Last summer I asked a Scamper about the two kayaks on the roof of her TV. She said they don’t hurt mileage and she has heard that cartop carriers can act like a truck’s airfoil to actually improve gas mileage.
Interesting notion. What experience have any of you had? I’m especially interested in how it works with a small SUV, like my Outback
My experience was a loss of 1_2 mpg with the carrier box on my Highlander. I did a math test and driving 24000 miles per year and getting 5 mpg better mileage will save you approx 6-800 dollars in fuel costs for the year. If you like the car top carrier and it cost $100-$200 a year it maybe worth it.
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Mark
Thanks for making us feel so welcome.
If you have a choice, Please buy, "Made in America"
I have a OB with a wide/ shorter (front to back box) Thule box. I loose about 1-2 MPG. I have a 2011 OB so I can't use the cars cross bars. I have to use Thule cross bars mounted on my side rails. There are issues with the long boxes on an OB. The little spoiler on the rear hatch when raised hit the bottom of a long box. Go to the Outback forum to see what long boxes they recommend. The wider boxes open from the rear and you can stand on the bumper to get to stuff which is nice if you have the bumper protector. I think the recommended long box is a hard shell Yakima specific model ?? cost $$$$.
I had a Thule Adventurer (Long tall box.) I used it on on VW Jetta it actually improved my MPG 1-2 MPG. It would not work on the OB due to the spoiler issue.
Eddie
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Yakima+SkyBox+Pro+2.1&&view=detail&...
I have a Thule box that attaches to the crossbars on my 2016 Outback. When I am not towing I see a 1-2 drop in mpg but see no difference in mpg when pulling my 13 ft SCAMP. I chose a box that angled up toward the front of the SCAMP - my thought was that it would help the aerodynamics of the tow - so far I have been happy with it. It is also great to have the extra storage space for large items.