Roof Rack questions

[johnc925]

I'm considering ordering the Tesla Roof Rack for my still-waiting-to-be-delivered MY as I mountain bike a couple times a month and snowboard a couple times per year.

I'm one of those people who leave the roof rack/cross bars on my vehicle all the time because I find it a hassle to remove and reinstall each time I need it. I'd like to know from those who have/had it...

1. How much of a mileage range drop did you observe, on average?
2. Is it noticeably louder driving with it installed?
3. Did it affect the paint where the roof rack rested on (I believe I read somewhere that it comes with PPF that you install on your paint prior to installing the racks)?
4. I have Thule bike mounts -- do you know if the "square" attachments on Thule mounts fit in the groove of the Tesla rack? (I don't know if Thule and Yakima, who makes the Tesla racks, have the same size grooves)

Thanks in advance!

 

[PNWLeccy]

I'm considering ordering the Tesla Roof Rack for my still-waiting-to-be-delivered MY as I mountain bike a couple times a month and snowboard a couple times per year.

I'm one of those people who leave the roof rack/cross bars on my vehicle all the time because I find it a hassle to remove and reinstall each time I need it. I'd like to know from those who have/had it...

1. How much of a mileage range drop did you observe, on average?
2. Is it noticeably louder driving with it installed?
3. Did it affect the paint where the roof rack rested on (I believe I read somewhere that it comes with PPF that you install on your paint prior to installing the racks)?
4. I have Thule bike mounts -- do you know if the "square" attachments on Thule mounts fit in the groove of the Tesla rack? (I don't know if Thule and Yakima, who makes the Tesla racks, have the same size grooves)

Thanks in advance!

I have the tesla roof rack on my M3 and am planning on getting one for the MY I have ordered so I assume this will be mostly applicable for both:

1. I had many trips up to my ski mountain with and without the rack to test the efficiency hit and the most I could see was about 5-10wh/mi difference. Essentially, a negligible range impact.
2. I did notice a little more wind noise when I drove over ~65-70mph or on really windy days but otherwise I keep them on year round and don't feel like they cause any annoying additional noise
3. Tesla provides ppf strips where the rack mounts. I've never removed the roof rack but I don't see any damage whatsoever
4. The Tesla roof rack is manufactured by Yakima and I did not use the yakima T-slot mounts that fit inside the groove. Honestly, I would recommend against using them since that would introduce additional wind noise. I used the adjustable mounts on the fatcat evo ski mount and those worked great.

 

[johnc925]

1. I had many trips up to my ski mountain with and without the rack to test the efficiency hit and the most I could see was about 5-10wh/mi difference. Essentially, a negligible range impact.
2. I did notice a little more wind noise when I drove over ~65-70mph or on really windy days but otherwise I keep them on year round and don't feel like they cause any annoying additional noise
3. Tesla provides ppf strips where the rack mounts. I've never removed the roof rack but I don't see any damage whatsoever
4. The Tesla roof rack is manufactured by Yakima and I did not use the yakima T-slot mounts that fit inside the groove. Honestly, I would recommend against using them since that would introduce additional wind noise. I used the adjustable mounts on the fatcat evo ski mount and those worked great.

Thank you! This was very helpful!

 

[adjuiceplumdog]

How easy are they to put on and off? I wouldn't do it daily, but there was no need for racks for a while, is it feasible to put them back up when you need them?

 

[PNWLeccy]

How easy are they to put on and off? I wouldn't do it daily, but there was no need for racks for a while, is it feasible to put them back up when you need them?

You can definitely take them off and on if you wanted to. It only takes about 15min but each time you do there’s some risk that you bang the roof glass with the cross bars, miss an anchor point for the j-hook, over-torque the nuts.
Basically, removing/installing them all the time increases your risk of damaging the glass over time from some stupid mistake, is a hassle and I think they look good on the car.