My Rhino Rack Vortex 2500 RS is a very quiet rack. Still, I had to know if it could be even quieter with a fairing, particularly with my ShowCase cargo box mounted. My only concern was whether the fairing’s mounting hardware would interfere with the proper seating of the ShowCase. I also wondered if the fairing’s “landing pads” along its leading edge would mar the paint. Unfortunately, the fairing produced more noise than just a naked rack. Even worse, at least one of the fairing’s landing pads vibrated against the paint as speeds exceeded 75 mph. I don’t drive that fast very often, but there still was no way I was going to risk paint damage from a fairing that does nothing to reduce noise. Therefore, I didn’t even bother to test it with the ShowCase.
As mentioned in my Vortex 2500 RS entry, the naked bars are almost silent… almost. I can hear a change in pitch as wind flows over the car, but there is no measurable difference in the sound level. I measured 68-dBA with and without the rack at 60 mph. Then I added the fairing. I’m not sure if the wind was blowing in a different direction and skewed my results, but I could tell right away that something was different. On the highway, it was nearly as loud as having a cargo box on top of the car, measuring 70 dBA at 60 mph (compared to 71 dBA with the box). It was even louder at higher speeds. I thought about keeping it just a little longer for more testing, but rain was coming and it was time to prepare for BugOut. Instead, I decided to just send it back since I knew I didn’t want it on my car.
I bought the fairing through Amazon, so returning it was fast and easy. In fact, the fairing was in my possession for less than 48 hours. I didn’t even leave it installed long enough to take good photographs (these are phone pics). To summarize, the Rhino Rack Vortex 2500 RS is better without the fairing by far.
