Rooftop box impact on mileage (1 Viewer)

[bloc]

Hello all,

I'm in the planning stages of a large ski roadtrip and weighing out whether to bring my Thule Force Alpine box or do the highway stretches with my board and equipment inside the cabin and move them up to some board carriers for the shorter trips between the hill and hotel.

Has anyone with a relatively stock rig tracked their fuel efficiency drop with a box on the roof? For my specific situation built rigs with bumpers and roof racks wouldn't apply, though I'm open to that discussion in this thread.

Also please post what model box you have so the frontal area can be accounted for in the discussion. I run the Force Alpine specifically because it has less frontal area than many boxes, and still has plenty of room for my snow gear. For the record this thule box is 17" tall by 24.5" wide.

Just trying to get a bead on where the convenience/cost threshold gets crossed.

Thanks

 

[Hothonda]

W/ our Thule Evolution 1600 ...L 76", W 33", H 16"

Negligible gas mileage difference. I mount it as far back as possible w/o interfering with open lift gate and shark fin.

 

[stonepa]

Id use the box no matter what. Skis inside the vehicle suck.

 

[bloc]

Id use the box no matter what. Skis inside the vehicle suck.

I’ve gone 900mi to Colorado with the boards strapped down to the floor and it was fine. Once there I’d put some Yakima board mounts on the factory bars to keep after-ski mess out of the truck.

Things might change when I’m going three times the distance though. I travel with the second row out so I can stretch out to sleep inside.. board fits easily. But if it’s only a mpg the case for the box starts getting stronger.

My mileage is decent and I don’t want it to tank over that convenience.

 

[tacoduck]

1-2 mpg hit.

 

[04UZJ100]

1-2 mpg hit.

This is accurate based on multiple 1k+ Treks with the largest Skybox Yakima makes.

 

[bloc]

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

[stonepa]

I lived out of my Land Cruiser for several seasons back in the early 90s, skiing all over AK, BC, and WA. Skis inside of the vehicle tear up the interior, wet it down with melted snow, take up space, rattle, and ski poorly until they have a chance to get cold. The edges also tend to get rusty and/or dull when they go cold to warm repeatedly. I have used the same Yakima Rocketbox since 1985 to mitigate that issue. Never found it to negatively impact my mileage.

 

[1Maverick]

If you’re not using the hitch, I much prefer transporting my skis and boards this way.

 

[AeroAggie]

Boxes are awesome. We're a family of 6 and we travel comfortably in the LC. We previously had a Suburban for this mission when the kids were half the size they are now. The Suburban was a great family hauler, but the LC is just a better everything-else car in every way.

I get a 1-2mpg hit for the box, but let's face it, none of us are driving a Land Cruiser because it gets great mileage.

 

[Hothonda]

FWIW