17 foot kayak on a speed 3
- Thread starter blkMs3th
- Start date
yeah, racks ordered from japanparts, the thule option was nice but I wanted an OEM look (and was only about $50 more incl shipping). The J cradles are thule products, fit most racks. I actually wanted a Rolas rack (australian product) but the shipping was too much.
I only drove about 80 miles return and noticed no difference in gas mileage. I tend to take long trips once a year (1k +) with a boat on the roof and my last 2 cars only showed a drop of a 1-2 MPG.
The looks on peoples faces when I passed them was pretty funny.
Speed3xNoo8
Member
- :
- Carless
Cool , thanks
srs lulz in this post
to the op: 1-2 mpg drop (uhm) ...that's it?
when i drove across the country in my previous car, i put a bike rack on the back and noticed my mileage decrease by about a third...
note to self...
kayak = more aerodynamic than bikes
I can't speak for the MS3 yet, but my previous cars (golf, crx) seemed more effected by crosswinds - fwiw I used saddles instead of J racks on previous rides. Dunno why bike on the back would be any worse?
With the MS3 I find it's so easy to drive "poorly" (in the sense of chugging back the gas via the turbo), so keeping it at 65 in cruise control with a boat on the roof yields better than my spirited "feel the turbo" driving. 'course, I am just guessing until I put some more miles on...
Using J cradles, I am not sure you could fit 2 boats, try the "stackers" (a vertical bar that allows one boat on either side, as opposed to the j cradles that are one boat only). The spread between the bars is much less than I'd like - especially when crossing the golden gate bridge in high winds
but its seems to be working out so far. phillyb - that makes sense about the bikes being perpendicular...
TX Speed 6
Member
- :
- Mazdaspeed 6
You should take it to a drag strip like that, it would be worth the laugh when you beat a few people with a kayak on top, ha ha ha
