@Riverkeeper: “…the car in front, regardless of the driver or terrain, consistently got better gas mileage.”
That doesn’t surprise me at all, and I agree with your assumption that it is likely because the driver in front can set his cruise control, while the driver in the back can’t just set it and forget it. He has to increase and decrease speed to maintain a proper distance, even if he monkeys around with his cruise control to do it instead of using the gas and brake pedals.
@Tony_Carlos: Do it on a light weight (less than 550 lbs.) bike with no windscreen, and you will get an even better experience of turbulence, especially on a windy day.
was it the archer brothers that did this in road racing? rear car would hit front car and pop them forward. think rule committee said hitting was ok but pushing was not? rules i guess.
A good way to experience the turbulence that exists behind vehicles is to ride a motorcycle on the highway. You'd be amazed at how turbulent it is behind some trucks.
I have experienced this turbulence while driving a car, I creep up behind a semi and if you hit just the right spot, you feel the turbulence.
In school had a guy from New York that would drive his VW bug to South Dakota. He practiced drafting behind semis. But he (according to him anyway) would get so close that he could even let go of the steering wheel and the truck would just pull him along. He probably saved $2 in gas back in 1966. Me, I’ll spend the extra $2.