To draft effectively, you have to be literally a few feet away from the vehicle in front of you to derive any benefit. Are you really foolish enough to do that? I suspect not, and given that you are still alive, you must have been far enough bsck that you go at no improved gas mileage when you thought you were drafting.
I would think a Cessna could be more angst and woe than trying to decide between 2mpg. My past time experience trying to draft caused my engine to run hot, plus I felt it dangerous. had to correct spelling 3 times, whatever keeps messing wth me
[Back from another transport.]
Yes, but flying would be faster and would not be disrupting traffic flow through intersections and traffic on highways and Interstates. With all the red traffic signals I wenthrough yesterday I caused a lot more fuel waste and pollution. So I always try to get out of everyoneās way as quickly as possible.
At highway speeds, are there āvacuum nodesā behind vehicles? If one can get into the 3rd node, one is far enough behind to be safe. On non emergency transports, without getting too close I can feel less wind resistance and hear less air passing over the vehicle and gain some benefit.
But closer would beven less wind resistance.
There istill enough air being pulled through the radiator. I am always monitoring temperature and engine RPM. Wish I could see what gear the transmission is in.
If you know your speed and RPM, itās easy to determine the gear.
Easy for you. Often I miss changes - canāt hear or feel them.
I do not know the gearanges and whathe load on thengine is doing.
At high speeds, due to wind resistance, the vehicle may be in 5th gear. I back off the throttle and shift into 6th, otherwise it would remain in 5th.
Would be fun to connect wires to the transmission or vehicle computer to illuminate 6 LEDs, but I have no idea if that is possible.
Now to go to bed.
I agree, some cars have a display of present gear, others donāt. I have a CVT, so itās irrelevant.
For most cars itās the slowest speed you can maintain in top gear without lugging the engine (or thereabouts). For most cars itās typically 35-45 MPH.
Thatās a good thing vs. the alternative
A comfortable driver is a more alert driver.
Probably more important that traction would be better on dry road, than any minuscule increase in fuel economy.
probably about a 300 watt load total for the siren and lights. Less than a higher end car stereo, the air resistance from the lightbar/siren likely have more impact on fuel economy than the actual operation.
1 Like
Good estimate!
I forget whathe totaload is. 200-watt siren, wig-waging headlights, incandescent bulbs and rotating reflector motors in the light bar. Wish I could replace them with LEDs.
Yes, the lightbar is a wind catcher. After some long transports, if notoo tired I have taken it off. Just a few minutes to remove 4 wing nuts from four bolts.
Also drivers do not slow thinking the white 2013 RX350 is police. (Mother used to call it the āhalo zoneā!)
Absolutely. Use a standard ball peen hammer and pop a divot into the sheet metal about every 2", about 0.25" deep. Please post back with the results.
1 Like
Considering the density and viscosity of air, your dimples may be too big.
Golfball dimples may be.tter.
Years ago I offered to dimple my flight instructorās aircraft.
He said heādimple my head with a ball peen hammer.