Just watched your confirmed myth about following trucks to increase gas mileage. I found going back and forth across country in a van that driving along side a big rig worked almost as well without the danger. If the front on my Dodge van was parallel with the driver, I could feel the rig pulling my van along.

the drafting of a big rig I a ma race car driver so i draft off cars all day so with that in mind we were going to some race track and i wanted to take my car so i could do someting affterward so on the way there i was low on fuel but we were late and had no time to stop for fuel so i had my front bummper on the rear bummper of my hauller i did tap it a few times but my fuel neadel never moved fo the 50 mile trip it usealy take a 1/4 tank so i say it works I would never recomend ANY one todo this and i have to agree with kerry it is "mental"

any way there is my story

dave

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Originally posted by huntress20:
Just watched your confirmed myth about following trucks to increase gas mileage. I found going back and forth across country in a van that driving along side a big rig worked almost as well without the danger. If the front on my Dodge van was parallel with the driver, I could feel the rig pulling my van along.

Thats "areo drag" you do make the truk lose some mpg % that way but who cares i dont lol

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Originally posted by chas4:
in a few video games they call this difting

its drafting not drifting its a raceing deal

quote:

Originally posted by mythtastik88:
I agree ive bee behind a few semi's when they had a tire blow. the pieces scatter on the ground and u can blow a tire if you hit one but ive never seen them fly up or anything.

quote:

Originally posted by ignitescience:
http://69.20.127.42/portal/site/ITrucks/menuitem.a1d4a3...0aRCRD&vgnextnoice=1

check out the best truck out there.


I did write this...I only left it...so people can read what a true truck is. They have a lot of qwestionable answeres.

I was riding with a guy from toledo to detroit one day and ladie in a toyota hit a gator with her car it coused it to fly up and hit the frount of the car i was in and killed to nose of it and killed the tire i dont think it would ever would go thought a window of a car

I think we all knew drafting works. My question is, does the big rig then get lower gas mileage because it's now pulling the car?

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Originally posted by phupper:
I think we all knew drafting works. My question is, does the big rig then get lower gas mileage because it's now pulling the car?

it dont when its cars on a race track the frount car does nothing it one in the rear however to maintain the same speed does not need as much throttle so i asume its the same for the truck

Absolutely. As a cyclist, we use drafting in races to increase our average speed by 4-5mph! Additionally, I once recorded the highest mpg ever in an old Honda I owned - 39mpg - "drafting," one car length apart at 50-60mph on densely crowded L.A. freeways.

On a side note, my good buddy blew an alternator in his 1980 Honda Civic on a road trip to the coast from Southern Oregon where we attended college. Forced to return home, we stopped in a the closest garage for a diagnosis as night was beginning to fall. Unable to afford an immediate repair, my buddy became increasingly distraught. When the mechanic suggested our battery might take just enough charge to limp home, we took the chance. Martin and I both realized our headlights would likely dim to next to nothing in just 20 min (which they did), and didn't know what to do next. I suggested we draft behind the glow of a semi's tail lights to effectively outline the fading glow our own. My dumb idea may have been a bit crazy, but the 50 mile drive home was made without incident. I locked in behind the first semi I saw as the sun went down, and hid in his blind spot - 5-10 feet off his bumper - for 25-30 miles. I imagine we got some great mileage in that little Honda, but we'll never know as we were just stoked to make it back home to Ashland. Crazy college kids!

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Originally posted by mythmod:
Can you boost your MPG by tailgating a semi and other thoughts on saving gas....

I was surprised to hear Grant was "feathering" the throttle manually during his 2-foot following of the semi. It would be better to put the car on speed control so the human factor could be eliminated somewhat.

- Zombie

For the night rider myth, I was somewhat curious about whether front wheel drive versus rear wheel drive vehicles could respond differently. I would think that the front wheel drive cars would be harder to perform the feat because of which set of wheels the power is being transfered to make the car move forward.

On the resent episode about saving fuel by drafting a big rig, that you can actually stay about 5 to 6 feet behind a big rig, put your vehicle in neutral and the draft of the big rig and it will hold you in place, and continue to pull you along but not suck you in to the rig. This I have done myself. I left Washington State drafting a big rig, all the way to California, I left the vechile idoling and only used up a quarter tank of gas.

ok if your stupid youll do it. the truck stops and your eating icc bar, and probbly be dead.

I'm a little confused about the overall physicss. Under normal circumstances it takes some quantity of fuel - a specific amount of energy is consumed by the two vehicles - to travel separately down the road. Ok, now we draft the car behind the truck. Well, in the show it looks like the total amount of energy is reduced. That somehow seems a bit... curious. Too bad you didn't measure the fuel consumption of the truck. It would be interesting to see if the total energy is conserved.

Okay; can we get 100%-confirmed scientifically-measured verification of this myth on the second part of it (which wasn't run in the episode)?

Does, in fact, the drafting of your vehicle behind another vehicle (semi or not) reduce the front vehicle's gas mileage?

And what about convoying semis (like those half-mile-long rows of trucks I see on the freeways, sometimes)?

The way it was explained to me was the driver of a VW bug (a older model) would pull up behind a big rig and it could turn off its enginand travel for Free.....like to see if that one was fact and not a myth...Frat brother spread this one.......................... James_Stevenson69@msn.com

The mythbuster team did a good job on this one. For those who doubt the road gator, remember that this is a "worst case scenario". They aren't saying that tire pieces are going to fly out every time at 60 mph. They are saying that it can happen so thats what they tested.
Also, I too have heard the myth about the free ride by getting sucked in behind a semi and getting pulled along in neutral using no gas except to idle. I tried it and couldn't get it to work in my Acura integra. I think its a bogus myth. But you do get great gas mileage driving behind them. I would keep it at least 50' back though and you would still get better mileage.
Also, there are people wondering if the truck would get less mileage. That just seems silly. Race car drivers say that drafting is better for both cars. I believe it, because with the second car in the rear you are reducing the turbulence behind the lead car and turbulence causes drag.

Zebart- You need to look at it like this. The amount of fuel (energy) needed is proportional to the force needed to overcome friction trying to bring you back to rest. By drafting, the total amount of friction (particularly wind friction)in the system is reduced, thus requiring less energy to maintain a constant speed.

I'd like to see further testing done on this myth. I own a Dodge Caliber with the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). On a recent trip I noticed as I got closer to the back of a semi, my rpm's slowly dropped. At 20' my rpm was down 400. The interesting part is when I moved into the passing lane, and got along side the truck, my rpm dropped another 300. This was done with cruise on. Monitoring the rpm's this way is only possible with a CVT and the fly-by-wire technology on the Caliber. A normal car with throttle linkage and standard automatic transmission won't do the same thing.

This test of mine tells me the real sweet spot for fuel economy is along side the truck.

I too am interested in seeing if the rig's fuel economy drops and by how much when being "drafted" by a car.

I have to say, I'm very disappointed in this episode.

These are all pretty silly/obvious myths.

Getting hit in the face by a 20lb chunk of tire while riding a motorcycle? Yes. That will probably kill you real good. (with or without the baseball launcher)

Drafting behind a big rig will save you fuel? Ya think? Was anyone really surprised at this?

The Knight Rider trick? Um, guys, we have a lot more to go on than just the 80's tv show. Fear Factor had a segment where people did this exact stunt except onto a flatbed truck. Worked just fine for them.

Personally, if I was going to try a stunt from Knight Rider, I'd rather do the "indestructable car meets brick wall" trick. The trick of course would be seeing if Buster ended up cut in half by his seat belt when the car went from 50 to 0 in a fraction of a second with no loss of energy due to metal warping/heat/etc...

(And yeah, I did sign up just so I could slag this episode. I really like this show, but with lame episodes like this one, it's gonna get cancelled.)

As a professional driver who has logged well over one million miles I got upset when watching this episode. Not only is drafting a problem plaguing the trucking industry. It has become wide spread by fuel economy websites advertising these ideas to our 4-wheeler friends. By confirming this myth it has opened the door for people to explore if they can attempt it. Just to see if they can shave a few bucks off their trip.
In my last two years behind the wheel I have noticed an influx of drafting behind big rigs. Plain and simple people this is dangerous. You are not only placing yourself at risk, but the others around you on the highways. On a side note, to the poster who asks the truckers to inform him if they need to stop. Any professional driver who is in an emergency situation, do you think is going to place you first; pickup that CB to inform you that he needs to stop and fast. Give your head a shake!

I will give you a fuel economy tip: leave early, take your time, drive at a steady speed. It is something that professional drivers practice on a daily basis.