How Much Do Roof Bars Affect Fuel Consumption

It depends tremendously on who you ask and what vehicle is used.

How much do roof bars affect fuel consumption.

Our experiment aired on television during season 2 of whichcar tv and involved three 100 kilometre road loops along melbourne s m1 freeway completed at the same 100km h average speed coming back in between each run to the same pump at the same petrol station to get as accurate a representation of fuel consumption as possible. Their study was published recently in the. An empty rack has been reported to increase the cost of fuel over time from anywhere from 1 to 15 while a fully loaded roof rack will add 20 to 50 to your fuel bill. It s impossible to give an exact figure because it depends on so many factors but britain s biggest roof box manufacturer thule states that your mpg is unlikely to decrease by more than 5.

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. I ll justify these numbers below. If fuel consumption is a concern invest in a streamlined box which will cut through the air more efficiently. Does driving slower save fuel.

Their study was published recently in the journal energy policy in a paper titled fuel consumption impacts of auto roof racks. 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. Off the showroom floor the regal tourx gets 21 miles per gallon in the city and 29 mpg highway for a combined fuel economy of 24 mpg. Ie their was no difference in fuel consumption with either only that some makers of roof racks were noisy well having the windows open over 50mph is worse than having the air conditioning on.

Roof racks were the same as having windows open the mpg was not affected enough to cause concern. 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. The control test the tourx without roof rails.