Sure it might earn you some cool points from some crowds but leaving a bike carrier luggage pod or other cargo toting device on top of your car can impact your fuel consumption and by a significant factor too.
Fuel consumption impacts of auto roof racks.
It is important to understand these racks fuel consumption impacts on both individual vehicles and the national fleet because they are widely used.
The results show that nationwide roof racks are responsible for 0 8 of light duty vehicle fuel consumption in 2015 corresponding to 100 million gallons of gasoline per year.
Article osti 1257753 title fuel consumption impacts of auto roof racks author chen yuche and meier alan abstractnote the after market roof rack is one of the most common components attached to a vehicle for carrying over sized items such as bicycles and skis.
It is important to understand these racks fuel consumption impacts on both individual vehicles and the national fleet.
When the roof rack was loaded with a ski box fuel consumption increased 10 11 and 12 3 compared with the clean roof conditions.
Our model incorporates real world data and vehicle stock information to enable assessing fuel consumption impacts for several categories of vehicles rack configurations and usage conditions.
Fuel consumption increased 2 6 2 and 1 1 compared with a clean roof.
The after market roof rack is one of the most common components attached to a vehicle for carrying over sized items such as bicycles and skis.