I was in Calais on Monday afternoon heading back after my second week in t’alps this year when i saw a car with a strange storage arrangement.
a Thule towbar mounted rack on the back with what looked like a roofbox sitting sideways on aforementioned rack.
I have no idea if this is a standard arrangement or some kind of Heath Robinson bodge but it looked weird and made me do a big double-take.
I think you have answered your own question re making a Zafira more aero but perhaps experiment on a couple of longish drives using your cars MPG function?
A mate found that rear rack mounted bikes were most aerodynamic on a golf when he had the sunroof tilted up at the rear to deflect the air over them.