I don't know that it will be applicable as it seems the 2008 will have different motors. Different motors means different settings/programming.

 

I certainly can't prove it but I did notice a slight increase in mileage when I removed the crossbars from my Escape. I would never have paid extra for them and in all my years of driving I have never had anything in a roofrack on any of my vehicles. I kinda like the option of not getting them if that means paying less.

BTW, I have two pairs of racks in my garage (2005/2006) if anyone needs/wants them. I'll let anyone on here have them for the cost of the shipping.

 

Hmmm...kinda to believe that the amount of drag caused by the crossbars compared to the cross section of the front of the vehicle, would make a difference MPG wise that one could measure in a tank of gas.... over months, maybe.

I kept mine because I thought an SUV should look like one and have them . On the other hand. I'm taking them off for winter so I don't have to scoop snow around them.

 

VERY GENEROUS OF YOU RAY!

While I have mine off for 80% of the year, I plan to go skiing this winter, so mine will finally go to good use! I do like how easy they come on/off.

For the record, at the Ford Hybrid Open House ( as I like to call it ) in Dearborn MI last October, engineers did say taking the bars off would help. They said even using the radio/Nav costs you 0.1 MPG! The roof bars probably 0.3 MPG.

 

The hybrid's motors are changing for 2008? I didn't catch that.

 

Oh, well. They will not fit my MMH (nor an '07 FEH if that affects anyone else).

 

Like I said, I can't prove what caused it but in the past year I have raised my average tank from around 34 to around 38 or 39 mpg.

It's hard to believe that driving in L would increase mileage but it does. Hard to believe adding a couple PSI to the tires would increase mileage but it does. Hard to believe using headlights lowers mileage or running around with a couple hundred extra pound does too but it does.

Incremental changes add up. Any drag added to a vehicle will require power to overcome. Even if it is a miniscule amount like 0.1 mpg, I'll take it.

In 15 years of flying planes I have learned that parasitic drag is the enemy. Having two useless crossbars on the roof does nothing but contribute to drag - especially if they will never be used. Why have them on there? If they contributed to safety like the right hand rear view mirror then they would be earning their keep but they do nothing for me and thus had to go......

Your mileage may vary.....

 

IMHO, if it were like 0.1 mpg, then even the regular FE/MM would not have them. If anything, it might be more like 0.01 or even 0.001 mpg.

I also wonder if the pre-07 FE design vs. the MM design, makes a difference?

 

I don't know now. I thought I read that they were changing and the combined HP was greater....but now I don't see that. Who knows.....

 

Can lithium ion batteries accept the HIGH (re)charge rate of the current batteries?

How many owners know that putting stuff on the roof rack makes an already (compariably) unstable vehicle even more unstable?

The cross bars for my 2001 AWD RX300 have been stored since the day I bought it.