Date:         Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:52:47 -0700
Reply-To:     John Reynolds <transporterjr@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Reynolds <transporterjr@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Aerodynamics related to fuel consumption (for an 84 tin top)
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"I got better gas milage, even loaded down for 3 week trip, when I have the 18 ft canoe on top."
 
I can certainly beleive that on a sqaure ended vehicle.  Our 95 Escort wagon with a long slender roof top box on that extended to the very rear of the vehicle resulted in several tanks on mid 40's (!) mpg on a x-country trip.  I had at least 3 tanks that caluclated over 45+ mpg, one at 47.  No, not the same pump each fill-up obviously, but the tank before and after were not abnormanlly low, so they were pretty accurate.  
 
Like Don, I always keep tabs on my gas mileage on every tank to track if anything is wrong with the vehicle.  With my daily driver Civic 4-door, I use a ScanGage2 - great device.  Even bare roof racks on the Civic cause a huge drop in gas mileage.  The gas mileage drop from keeping those racks on a typical car all the time, as some do, can easily exceed the price of the racks over the course of ownership.  
 
John