iv got a few questions about highway driving...when im driving on the highway, i always get behind cars, instead of being in a open lane because i think that by being behind them, i will have some kind of draft effect and help out on my MPG. my theroy probaly isnt correct at all, so thats why im asking...going 50-80mph, and being 8-15 feet behind a car/truck/semi...does it create a draft for you to be in? Is it better MPG wise then a open road?

 

Are you insane? Driving 8-15 feet behind a car/truck.

 

if its pretty much a open road in front of them...i dont see a problem. if they tap there brakes or move over into another lane, ill back off.

 

Dont need to be that close really to have an effect, and its not safe either. It does work though (even with alot more distance), but you will probably get a bunch more rock chips and such in the front of your car.

My moms 4.6 T-bird got upwards of 40 MPG driving between a 18' Ryder moving truck and my 92 Ranger. Was pretty funny, the car hardly used any gas at all

 

what would you consider a "safe" yet effective distance?

 

Following at 8-15 feet they wouldn't even have to touch the brakes. If they lifted you would be into them. I wouldn't do that behind a semi as that greatly pi**** them off and they might have a buddy coming up behind you.

 

I experimented with this on some wide open cross country interstate type stuff. Notice, this is past tense. Unless you have some halfway controled environment like madmax, I wouldn't make anything near a habit of it.

You may have noticed already, depending on wind direction and speed, there is an area, maybe a tractor trailer length at average freeway speeds, behind the trailer, in which you feel a buffeting. You will feel your vehicle want to move left and right slightly in quick succession. This is the turbulent area where the air that was evacuated by the truck rushes back together to fill the vacuum. I considered this buffeting area, the beginning of the 'draft' zone. In this area and up closer you can definitley tell it takes less effort to keep your vehicle going that speed.

So do this, but please for everyone's sake don't do it with any kind of traffic, or for long, regardless, unless you have a deal with the driver, and even then, you have to be very cautious.

 

Any potential fuel savings, even long term would be more than offset by the enevitable cost of new paint and body repair
when the lead car has to let off.

Leave drafting to the army and Nascar.

 

This topic reminds me of a mid 80's trip to Daytona beach. I and my younger brother rode along with our older brother in his 84 Z28 H.O. .We followed behind our parents in a Ford econoline 150 cargo w/ extra seats. They had another couple with them. I think we tailed them about 100-150'. Well, anyways I remember the disbelief that my older brother had about the incredible mileage he was getting. We stopped long with mom and dad, but my brothers gas fill-ups were quik and cheap. Thought I'd share that..... I think I miss that car more than him ..Still haven't been in a quicker Z