removing roof rack cross bars= better gas milage?
 

i just bought a Hyundai Santa Fe with a roof rack... if i took the cross bars off, will it improve my mpg at all?


thanks

Yes, it will improve your highway mileage.

The better question is: "Will it improve my mileage a noticeable amount?"

To that, my answer is: no, probably not. Unless your crossbars are ungodly huge, or you currently have something else attached to them (like a bike, cargo box, etc.)

You probably won't notice, but it ought to help. I would throw the bikes in the back or on a rear rack, ;)

thanks for the info. im trying to find every way possible to get better mpg. not that easy with an SUV though.


thanks again

If I had an SUV, I'd look at making a bellypan for it. Lots of airflow under those things.

A roof rack does produce aero drag, so removing it will help. It may not be enough for you to notice but it does help.

As Daox said, since you have an SUV a smooth floor pan will help - and I'd be willing to bet you are able to see results from that. There's got to be a lot of dirty air flowing under your Santa Fe.

yea... having an suv.. it's hard to get good FE numbers. But it's definitely possible to get better than EPA. A grille block helps. I have not yet tried a belly pan though. I really want to... but I cant find any stinkin' coroplast :confused:

I removed the roof racks. seemed to help a little, although very unnoticeable unless it's one of the tubed ones.

Try your local recycling center. Election time is the perfect time to pick old signs that were displayed by the side of the road.
At my recycling center, I can get loads of the stuff for free.

To answer the original question, last week Edmunds.com posted one of those "testing fuel economy myths" type articles, and specifically looked at removing the x-bars from a Buick Enclave. They claimed a 1% improvement in fuel economy:

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fuelec...8/article.html

If I had a vehicle that came with OEM racks, I'd also remove the mounting rails (that run fore/aft). Let's not forget we live in a world where more often than not you're driving in crosswinds. Those rails are going to hurt in those conditions. Possibly even more than the x-bars in a perfectly straight headwind.

thanks for all the info guys. im going to try the small stuff first. il have too do some research on making a belly pan.


thanks again