I’m glad that my NX didn’t come with a roof rack, but if it did, I would surely remove the crossbars after reading this article.
I know several “border line” hoarders who have literally hundreds of pounds of junk in their cars’ trunks and could restore some lost fuel efficiency by tossing that stuff 
Not surprisingly, they have a difficult time grocery shopping because there literally isn’t enough room in the trunk for the bags of food and household supplies
In order to get my degree as a Certified Paralegal, I didn’t have to duplicate any of the courses that I took for my B.A. and my M.A., so it was essentially “just” a lot of law courses, a couple of business-related courses, and also a few computer-related courses. In one class, we each had to prove that we could do a Power Point presentation, so I did one on How to Improve Your Gas Mileage.
Naturally, I covered driving patterns/behavior, and the importance of proper car maintenance (including correct tire pressure), but I also included a section titled “Get the junk our of your trunk”. Most of the class–which was mostly younger women–seemed to be shocked by the revelation that the junk they were carrying around in their trunk would reduce their mpgs.
Pfffssttt, some of them would pick up a few MPH from just emptying out their purses… 
One of the most memorable gas mileage tips I ever read came from an article written by the late, great Tom McCahill in which he suggested driving as if there was an uncooked egg between your foot and the accelerator pedal. He also suggested that, when driving a car with an automatic transmission, one should coax the transmission into the highest gear possible as soon as possible.
A few years ago, on one of the magazines shows they did a demonstration of how driving habits affect gas mileage. 2 people identical cars with the same commute, but 2 different driving styles. One was an aggressive driver with fast starts and hard braking. The other was a more casual driver and slowed down before needing to brake. Both drove slightly over the speed limit. The second driver car mpg was easily 20% better than the first driver.
Conclusion - Driving style has probably the most significant impact on MPG than anything else you can do that’s not extremely costly. With me being retired and my wife works at home and will retire at end of this year we don’t buy a lot of gas anymore. At best I might save $200/year by buying a new Hybrid. Which I’m probably going to do anyways in a few years.
My friend really doesn’t like driving, so if we go somewhere in his car, he usually asks me to drive. His Forester is EPA-rated for 29 mpg, but the mpg readout on his instrument panel is usually somewhere between 24 to 26 mpg. By the time that I have finished driving his vehicle for the day, the readout has usually increased to 31-32 mpg.
My wife thinks I’m nuts…but I have a quiet ongoing grumbling about empty rooftop cargo baskets and roof rails I see around my part of the world. I think it’s part of the whole “Overlanding” image thing…but it’s such a waste of money and fuel.
The other day I saw an older Chevrolet Tahoe with such a basket on the roof. He had KC light mounted to the back of the basket, facing forward, as well as some kayak mounts inside the basket. Golly, I guess if that guy had a kayak or two mounted up top, he wouldn’t be able to see in the dark when driving through the suburban wilderness at night through 6 fee of water. Geez.
On many vehicles it’s standard equipment for certain levels. I have a 2014 Highlander LE - no rails. But on the highest level - rails (from the factory).
Well, to be clear… I’m referring to aftermarket/non-OEM cargo baskets. But I would hope that OEM roof rails were designed to have minimal air drag. Not so much on the aftermarket ones…
if you need a Thule luggage carrier on your SUV, you are bringing too much stuff!
And, of course, they are never removed since the SUV is never parked in the garage even without the Thule
I have roof racks nothing on them,and we load up suv with tons of stuff for our 500 mile trip to the cabins. While loaded and cruising we get 24 mpg. Lucky to get 18 around town with nothing in it, and yes keep up with the flow of traffic which many times is 80 mph. Too many worries for no concern to me.
I do not care for that “uncooked egg” suggestion… We already have some members who probably already practice that and seldom drive the speed limit… Also driving that way means that driver might not even get up to the speed limit before they start slowing down for the next light…
And for coaxing the transmission into the highest gear possible as soon as possible means holding the car in passing gear a bit longer than normal and then take your foot off the gas and let the transmission do its thing… I drive with the traffic and let the automatic transmission select the proper gear… I paid a lot for that computer and all those sensors in the car, and unless I pop the “Sport Mode” button, it is probably smarter than I am concerning the best performance (economy wide…).
Now, for my Harley, the engine is cammed for Low-end Torque and better response… And the carb is running an oversize main fuel jet so it runs a bit rich and this setup does not lug the engine when I “short-shift” (shift into a higher gears early).
When my daughter visits for the weekend they fill up the Pilot cargo area fully. If they had to use the 3rd row, they would need a roof top carrier. It was even worse when their boys were both under 5. They needed a double stroller, at least one Pack n’ Play, and their luggage. If they had a minivan, though, it wouldn’t be a problem.
I’ve never figured out why people need to get up to the speed limit between lights, out here where I live, there’s a better chance of the next light being red than green.
They leave me at the light and than slam on the brakes at the next light, and I usually make the next just as it turns green.
We had (2) Honda Odysseys when my kids were little. You can’t find a better family vehicle, without question.
However, when the power sliding doors started acting up on our 2nd one, we decided to switch to a Pilot. It’s a fantastic vehicle, and the 4 actual doors are super nice. But I totally agree on the cargo comment; we can’t fit quite as much “stuff” in the Pilot vs the Odyssey. But my kids are grown now, so we don’t seem to need as much “stuff.” No regrets. 
Unless you are cursed to be driving an early 1960’s Oldsmobile with a Roto-hydramatic transmission, you’re not going to lug an engine with an automatic behind it.
Exactly! Bring back the minivan!
Did you just write this contradiction?
First you wrote…
Then you wrote…
So, which is it?
I have found that during low traffic times, many streets and roads have the lights timed so that if you are driving the speed limit, you usually make all (or most of…) the Green Lights…
Except when you have a wife and 3 kids pulling a trailer going on a camping trip.