| Go Steelers |
| Just wondering who here has used a roof top carrier, what type you have used, and what impact you have seen to gas mileage? I have a 13 cubic foot nylon bag that I use to carry some lightweight items (beach toys, pool toys) on a recent vacation. For a 750 mile trip, I averaged only 16.3 MPG. On the return trip, we removed the rooftop carrier and had someone else transport the 50-75 lbs of stuff we had transported up there. Gas mileage spiked to 20.3 MPG, a fairly significant increase. Previously when I used this carrier on my Oydssey, I saw about a 1 mpg decrease, so I was surprised to see such a drastic difference on the Pilot. Is this a normal drop in gas mileage with a car top carrier on the Pilot? |
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| sblvro |
| I have an aerodynamic cargo box and the drop in mileage is 1-2 mpg depending on the speed that I take. |
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| mikey159 |
quote:
Originally posted by Go Steelers
Just wondering who here has used a roof top carrier, what type you have used, and what impact you have seen to gas mileage? I have a 13 cubic foot nylon bag that I use to carry some lightweight items (beach toys, pool toys) on a recent vacation. For a 750 mile trip, I averaged only 16.3 MPG. On the return trip, we removed the rooftop carrier and had someone else transport the 50-75 lbs of stuff we had transported up there. Gas mileage spiked to 20.3 MPG, a fairly significant increase. Previously when I used this carrier on my Oydssey, I saw about a 1 mpg decrease, so I was surprised to see such a drastic difference on the Pilot. Is this a normal drop in gas mileage with a car top carrier on the Pilot?
In the Hyper-Mileage thread
http://www.hondapilot.org/forums/sh...15&pagenumber=9 Wolfman_matt said he got only 12.5 with a full load of people, stuff and a roof rack. He said he was doing about 80 though. |
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| whizmo |
quote:
Originally posted by Go Steelers
For a 750 mile trip, I averaged only 16.3 MPG. On the return trip, we removed the rooftop carrier and had someone else transport the 50-75 lbs of stuff we had transported up there. Gas mileage spiked to 20.3 MPG, a fairly significant increase. Previously when I used this carrier on my Oydssey, I saw about a 1 mpg decrease, so I was surprised to see such a drastic difference on the Pilot. Is this a normal drop in gas mileage with a car top carrier on the Pilot?
There's a lot of noise in gas mileage due to all the factors influencing, and 4 mpg drop is a little drastic, but it is fairly significant - I'd guess you might attribute 2 mpg +/- to the bag. You're increasing the total frontal area and decreasing the CD, so it really adds up. My experience with racks is that they're noisy too. Whenever I put a bicycle rack up there with a couple bikes, I'm looking at 3 mpg freeway mileage drop. Dismal.
- Mark |
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| Wolfman_matt |
As Mikey alluded to earlier I have quite a bit of experience here. I have a Yakima roof top basket that I fill with miscellanous things (some of which are not very aerodynamic).
I consistently loose 4+ mpg with it on the roof depending on what is in it and my speed.
Because of the mpg issue (and the challenge with loading it) I bought a hitch and cargo carrier that I use in place of the basket whenever possible. |
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