Drafting and other "Stuff"

[Oscar]

DISCLAIMER.......THIS IS ILLEGAL (AND PROBABLY FATTENING) IN MOST STATES......UNLESS YOU HAVE FAST REFLEXES AND ARE VERY AWAKE I DON'T RECOMMEND IT.....IN FACT, I DON'T RECOMMEND IT AT ALL.....EVER.

That said.....

Growing up in the old country (70's) I drove one of these:



27 horsepower...... So, my commute was about 45 minutes every morning. The routine was to set an alarm early, and listen to the weather man to get wind direction and velocity..... You see, a headwind would make the commute an easy 60 minutes, as the top speed would decrease from a blistering 65-70 to 50.... or worse.

What we learnt to do in bad headwinds was to snuggle up behind a big truck and to just stick with them like a remora. Often the truck drivers would know you were there and would drive accordingly, leaving you room to stay put.

So...... last night we had another 54 miles to go to the next Flying J, and according to the fuel range we had about 50 miles left in the tank.....

That's too close. So, as it was the middle of the night and the road was about empty I tucked in behind an 18 doing 64-65 and stayed there. How close is close? Well, 20-30 feet..... Cranked the trailer brakes up to 7 and figured that he wouldn't be able to stop any faster than I was. And, I sat up and had both hands on the wheel and one foot a half inch above the brakes.

So I reset the MPG and went from 10-11 to.......16!!!!!!!!!!!!! And yes, we made the Flying J with room to spare.

So, if you're ever in a pinch.....it DOES work.

OK, bring on the lynch mob.....

[JoeofNSB]

No lynch mob here. I've done it on my motorcycle and gained about 7-8 mpg and tuck in close in my tractor trailer to another to help just like you did. Never done it in my 5er with the TV but always figured it would work. I like the Citreon if I'm correct correct??

[wgb1]

Drafting does work. I've gotten close enough to an 18 to notice the difference by just being able to ease off the accelerator. Drafting even works on bicycles. I draft off my wife although she doesn't like me riding that close to her. Can you say "peloton"? Even geese know it works by flying in a V formation.

[hankaye]

Oscar, Howdy;

I remember the Citreon Diane (?), we (other Service members myself included), used to refer to it as the uglest car in the world... Sorry,
we grew up in the world of Mustangs, stingrays, GTO's etc.
When I was Stationed in Naples (69-72), one of my friends had one.
Shift lever came out of the dash and did a twisty-turney routine to get through the gears... bouncing on the surgical tubing seat suspension.
My memory isn't that good ...those cars are just unforgetable...

hankaye

[wincrasher]

What you are doing is not drafting. The big rig is breaking the wind for you, so you are seeing some benefit. To truly draft, you have to be much closer so that you are basically being sucked along in his vacuum. Race cars do this all the time, but it takes being within inches of the other vehicles.

Anyways, doing either is foolish and dangerous, and not worth the pennies you are saving in gas.

[Oscar]

Citroen indeed......2CV4 to be exact.

No, we're not getting within inches and yes, there is a risk associated with it, so we're not doing it regularly either. Like I said, I needed to stretch the last gallons a few more miles and the road was about empty......