[John Burke]

Hello! Just signed up. We have a 2005 that has 2200K on it so far (only on our 5th tanks of gas!! ). We have been averaging about 5 to 5.2L/100K. Pretty fantastic to say the least.

So our question is this:

Will a ski rack greatly decrease our fuel efficiency? and if so by how much roughly?

We are very active skiers as we live in Vancouver BC. We can easily get a cargo cover to protect teh interior and then use a flat plastic storage bin for the skis and lay them accross the 40 fold down. Then we can also get a regular plastic storage bin for our boots is the thought in lieu of getting a roof rack.

Feul efficiency is our main and driving concern here. That is 100% the most important thing but we don't know if the effect will really be too negative or not with teh rack on.

Help!

 

[ElectronMotion]

Got to decrease mileage a bit...

Don't have any knowledge of what a ski rack will do to Prius mileage. However, I've done several mileage tests with other cars and a 10% reduction was usually the rule. After finding this to be the case, I always dumped my ski rack as soon as I hung up my skis at the end of the season. I'm still amazed to see people driving around with ski racks attached during the summer. However, I see less and less ski racks than in the past. I think that's due to shorter skis and more snow boarders. One of my other vehicles is a Dodge Darango which has a luggage carrier on the top of the vehicle (with two cross bars.) I get about a 10% improvement with the 2 cross bars removed. However, I'm giving up SUV style points in not having a complete luggage rack.

I do what you suggested and put my skis in the trunk with the back seat folded down. Works great and less chance of have the skis walk away while the car is parked at an enroute stop. However, if you have 4 skiers in the car, this is NOT an option.

You might consider installing a trailer hitch. I did the job in about 1 hour. It allows me to carry as many as 3 bikes behind the car. There are also ski racks that will store your skis vertically that attach to a trailer hitch. I would think this would cut any drag by at least 50% as long as the skis were mounted sideways. If they were straight up and mounted flat, the drag might even be worse than a top ski rack.

 

[tochatihu]

ski rack mpg

Hey John, welcome. My data is from a 2001 Prius with roof rack and bikes etc., so not exactly right for you. But here goes.

If you drive 72 mph/115 kph or more, the fuel economy hit will be large, approaching minus 20%. If you can can stand 55 mph/90 kph, it will be more like minus 5%. Slower still, it practically goes away because aero drag is not the dominant factor at slow speeds.

Headwinds or crosswinds are especially detrimental when you have stuff in the attic, also.

DAS

 

[tochatihu]

ski rack mpg

Hey John, welcome. My data is from a 2001 Prius with roof rack and bikes etc., so not exactly right for you. But here goes.

If you drive 72 mph/115 kph or more, the fuel economy hit will be large, approaching minus 20%. If you can can stand 55 mph/90 kph, it will be more like minus 5%. Slower still, it practically goes away because aero drag is not the dominant factor at slow speeds.

Headwinds or crosswinds are especially detrimental when you have stuff in the attic, also.

DAS

 

[John Burke]

^ wow that is incredibly helpful info. We are now leaning away from the rack but we will see. You answer hopefully will help others as well shoudl they come accross this decision in the future.

Thanks again!!!