aero dynamic roof rack worth it?

fanaticultrahawk · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 54

I got a new jeep and my old yakima feet wont work with it as it has gutter type rails. i am looking at new feet and wondering if I should get one of the new aerodynamic type such as:

Thule’s AeroBlade and Yakima’s Whispbar

any thoughts? any other new brands that I may not be aware of?

mat-ty · Joined: 07 Jul 2007 Posts: 7850

Spend the extra money it will be worth it. My Yakama pipes are very noisy and I am sure that also means lots of drag and poor mileage. I have to take them off when not in need.

ramps · Joined: 07 May 2000 Posts: 94

I would not settle for round-section rack bars - the howling was too annoying. Not sure if you could measure the difference in fuel consumption between the 2, though.

outcast · Joined: 04 May 2004 Posts: 2724

Ok....i'll bite....forget about style or noise

Assume 1 mpg difference
Assume 30 mpg and fuel at $3.50

I think it will take a long time to pay them off...like 30,000 miles

KevinDo · Joined: 02 Jul 2012 Posts: 426 Location: Cabrillo Inside

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Between round Yaks and rectangle Thule's, it's a tossup.
Having a naked rack kills 5 mpg off a Honda Civic, driven mostly on the freeway. Surprisingly, adding 3 boards atop makes little difference from a naked rack.
A VW GTI aero streamlined rack makes tons of noise when the sunroof is open, and I'll bet, takes away 3 mpg at the minimum. GTI has more horses to counter wind resistance, and is less streamlined to begin with.

J64TWB · Joined: 24 Dec 2013 Posts: 1685

My vote is no. Aero needs special pads. Yes round makes more noise, but add a round pad and sound is gone. Most important is, make sure it is secure. Mpg you can't tell. At least I cant. I've tried.

Sailboarder · Joined: 10 Apr 2011 Posts: 656

I always thought that just having a bar in the wrong spot was creating the noise. I assume, maybe wrongly, that an areo would make as much noise since it is likely to not be aligned with the airflow. The only areo I ever tried were factory, and further back on the car. My square bars don't make noise either when located there. Anyway, I leave the foam there and they are silent.

I personally prefer the square Thule because it's a defacto standard. Plenty of parts are available used, and the accessories seems to last forever. I still use bars and accessories that are 25 YO.

bred2shred · Joined: 02 May 2000 Posts: 989 Location: Jersey Shore

You have a Jeep and you're worried about aerodynamics and noise??

Anyway, the classic rectangular Thule bars work great for me. I'm pretty sure the rectangular bars have a higer load rating than the aero bars as well. A gutter style rack system should be easy to remove and install in a couple minutes when not using too if the noise is a problem.

sm

BoomBra · Joined: 22 May 2010 Posts: 16 Location: Galveston

I have square cross bars but added a wind fairing to help with noise and drag. Not sure how much it helps but probably more than the aerodynamic bars.