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Drafting, do you do it?

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L

LOUISSSSS

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What is the general consensus?

I just did a whole tank drafting behind a friend of mine driving a SUV. I was driving my 2005 Accord v6 rated at 21/30mpg.

Today my mpg was 34mpg cruising at 65mpg with pretty high winds in NY.

I would say the higher efficiency was due to the drafting behind my friend in his MDX, i was about 2 car lengths behind him and both cruising at steady speeds. The road wasn't all flat either, there were a good amt of up/down hills but speed was kept constant at 65+/-1mph

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Nope I don't do it. I like to keep a far enough distance between me and the car in front of me to have enough time to stop. Having enough distance to stop and see obstacles in front of me and have enough reaction time to access the situation is more important to me than saving some money on gas.
 
Comparing your mpg to ratings doesn't make for too good of a control.
Plus I doubt driving 2 car lengths behind a midsized SUV would have done much.
 
It is dangerous, if you need to change lanes suddenly or if traffic slows real sudden, which in NY happens a lot. That said, on most NY and surrounding area roads, the chances of a car being more than 3 - 4 car lengths behind you is slim. It is usually a bit less than that at 65-70MPH or so. I suggest, if you are behind a taller vehicle and you can not see the road ahead of him, to leave some extra space.
 
zerocool84 said:
Nope I don't do it. I like to keep a far enough distance between me and the car in front of me to have enough time to stop. Having enough distance to stop and see obstacles in front of me and have enough reaction time to access the situation is more important to me than saving some money on gas.
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Agreed. Safety of me, my car's occupants, and my car itself is MUCH more important that a few dollars in gas.
 
Two car lengths is too far. You have to be like a half car length or less. You'll know because you'll have to lift off the gas. And no, I don't do this because even with two car lengths if he's gotta brake even semi quickly, you're rear ending him. But by all means keep going and see how much gas you save before you do wreck.
 
I draft behind larger automobiles all the time.

Occasionally behind semi trucks of the opportunity presents itself, but don't usually follow too long or too close. The bigger the object infront of me, the farther back I can be and still see benefits. It's amazing actually.. you can pull into the sweet spot, and instantly gain 25MPG on the instantaneous FCD.
 
I don't draft. I've seen far too many traffic fatalities when someone ahead hits the brakes and everyone accordians.

But..... aren't you, Louissssssssss, the same fellow who basically accused a guy who got a flat tire on a pothole of following to close?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=29116471&postcount=4

I'm experiencing a terrible amount of cognitive dissonance now regarding your two totally opposed viewpoints.
 
I've only drafted once in my life. It was a long time ago, when my dad still has his 1982 Ford Courier pickup (rebadged Mazda?) with a four cylinder engine and a 5 speed stick (it was the XLT model, LOL). I was driving on I8 coming back from the sand dunes with three ATVs loaded in the back and three people in the cab. My god, but we put that truck through a lot of shit. :twisted:

Anyways, there was a strong headwind (Santa Ana winds?) and for the life of me I could not get it out of 3rd gear. Shift to fourth gear and it just didn't have the power to keep the loaded truck going against the wind. So, there I was topping out in 3rd at around 40MPH being passed by the whole world when a tractor-trailer passed me. I tucked in behind that trailer and was back up to 55MPH in seconds, in higher gears too.
 
AMCRambler said:
Two car lengths is too far. You have to be like a half car length or less. You'll know because you'll have to lift off the gas. And no, I don't do this because even with two car lengths if he's gotta brake even semi quickly, you're rear ending him. But by all means keep going and see how much gas you save before you do wreck.
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Depends what you are drafting behind. IIRC, a study was done with drafting behind a semi, and the MPG gains was 10% at 25ft, and about 20% at <15ft.

I agree, the stopping thing (as well as unknown road hazards) makes this dangerous. I have done some drafting from time to time in very strong headwinds, but I generally prefer the safety of being further behind as opposed to the gains in MPGs.
 
I try with semi-trucks but for the most part, I've found it too difficult to draft and use cruise control so I just set it at 53mph and leave it at that. If I can draft a semi-truck doing 60mph or less, I might try but mostly I don't do it.
 
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