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V50 roof rail noise question?

Posting here because nothing on V50 board. I've been driving 240s for 25 plus years and still drive several. I recently drove a V50, liked the handling and spartan feel (reminded me of 245, but w/o cargo space) and bought one. Naked roof. I need to either put on rails for crossbar attachment, or use Thule/Volvo foot system for removable feet/crossbars. Just wondering how much noise the permanent raised rails make compared to naked roof, and if reduce everyday 60 mph mpg much. [I raise the mpg issue because saw claim that adding spoiler with rails improves mpg @3%. Language conflating the two suggested to me that rails hurt and spoiler remedies it, in part.] I actually prefer the appearance w/o rails, but load bar spacing w/o rails is @32", and IIRC with rails @42". Might make a big difference when carrying a longer load. Thanks.








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    V50 roof rail noise question?

    Rails don't make much noise, if any, and they do not reduce MPG. What is noisy is the cross bars/load bars. Those should remain in the garage when not in use because they do cause a drag on the car. No deflector will make a major difference in MPG.

    I loose about 5 mpg on the Interstate with footed cross bars and a Volvo small box (black) on top with my 1998 V70.

    Klaus


    --
    Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.








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      V50 roof rail noise question?

      Volvo accessories brochure from 2007 (latest I could find with mpg impact mentioned) said 3% improvement with roof rails. I'm trying to get real numbers from Volvo technical, but sounds to me like the rails alone do impact mpg, even if only small. 3% doesn't sound like much (maybe 0.75 mpg) but that's around $50-60/year, which may make impact how to go with roof accessories. Also, other forums report high pitched whistling noise from rails alone.







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