Has anyone fitted roof rails and the rear cross bar and noticed any significant difference in their fuel economy? Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

Going from a TD4 with roof rails to a SD4 without roof rails

My mpg went from 24.25 average to 24.01 average

They don’t make much difference Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Not in my experience.

Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

npinks wrote:

My mpg went from 24.25 average to 24.01 average

 FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

More short journeys than steel toe caps

Went down even further with a tune in it too  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

When I had the rails on I had the roof bars on also to add that bit more resistance, to this day I don’t know why as i very rarely carried anything on the roof with them Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I fitted the rails with a rear crossbar and then added four LR roof bars (two pairs) didn't notice any difference in fuel or sound.

But then I don't clock the mileage and am going deaf!

I've not noticed a great difference since fitting my rails and bars, it didn't up much even with the 360 amber strobe
bar on,
handy grab rails when your cleaning the roof.
Dave DAVE.
I.A.M. F1rst Driver.
Gone 2003 Discovery TD5 Auto,
Gone 1986 Defender 90 Station Wagon
Gone 1984 Range Rover 3.5 Vogue Manual.
Gone 1970 Series 11A/3 SWB 3.5 V8 Hybrid
Gone 1964 Series 11A LWB Van
Gone 1966 Series 11A SWB Van
Gone 1964 Series 11A LWB Station Wagon,

The basic FL2 shape is not very kind to the laminar air flow, because of it's quite sudden changes of angle of the external surfaces.

https://www.mb4x4.co.za/index.php?threads/...mp;slide=0

In fact some studies have decided that a well shaped and positioned roof rack / load will have a beneficial effect on the drag of a 4x4 shaped vehicle.

https://www.tonyfoale.com/Articles/Aerodynamics/AERO.htm

This second link seems to say that our (suspected) poor aerodynamics may limit the effect of sidewinds on the FL2.
Every cloud ......!

By the way, I think it is a pity that the FL2 does not have built in (and hidden) secure attachment points on the roof that would accept roof bars. My Vauxhall Signum had this excellent feature, and I still have the roof bars hanging in my garage. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 76k+ miles) (MY2015)