Yes but where are the "Wind tunnel" and mileage test results from this car compared with the same non-dimpled car?
I would expect that this car was made this way as a publicity stunt only for the golf tournament and no real mpg/lpk testing was done.
Or is this also another reason that the foreign car companies have better cars and profitable car companies, save Ford somewhat? Does Detroit need to get out of the dark ages in car design?
it was just a stunt... they also did one with tennis ball fuzz.
Putting 800lb of clay on a car will drop its stance substantially. Lower profile cars get better fuel mileage. The difference in mpg could just be from running the test at different times/atmospheric conditions. I wish they would post up a more detailed test control list. They left a lot to be desired for a scientific experiment. You can't get a correct average with 5 runs. They needed to make an even number of runs in both directions.
The cars operating temp can play a huge role, and they do not tell us if the car was warmed to operating temp for the same amount of time on each run. The car was definitely warmer on the run with the divots, I can see the clay getting hot and sticky. If the ambient air temp was warmer, so is the transaxle fluid, which would mean less rotational friction and better mpg.
I am curious if they took these things into consideration, because for all I know the cars operating temp could have caused all of the discrepancies they found.
In simply testing the order in which the alcohol was consumed, the testing was flawed. In my opinion, the myth is based on judgment when one generally consumes alcohol in one order or another. The myth as I've heard it is "Beer before liquor, never sicker; liquor before beer, never fear". When a person consumes volumes of beer to get drunk, and then switches to liquor, their judgment of the level of liquor they can consume without attaining a hangover the following day is much worse than if they were to consume in the reverse order. It takes longer to consume an entire beer than to take a shot, so drinking beer may maintain the intoxication differently.
I am a certified Beerolastic Drunkenologistic Engineer, so I pretty much know what I'm talking about.
Originally posted by isitscience: The cars operating temp can play a huge role, and they do not tell us if the car was warmed to operating temp for the same amount of time on each run. The car was definitely warmer on the run with the divots, I can see the clay getting hot and sticky. If the ambient air temp was warmer, so is the transaxle fluid, which would mean less rotational friction and better mpg.
I am curious if they took these things into consideration, because for all I know the cars operating temp could have caused all of the discrepancies they found.
It took them several hours to cut out all those dimples and the car was shut off and cooled. I do not think a change in wind velocity or operating temp will make as big of a change as did the dimples. However to put this to a rest they probably need someone to make them a dimpled paneled car.
The July 2009 issue of Popular Science on page 37 has an article titled drivable golf balls. A product is a dimpled adhesive wrap that is claimed to increase fuel economy by 20%. Seems like it would have been a lot easier to buy the wrap for $1800 than go through all the trouble of dimpling the clay themselves.
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This is my favorite since the "Are elephants afraid of mice?" episode. Regardless of why it worked the way it did, these guys have created a monster! I hve no doubt that at least one custom builder is figuring a way to replace the panels of a production car to dimpled versions, if nothing else, simply for the show!
Originally posted by isitscience: They left a lot to be desired for a scientific experiment. You can't get a correct average with 5 runs. They needed to make an even number of runs in both directions.
"Mythbusters" is not science. It is television. Nothing "Mythbusters" does is equivalent to a scientific show. They demonstrate supposed "concepts." None of the "busted" or "plausible" or "confirmed" labels should be considered to be proved. The experiment procedures are often full of errors or lack sufficient effort to remove confounding variables.
They also failed to address areas of practicality that are likely more important than possible fuel savings. But it is not about any of that. It is about putting on a show and giving the audience what they want.
Maybe someone else said this about the hangover myth, but I was always led to believe the saying was "liquor BEFORE beer, you're in the clear." And "beer BEFORE liquor, you've never been sicker." I believe they just drank only beer, then mixed beer with liquor, but didn't do either before the other, which is what the myth truly is.
I just watch you putting dimples on a car to benefit fuel mileage in a car...Why not trying it on a plane, maybe at different speeds as an experiment as to the best flight (golf balls fly) maybe just have to do wings and top of plane.....I'm thinking the dimples is creating a mini vacaum henceforth a quicker lift. possible fuel savings....
unless the car weighed exactly the same for all three test there is no way of finding out if changing the aerodynamics could make a difference with the dirt track cars that my boys drive aerodynamics dont come into play but when cth cars are clean they have a faster lap time than when they are dirty the extra weight affects their performance
There are some talk about the use of vortex generators like the ones you see on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. Mitsubishi added those on so they would channel air to the rear spoiler more efficiently to get the most downforce possible. Not really to get more MPG. But, I would like to see this actually done in an episode as well, to see if it has, at all, any effect on MPG. Here's an interesting video on the use of vortex generators...
The saying I've always heard and heeded was "Whiskey on Beer, Never Fear. Beer on Whiskey, Mighty Risky." And why not redo this one and throw in "morning after" hangover cures right after testing the hangover intensity.
Regarding the car test, they should have sized the dimples on the car according to the Reynolds number, they probably would've gotten better efficiency.
Because different alcoholic drinks (beer, wine, liquor) have different [toxins], combining the various impurities can result in particularly severe hangover symptoms. Additionally, the carbonation in beer actually speeds up the absorption of alcohol. As a result, following beer with liquor gives the body even less time than usual to process the toxins.
Originally posted by 111GARY: Why not trying it on a plane, maybe at different speeds as an experiment as to the best flight (golf balls fly) maybe just have to do wings and top of plane.....I'm thinking the dimples is creating a mini vacaum henceforth a quicker lift. possible fuel savings....
Aircraft wings are aerodynamic enough (think 'teardrop shape') that the flow doesn't separate at all. At high angles of attack the potential for separation is greater, and since your control surfaces are in the area that would separate first, as a safety measure some planes are fitted with vortex generators to prevent this. Most airliners have vortex generators.
I love this episode... I posted under a fuel efficiency myth YEARS ago that they should dimple the car like a golf ball. I was ridiculed and insulted. I think this proves me right!! Although I still have a few reservations as to their methodology...
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I am still confused as to why they had to 'scale up' the size of the dimples.
Instead of the clay, I would have prefered they found two identical car, or at least the body panels from the second car, and dimpled those instead.
I would loved to have seen tests of the test cars in the same wind tunnel where they tested the tractor trailor drafting. That would have beed perfect!
Overall I am happy about the results, but some other things should have been done differently to make the results less arguable.
In the drinking myth, they were trying to remove all variables. What about race as a variable? Tori is White and Grant is Asian. Also ethnicity. If Tori has any Irish or Scottish in him would that make any difference?
I am still confused as to why they had to 'scale up' the size of the dimples.
Instead of the clay, I would have prefered they found two identical car, or at least the body panels from the second car, and dimpled those instead.
I would loved to have seen tests of the test cars in the same wind tunnel where they tested the tractor trailor drafting. That would have beed perfect!
Overall I am happy about the results, but some other things should have been done differently to make the results less arguable.
I wouldn't say the results are arguable. The science that made it work is well known to more than golf ball makers. Car makers actually played with it years ago, but apparently they concluded that people preferred clean lines to bumpy surfaces.
Hmm...I wonder if the reverse would work as well.
In any case, I'd consider driving a car dimpled like that if it improved milage. But then I drive 500+ miles a week
I liked the episode but I think they missed a key part with the drinking experiment. When Grant was drinking the beer and the liquor he thought he could consume more alcohol then he could when it was just beer alone. It might not be about what exactly you drink, but how much you think you can drink before your over the top.
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(of course they never will because of lots of dumb and petty reasons.