Does the tonneau cover improve gas mileage

I am looking at possibly buying a cover and was wondering if anyone who has bought one of these covers noticed any real improvement in fuel mileage?

I am looking at possibly buying a cover and was wondering if anyone who has bought one of these covers noticed any real improvement in fuel mileage?
I got one and the answer is no. Seen no difference either way.

I don't see any difference at all.

We had ours three months before we got our Retrax and we were still in our break in period. Not a good time to compare for improvement.

I don't think anyone is going to find such a significant improvement that it would justify the price of the purchase for that reason alone. They are nice looking and give you a lot more inside storage space.

Ya, the cover saves 10 MPG but unfortunately the extra weight causes you to loose 10.1 MPG! So, the answer is yes, and no. I feel strongly - both ways! One thing that I am absolutely sure about though, it either does or it doesn't.

Just kidding of course! I think that I may have been watching too many talking heads on TV "reporting" on what our politicians said.

I can't say that there is any change at all. If there is I just don't notice it. I also wasn't expecting to see any savings when I bought it either. I suppose that on some vehicles that a bed cover could change the airflow with very slight positive results, but it could also have a negative impact. The way that the Ridgeline is designed, the airflow goes over the tailgate anyway.

There are several good covers out there now for the Ridgeline and most of them have been covered (HA! No pun intended!) in depth here on the ROC. Search around and read up and I am sure that you will find one that will work well for you.

I kinda figured it wouldn't matter much. The only reason I asked is I noticed they listed that as one of the features. The bed is so short, its probably not an issue.

I have had the Retrax for just over a year now and I couldn't be happier with it. It was a good choice for my purposes even though the only other one that was available at the tme was the Honda OEM cover. There are less expensive covers and some that don't scratch if you put a cement block on them but I like it fine just the way that it is. I especially like how quick and easy it is to open and close the cover.

Mythbusters did a segment on this. It didn't imporve gas mileage at all, in fact it incresed it a little for them.

Mythbusters did a segment on this. It didn't imporve gas mileage at all, in fact it incresed it a little for them.

I thought that one was for tailgate up or down? Which they found that desingers actually design the cab to create an eddy in the bed, and with the gate down, the airflow was laminar and decreased mileage due to the downforce on the bed and tailgate.

I thought that one was for tailgate up or down? Which they found that desingers actually design the cab to create an eddy in the bed, and with the gate down, the airflow was laminar and decreased mileage due to the downforce on the bed and tailgate.
That's the episode that I saw (here's where we discussed it (http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3785)) but maybe they tested covers too. <shrug> :)