Should I remove my roof rack in a race?

Discussion in 'Meetups & Events' started by ridinobryan, Nov 15, 2007.

  1. ridinobryan

    ridinobryan Member

    My first race will be the Subaru Challenge and was wondering if removing my roof rack will make a difference. I figure it's somewhere around 20lbs?
     
  2. dontcallitarex

    dontcallitarex Active Member

    For the challenge it won't make a difference. Yeah, it's certainly a weight savings...exactly how much I dunno, but you probably wouldn't notice it. It's a pretty intensive procedure to remove the rack, also. You have to yank a bunch of interior panels and it takes like 3 hours.

    It ends up looking sweet though, so maybe down the road?

    Hope to see you saturday!
     
  3. SubiNoobi

    SubiNoobi Supporting Member

    I agree it won't make a significant difference for AutoX, but could you just take off the crossmembers and not the lateral rails?
     
  4. GTscoob

    GTscoob Black is Beautiful

    Not at all man. 1.5 hours tops by yourself, maybe 2 with beer and cigarette breaks in between. All in all you do lose some weight, and its way above the center of gravity for the car but its not really noticeable by any means. It does look very good so go ahead and yank those rails off, just make sure you've got the hardware to plug the holes in the roof.
     
  5. rexrocker

    rexrocker Active Member

    Honestly, it isn't going to make a huge difference in performance, etc. Remember, you're out there to have fun. The roof rack is a great look...I had it on the bug eye and if I still had the car, I'd leave it on the for autox. :bigthumb:
     
  6. FTZ

    FTZ ^.^

    Until you get to the point where you are consistent with your driving, removing weight means nothing.

    For someone like Meredith and Brian, who Auto X regularly, saving 20 lbs may be helpful.
     
  7. ridinobryan

    ridinobryan Member

    Oh, maybe I should have clarified what I meant by roof rack. I actually have a Thule rack system for carrying bikes. So not the roof rails. I've seen some pics of cars racing with a bike rack on top and wondered if that would make a difference. But probably not enough for me to notice at this point.

    And, I saw your post GTScoob about removing the rails and it does look nice. I could always get a hitch bike mount.

    Thanks everybody!
     
  8. rexrocker

    rexrocker Active Member

    I knew what you meant. ;) I'd keep the rack on...just make sure you leave the bikes at home. ;)

    Brings back good memories of my old bugeye...


    [​IMG]
     
  9. lostinthewoods

    lostinthewoods Frisco Tx Baller

    Actually put two bikes on the rack :)
     
  10. dontcallitarex

    dontcallitarex Active Member

    Honestly, now that I know what you mean, that'll probably look pretty sweet. Rock it dude.
     
  11. FTZ

    FTZ ^.^

    Honestly, I don't think you are going to be competitive enough to warrant going out of your way to save a couple pounds. You won't get up to a high enough speed where it will be effecting your areodynamics. If it is a simple task to remove and add back later on, go for it, but if it is a PITA, just leave it on.
     
  12. BlackAndBlue

    BlackAndBlue Member

    that and itll bump you to SM where all the crazies play
     

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