Van Roof Rack Mpg

Roof racks a drag on fuel economy berkeley lab study finds roof racks responsible for almost 1 percent of national fuel consumption.

Van roof rack mpg.

Adding an empty roof rack to a vehicle can drop the gas mileage by about 7 percent. 5 6 l 100 km approx. A close second was the kayak with 28 percent or a. Service maintenance vans city vans 1.

199 cubic feet of cargo space. Berkeley lab says that roof racks cause as much as a 25 percent loss in fuel economy and accounted for almost 1 percent of national consumption in 2015. A ladder rack for your van may also be an accessory you ll want to consider especially if your van of choice is a sprinter or other high roof van. 5 9 l 100 km approx.

A drop of 7 percent may not sound like much but it adds up over time. This means that adding an empty roof rack to a car that usually gets 35 mpg will drop the gas mileage to 32 5 mpg. 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 any rooftop carrier cargo box or ski rack doesn t come free.

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. 42 mpg roof rack with thule dynamic 800 aerodynamic cargo box. 6 0 l 100 km approx. In fact it significantly cuts your highway mileage all the time it s installed whether there s weight up there or not.

Roof racks a drag on fuel economy by lawrence berkeley national laboratory both loaded and unloaded roof racks create drag reducing your vehicle s efficiency. Feature story julie chao 510 486 6491 april 25 2016. 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. 40 mpg roof mounted thule xtender 739 ski carrier with skis.