Fuel Consumption Impacts Of Auto Roof Racks

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.

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. When the roof rack was loaded with a ski box fuel consumption increased 10 11 and 12 3 compared with the clean roof conditions. The vehicle was equipped with an unloaded roof rack and driven at 43 5 mph 49 7 mph and 55 9 mph.

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. We estimate the national fuel consumption impacts of roof racks using a bottom up approach. 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. How often do you see people needlessly driving around with roof racks on their roof.