On any other vehicle, I would not ask this question, but my D2 has street tires and after a good tuning, I was starting to see 15-16mpg in the city. I put 2 cross bars up top recently and now my mpg's are around 13mpg for two weeks. Honestly, I figured my beast would just get 13-14 mpgs no matter what else I add to it because it's already maxed out on weight and not aerodynamic, so it was already rock bottom on mpg.

Is there wiggle room on these things to where a little old pair of cross bars could knock it down 2 mpgs?

Thanks

 

I've heard of the big roof rack causing a couple mpg loss, but I've never heard of only a couple cross rails doing so, and I've used cross rails myself several times. I suppose, however, that its possible.

 

Racks yes even my little back pack rack took 1 mpg unloaded. 2-3 loaded. Never had a set of the cross bars so no idea there, but it is possible

 

Tire pressure good?

 

Every car I have ever owned dropped at least 2MPG with a roof rack. The worst was my 03 Mini Cooper S I put a bike on the roof and it would drop at least 10mpg. I want 16mpg in the city!!! What is your secret?

 

I run with 255/55/18 inch tires and "city" driving is more Texas suburbs so not so much stop and go. 15-16 is not unheard with those tires I think.

Pressure should be good but I'll double check. Just wondering how sensitive the Discos are to little things like that. I could see full roof racks and mud tires and extra weight.

interesting.