Hey guys and gals, lOoking to get a roof rack for my hardtop MINI s. Do you all recommend any?

To those of you who have them... How much do they hurt gas mileage. What mpg are you all getting with naked roof vs empty rack vs rack with bike on top?

 

OEM rack for the R56 is the best you can get hands down because you can take it on and off and it is not that hard do it. Yes it will lower you MPG but not by that much maybe 1% to 2%. I don't have numbers to back that claim up but that is about what I lose when I have mine on.

 

Yes a roof rack will decrease mileage. any increase in forward surface area will create more drag, thus require a wee-bit more power to overcome at speed. The rack itself probably won't cause much of a difference, but throwing some bikes up there will. The overall drop won't be significant.

 

The gas you will save riding the bike will cover the extra 1/2% increase in the MPG.

 

I don't have a rack on my mini, but I had a toyota camry, fuel consumption rised as high as 10 % (For example I would go from 9.0L/100km to 9.9L/100km, sorry, I'm canadian.... worst, french canadian...) with 2 bikes on top. Maybe it's a little less with a full box. I tried with my mini, if you unmount both wheels, a bike can fit.

I've been able to fit 2 bikes, but you don't have a lot of space remaining for luggage

I Hope it helps

PéO

 

You also have to consider the wind noise with the rack installed. If it has a deflector, it will help, but if you install a couple of bikes in the roof, the wind noise is very noticable. I have a rack on my Nissan Pathfinder and you can really hear the wind noise. I also very seldom use it. I would go without a rack unless you absolutely need it.

 

Can I put the sunroof open with either the Yakima or Thule?

 

None of the racks, Yakima, Thule, or Factory OEM will affect the sunroof in any way.

I have used mine extensively for my bikes, either road, or mountain. My usual hwy mileage is around 35 to 38. Witht the rack it goes down to 33 to 35. With the bike, I've seen as low as 28. It is noisy, no question.

I have a factory oem type rack which I have added a Thule spoiler to and I use Thule peleton bike rck on top to hold the bike.

If you are going to use something like mine, you will likely have to trim about 6 to 9 inches off of the end of the bike holder to keep the rear window from hitting it when you open the hatch. Its easy to do, but it gets in the way otherwise. The peleton bike holder was about 15 inches longer than is needed for the bikes anyway, ao 6 to 9 inches had no impact on its usefulness.

The factory rack fits well, and is very strong, but if I had to do it over again, I think I'd buy the complete Thule system. While it works well, I simply don't like the attachment method that the factory rack uses. And it will scratch the heck out of the top if it slips out of your hand while you are attaching it.

I have a Thule on my C300 and it is the smoothet attaching rack I've ever used.

But the factory rack is rated for 175 lbs, and the Thule is rated for 100.

Look at them all, select carefully, and use it only when you need it. That my advice.

 

I ended up getting the Yakima with the Bike Frontloader. Without the Frontloader, the sunroof BARELY opens. And I mean barely! It hits the bars and then makes contact with the glass sunroof until it goes back about mid way, and then it does not contact it anymore. I'm okay with this.

As soon as I put the Frontloader on, it will open slightly upwards, but then forces itself closed. But it's easy to take off, and I won't always have it on my car, so it's all good.

Overall, the look and quality are great. I had my bike up there last night and it was soooo convenient, and I got a lot of funny looks. The bike was almost bigger than my car! :D One guy pulled up to me and jokingly said "Better not use that thing during a wind storm, your car will blow over!"

Not too much wind noise that I'm noticing, even at 70 mph. I do have the fairing btw.

Ended up shelling out a lot of $$$$$$, even with the 20% family discount at Quest. It seems like over time it'll be worth the money.

My MINI looks as rugged and functional as ever! Thanks for all the help as always guys, much appreciated.

 

i'm glad it's working for you! for a biker, any good bike rack is a worthwhile investment for this car. yes, a bike will fit in the car, but i can't imagine putting my mountain bike in there after going through some of the slop on the trails. same with the road bike too, really. i keep the chain over lubricated and i wouldn't want that rubbing on anything inside the car.

i have the MINI system, and the only thing i have a complaint about is the rear wheel attachment system. a nice thick strap like the Yaks and Thules would be awesome, but MINI went with this plastic wedge and small strap. i had to cut the tray so i could open the boot. it's still functional, but i have to put the wedge on backwards which means i get my hands all gunky from the chain when running the strap through the wheel. oh well. first class problems.

i love the roof rack though, i feel that the car is so much more versatile now.

 

+1 haha!

 

I like that quote, I'm going to have to start using that from now on

Good to know, Ill look into that. Is the Thule spoiler a direct attachment? Also, I know I can just measure this, but my car is over 700 miles away from me at the moment - 32" or 38"?

 

You don't need it. I have the factory OEM rack and there is no extra noise. But don't think you will just pop it on and off, it isn't a trivial installation. I consider mine permanent. Of course, I don't really see why anybody would want to remove it as it's nice to have it on to carry that occasional large object you can't get in the back. Plus, the baby really likes riding up there in the summer. But THAT makes noise (if you turn the radio down).

 

Good to know, Ill look into that. Is the Thule spoiler a direct attachment? Also, I know I can just measure this, but my car is over 700 miles away from me at the moment - 32" or 38"?[/QUOTE]

No, the Thule is not quite a direct attachment, but it is easy to do with some velcro and large nylon ties and/or stainless hose clamps. For what its worth, it also deflects a lot of bugs away from the bike. I just travelled from Florida to Colorado and only had bugs on the top part of the bike, very few on the forks or chain/pedals, etc. I think it looks kind cool, too.

The spoiler has some little "feet" which the wind presses down against the roof to seal it in place. There are some little plastic stick-on thingies that go on the roof where the feet touch it to protect the paint. all-in-all, the spoiler is pretty well thought out.

I'll try later in the week to get a couple of pictures.

 

Cool beans, I appreciate it.

@jtpryan - You're right, I don't need it but I wouldn't mind having it for a bit less wind noise - especially since I spend a lot of time on the highway. I don't mind the wind noise all that much, but when I took it off for my road trip to NYC a couple of weeks ago I definitely noticed a big difference...I'm doing it for the baby, less bugs haha

 

Does anyone have the new 2011? Touring Bike Rack? It's the one that has the swoop or bend where the front tire goes.

I want to know if you can put two of them on the car. The dealer told me that it was only made for one bike on the passenger side. They said that if I wanted two then I would have to flip it around in order for it to work properly. I just can't imagine that MINI would develop a bike rack that isn't meant to work on there product. Espically since this is a flaw with the new design and not the previous rack system. Why would they replace a working version that accomadets two bikes with one that doesn't? I also found a review on this rack that confirms the thing.

Does anyone have this rack and found a solution to add two bikes? In my opinion there should be a way to flip the clamping system.

Danielle