I've been running a Yakima roof rack for my bikes and boats on my Prius for about 6 years. The roof rack without anything on it takes my gas mileage down about 5 mpg. I'm considering buying a new Yakima off the back rack for this reason for my bikes. My question is can anyone tell me how much their mileage has been affected by a receiver style off the back bike rack with and without a bike on it? Thanks for the help in advance...
I am not sure you will save that much! It will take a long time to save what you spend on a new receiver and rack for the back for gas purchase.. Just don't drive the car with the empty rack on top of the car as just the rack effects the mileage. I have the back system on my Honda Hybrid and it handles two bikes OK. I prefer the roof racks as I use a tote box for all my camping gear. I just slow down some and still get respectable MPG. H
As Harold mentions, you probably won't save enough money from improved fuel economy to cover the cost of a hitch plus hitch-mounted rack. That said, I use a Curt hitch and a hitch rack to haul my bikes, and there is very little impact in fuel economy. The bikes sit behind the car out of the slipstream, so the fuel economy hit is very slight-- according to the dash display, less than 1 mpg. (it bears mention that my bike is a 15-pound carbon fiber road bike, so I can't say if hauling a 40-pound full-suspension Walmart bike will worsen the FE.) It cost me a total of $250 for the Curt hitch and the hitch-mounted rack I bought off Amazon. The curt hitch I bought from U-Haul.
CoastalTech receiver hitch replaces the tie down brackets. Comes in 1 1/4" and 2" - $149. It requires NO adjusting other than possibly attaching the supplied rubber ring muffler support. You can leave the left hitch bracket mounted and remove 98% of the hitch weight by taking off the rest of it (2 bolts and nuts to the left bracket and 2 bolts to the frame on the right.
I have the older Saris rack, but I never noticed too much debit until the roof box goes on, then I am -10 MPG. Are you using the air guard up front, maybe that causes some debit? Also the Saris is so easy I just put it on when I need it.
That looks nice, I got my daughter the Saris Sentinel. If you are responding to my prior note, actually I have a Saris roof rack (the canoe is on it). They don't sell it anymore but sometimes you can get them here used.
