It depends tremendously on who you ask and what vehicle is used.
How much do roof bars affect fuel consumption.
Roof racks were the same as having windows open the mpg was not affected enough to cause concern.
I ll justify these numbers below.
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.
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.
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.
If fuel consumption is a concern invest in a streamlined box which will cut through the air more efficiently.
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.
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.
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.
Their study was published recently in the journal energy policy in a paper titled fuel consumption impacts of auto roof racks.
Does driving slower save fuel.
Their study was published recently in the.
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.
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.