Hello everyone. I'm currently a Subie owner looking to jump into the wonderful world of hybrids! (Actually that's a bit of a mis-statement...I have been driving my girlfriends Honda Civic Hybrid for 6 months now occasionally) 2nd Generation Prius looks to be a wonderful vehicle...but in many respects so does the Escape Hybrid.

The Subaru wagon was purchased specifically for it's utility as I seem to always want to carry around "gear", and am particularly fond of roof racks...Yakima, in particular. From a strick utility standpoint, the Escape hybrid fit's the bill wonderfully, and while I'm very happy about the emission levels it is stated to attain, I'm not convinced it couldn't be doing better mileage-wise.

My problem would be solved for the most part by a prius with a roof rack. My beloved Yakima does not claim to make a rack to fit the top of the 2nd gen prius; thule does.

Does anyone have any experiance with pruis's and roof racks? I would like to know what aerodynamic detriment these may cause. Is there a pronounced loss of mileage? After all, the Prius is one of the most aerodynamic car's on the road, I can't imagine slapping a bunch of angular metal up on top will do any GOOD!

Comments and opinions would be very welcome.

As an aside, I actually drove the Escape Hybrid the other day. Very nice vehicle, and what's more shocking...it was just sitting on the lot unclaimed. I live in upstate NY and it takes 7 months to get your pre-ordered Prius. I am very surprised that the "worlds first hybrid SUV" would be just sitting on the lot.

Thanks in advance,

Trevor

 

You can look around on this board and others for confirmation, but I think that people have concluded that roof racks of normal size (when empty) cost about 1 mpg and when full it can bloom to 3 mpg.

This is going off sheer memory (41 years old, memory going fast !! ) but it should be easy enough to find Prius owners on these boards who have roof racks attached.

Good Luck !!!

 

Agreed that you will take a hit in milage, but the amount really depends on what your driving style is. If you're just driving to get EPA you shouldnt take much of a hit 1-3 as Lars said, but if you are hypermiling i think that extra bit of drag could be alot more detramenta. Sorry i cant give you anything more than a subjective view of it.
Cheers,
Steven