Mpg Fuel Economy Roof Rack

How bad is the hit to your wallet.

Mpg fuel economy roof rack.

This is because diesel fuel motorhomes get better gas mileage than gas ones do. But with the rack and rooftop carrier installed the overall drop was 19 percent a loss of 9 mpg. When just the roof rack was added the car s mileage dropped by almost 11 percent or 5 mpg. 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.

Because of this extra energy efficiency diesel vehicles actually get 20 35 better gas mileage than gasoline fueled vehicles. Mileage went from 41 mpg at 65 mph to 40 mpg. When consumer reports tested how roof racks affected fuel economy in 2013 they noticed a 5 mpg drop at highway speeds from an empty rack. Diesel fuel actually provides around 10 15 more energy than normal gasoline does which helps make it more fuel efficient.

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. 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. The roof rack mpg experiment 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. Adding a bike to the equation caused fuel consumption to jump by 35 compared to their baseline settings.

A close second was the kayak with 28 percent or a. Generally adding a loaded roof rack to your car will lower your gas mileage by at least 10 percent. 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. Some drivers may see their gas mileage drop by as much as 20 percent depending on vehicle type and type of roof rack.

This editor many years ago in a move across the country to oregon from michigan found that the highway mileage of a four cylinder accord dropped from more than 40 mpg down to 32 mpg with a. Improve the mpg of your vehicle with our gas mileage tips.