In fact it significantly cuts your highway mileage all the time it s installed whether there s weight up there or not.
Fuel economy of roof rack vs luggage box.
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.
5 6 l 100 km approx.
I have personally tried both options on two different vehicles and i can say positively a cargo box gives you more mpg s.
40 mpg roof mounted thule xtender 739 ski carrier with skis.
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.
42 mpg roof rack with thule dynamic 800 aerodynamic cargo box.
Beyond that the two items tested with the least impact on gas mileage were the paddle board and thule luggage carrier both of which caused about a 19 percent decrease in fuel economy or 5 5.
Adding any rooftop carrier cargo box or ski rack doesn t come free.
6 0 l 100 km approx.
The more aerodynamic a car is the better the gas mileage it will have.
5 9 l 100 km approx.
This includes a roof rack bike rack luggage rack pair of bikes or anything else you may strap to your vehicle.
Aerodynamics is the study of force and how an object moves through the air.