Originally Posted by
jmiked
Wow, that's a lot. I just put a hitch and hitch rack on my Civic sedan last week (after using a trunk mount). I don't do much highway driving, so I can't say how it has affected mileage, although I'm sure the 40 pounds of hitch/carrier and 30 pounds of bike hanging off the back cause a significant hit, in addition to any aerodynamic issues. I'm hoping effects will be minimal with no bike on the carrier.
lol, do you know how much your car weighs? Around 3,000 pounds. 70 pounds is 2.3% of the total body weight. Or to put it another way, that's less than half the weight of having a 2nd guy ride in the car. Plus if you read the road biking forums, the general sentiment is that bike weight doesn't affect your speed or effort once you're up to speed on the flat, it's just when accelerating or going uphill that it matters, one might think the same thing would apply in a car...