a Yakima Rack with wind jammer using 54" round bars. This was in the moutians of WV. I suspect the "bag" is much less aerodynamic than the Thull cargo box that is shaped like a photon torpedo, ha ha. The round bars make no annoying noises, but that Bag's wrinkles flap in the wind and can drive one a little crazy. No matter how many straps you put on it to keep it tight. Traveling between 65 and 70 mph.

 

Was this with the windjammers or a fairing (2mpg difference between the two). The Fairing goes across the front to direct air over the car and the jammers attach to the bars themselves to make them "wing-shaped".

Just checking.

~SB

 

Sorry. I was using the faring in front of the bar. Not wind jammers.

 

I always got worse mileage in my STi when I had my Yakima Racks on. I think it was a loss of 2mpg

That's why I own a hatchback now, so I don't need racks for my surfboards

 

Fortantally. The Yakima roof rack comes off easily. I took a black shrpie marker to make little marks on the roof so I do not have to adjust them again.

 

Expect 2 to 4 mpg drop, depending on speed.

 

I put a universal rack on the car and this cargo rack it is huge and holds over 100 lbs. It is good for carrying all the stuff that used to go in the car but we now have a baby lol

 

ok why didnt picture show? I am in the fit gallery and I just copied the url?

 

Dude im lookng for a cheap roof rack for my fit 09' anyone have any suggestion?