Roof Racks: Trendy accessory, or UnAerodynamic Gas Mileage Killing Travesty?

[quikveedb2]

How about a "My roof rack is utilitarian, and neither gas mileage nor looks are considerations" option?

[Roysneon]

I had one on my car for like a year, never used it, took it off. People sure do act like fags about roof racks though. If you seriously care that someone else has a roof rack on their car that they don't use you should spend your time learning to suck your own dick or something useful, byt that's just what I'd do.

[dishwab]

If you ski, snowboard, bike, kayak, haul things, etc. buy one. If you don't, don't. Or do. Do whatever you want to do.

[ST1G]

If you ski, snowboard, bike, kayak, haul things, etc. buy one. If you don't, don't. Or do. Do whatever you want to do.

Now that, is some insight.

[jdirty]

If you're gonna be lazy about taking off your rack when it's not loaded, at least make sure to get a fairing for it. We have a thule on an e34 and a yakima on a galant and both used to suck without the fairing. Road noise was annoying without it but gas mileage was negligible. I drive both HWY and City.

[F34R]

Always wanted a wooden roof rack. So I made one from white oak with a ton of sanded layer polyurethane coating. I have yet to put anything on it...it is so gorgeous I do not want to ruin the painstaking finish.

I always put stuff in the trunk or back seat area. I love the look even if I get less MPG, I personally love it. So it is staying.

And I think it is about the same mpg with the wind fairing.if not it is maybe 1-2mpg less. I can live with that. The m30 with the 3.25lsd and 260/6 get almost the same as my b27i. Trendy or not, I love it and I built my car to please me. Don't care what others think.

I am not the only one that loves it, got non stop comments on it at GFest and vintage. Also just strangers telling me how much they love the professional woodwork I did for a basic rack. SS hardware that was blackened and contrast staining. It really pops in person with the stain glazing to make the grain pop against the solid stain.

[noahb]

I want to build a wooden rack for mine, possibly out of hardwood flooring scraps. Do you have any pics of yours F34R?

[anabolice30]

I just want a rack for Christmas so I can hang string lights on them.

[Nick_S]

If my bikes aren't on the rack I don't noticed much of a difference at all. With bikes, I drop about 3-4mpg on the highway.

[13bpower]

Trendy

[CW325]

I just want a rack for Christmas so I can hang string lights on them.

Haha I did that last year!

Also having a roof rack helps finding your car in a parking lot!

[RobE30]

The only reason I have a roof rack on my E30 is because my wife is tired of me taking her Outback w/ the roof rack to go mountain biking. I put a fairing on it and the wind noise is reduced quite a bit. If I strapped a pallet to my roof, I'd be trendy like the Honda kids

[F34R]

I want to build a wooden rack for mine, possibly out of hardwood flooring scraps. Do you have any pics of yours F34R?

Start to finish:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=241501

[AndrewBird]

Running only bars, there was no difference in MPG. With my snowboard racks sticking up (no fairing), I lost 2-3 MPG. So basically, keep it as thinly profiled as possible.

[shameson]

Had a rack on both of my e30s for awhile to carry my mountain bike. My DD wasn't a good car for one. When I replaced my DD with my e39 touring, sold my Yakima since I already had something for the wagon.

I do miss the look of the rack on the e30 but it feels so much more right on a wagon