Anyone using the Calmini Rack System or a similar product? 

It looks very nice!  What does it do to your gas mileage?  What about increased noise?  Opinions appreciated. 

I would like a little more storage capacity for camping gear, coolers... but really like the 28.5 mpg I am getting with the stock '90 Tracker.

Thanks.

Mahout

the nice thing about the rack is that the basket can be removed when not in use. a canadian company(masterkit1) also sells the same rack for a bit less $$$ than calmini. i am saving up right now for one.

derek

The racks do hurt gas mileage pretty well.  Creates alot of extra drag.  My dad built a little flat rack that you can stick into the hitch.  It was intended for deer, but fits coolers and other misc really easily. 

I have OE Suzuki bars and a Steel Horse cage. I figure its best not to calculate mileage on a modded Track/Kick   . Wind noise is very noticeable with the cage on. Mine's a softop though, it might not be so bad on a tintop.

I have a gv and if you can see on my little pic I made a roof basket that sticks up pretty high in the front. it used to wistle but when I repainted it and remounted it no more whistleing. guess I got it lighned up better.. anyways I did not lose any noticable mileage at all.I still get 23 miles a gallon in town which is much better than the 19 they say it's supposed to get. you'd have to have allot of crap sticking off the vehicle for aerodynamics to be significantly bothersome to fuel economy.... are you guys talking about that rack that goes around the soft top on a 2 door kick? that could have more stuff sticking out than my basket

are you guys talking about that rack that goes around the soft top on a 2 door kick? that could have more stuff sticking out than my basket

I'm talking about this. I guess the 33x9.5 doesn't help the mileage at all, lol

derekj - I looked up the Masterkit1 rack.  That is exactly what I am looking for with the short top in the summer months.  Thanks for the link.

Mahout

I'd bet the tire is 90% of the mileage difference.. lol. doesn't look like the rack itself would really bother it enough to notice

the racks and baskets themselves dont hurt gas mileage much at all.  what hurts mileage most is a lot of large, heavy items strapped onto the rack or basket, but that still wont affect mileage much.

Well I have the calamini roof rack modified to fit my X and i have it off most the time on account of with a thin plywood floor and 2 off road lights the rack alone weighs about 71 lbs, which is alot that high up, changes your center of gravity and your MPG/0-60mph.

Yes it's noisy and it hurts your mileage but I fixed those problems:

anyone have one on a sami? If so what do you think? How much does it weigh?

Where do you get a set of the OEM Suzuki Bars at?  Those look nice.

Here's another option for you. Dad and I made this one afternoon and it served me well for a long time.

Where do you get a set of the OEM Suzuki Bars at?  Those look nice.

They stopped making them a few years ago. The bars for the tintops are quite common on eBay but the soft top version is pretty rare. I bought mine NOS from a dealer. I don't think that they were offered in the US even though they were made there.