Roof rack or trunk rack? (solution: none of the above... modded trunk!)

[Jakins]

Originally Posted by Saskwatchian

Your current setup actually looks pretty good, I don't think you will get much better with a car like that unless you want to take the trunk lid off (or build a custom one) for when you are using your car as a bike hauler.

I am so used to SUVs and trucks where 5mpg is a big deal, how much extra fuel are you burning with your 5mpg loss? is it actually significant for an occasional trip with friends?

I like this idea! Maybe I can find a messed up trunk for cheep that I can slice a slot for the bikes to stick out and I can close the trunk!


Filling the void between the trunk and back window is a pretty clever idea but I don't think i can pull that off

I would like to get a hitch rack like that, but only if I can borrow one. Id rather not buy it. But that would solve it.

But yah my SUCC is going to kick ass. My friend said his grand parents house in Arizona where we are going has a long windy dirt road that I'm going to rally it on haha. And it is going to be 4 people total. 3 bikes and one skate board and enough spare parts just incase. About 800 lbs total.

[Jakins]

I forgot to mention that I once got 43 mpg with the bikes out the back and 3 people. I have no idea how though because the hills were insane! I guess I just used my Bmx skills to pump up and down the hills. Used a lot of EOC. (pickin ip on the terminology

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Jakins

I like this idea! Maybe I can find a messed up trunk for cheep that I can slice a slot for the bikes to stick out and I can close the trunk!

That's a creative idea too.

[sustainable sam]

I would avoid a roof rack at all costs. I used one for a recent trip and took a 15 to 20% hit in mileage.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Jakins

I forgot to mention that I once got 43 mpg with the bikes out the back and 3 people.

43MPG ain't bad when you're splitting the fuel costs with 3 or 4 people.

Looks like you had a fairly efficient set-up already.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by sustainable sam

I would avoid a roof rack at all costs. I used one for a recent trip and took a 15 to 20% hit in mileage.

My own not very rigorous test:



With bike inside (no racks): 55 MPG @ 55 MPH
With bike on roof racks: 40 mpg @ 55 MPH = down 15 mpg or -27%

From: Mini-experiment: the wrath of roof racks - MetroMPG.com

[Fat Charlie]

In the hands of someone who didn't know about FE:

96 Esteem sedan- 42 mpg combined.
96 Esteem sedan with a Christmas tree on the roofrack- 20 mpg highway.

[Jakins]

I'm not realizing that when I got 43 mpg with all my friends, yes we were on extremely hilly back roads, but they were back roads instead of freeway. I read a lot of the tips last night and saw the speed to mpg graph. Holly crap I had no idea how fuel consumptive 65-80 mph was. We were going way way slower. Normaly on flat highway trips we get like 37 at the best.

Metrompg, is that your car/ bike? 27% decrease is horrible. I'm glad I got this straightened out. I'm curently looking for a trunk to cut holes in and take the handle bars off and nothing will be dragging at all =D

42 to 20????? Holy crap! I would be flooring it in my car with that much drag.

[MetroMPG]

Yeah, that's my car.

Hole in the extra trunk mod sounds ideal. Looking forward to it.

[Jakins]

Aweeeeee crap. I just had an idea for a perfect design. I know someone mentioned it earlier but now I got the perfect plan. Taking off my trunk and making one out of couroplast. My friend gets it for free from lowes. Can you say boat tail? Haha more trunk space an even better mileage than with the regular trunk closed. I'm real excited to build this now haha is there anything I should be aware of with the back of it? Does it need to seal shut or can there be an opening ?