Tailgating large cars to save gas?

Question

Somewhere I read a technique where on the highway you can tailgate large trucks, and go neutral or something, letting the air flow push you along, saving gas. Is this true? How close do you have to follow? Any sources would be great.

Answer 1

I'm sorry to use this ugly expression, but I swear to god that is the dumbest idea ever. Man, you are a genius!

Please go ahead and try it on a lonely stretch of highway with an unsuspecting truckie. If you're lucky you might even make it onto the Darwin Awards.

Phew. Not that I've let that out, I'll just say that keeping the windows up is only more fuel-efficient if you are going at speeds of less than 60 km/h or 45mph, roughly, whatever. If you go at speeds above that then it's actually more efficient to roll them up and use the aircon. By the way, what difference does it make to pull your mirrors in, especially when going at higher speeds? *ponder*

Answer 2

We used to call that "slipstreaming"

It's a risky practice with minimal return.

Answer 3

Drafting (following someone at an insanely close distance) can save you a few MPG, but as said before- incredibly dangerous and illegal if done to get true results.  Other than vehicles in front of you braking, you obviously have never seen a truck blow a tire.  It sounds like a shotgun and blows tire debris all over, which can damage your car and cause you to wreck.  Although it occurs rarely, trucks can also lose part of their load or blow an air line and blow parts back into your car.

Think about it this way- at 60mph, you are covering 90 feet per second.  The typical reaction time is a little over a second and then you have to actually slow or stop.  If a vehicle in front of you begins to stop, by the time your brain registers the brake lights and you even being to move your foot to the brake, you will have traveled at least 90 feet, probably much more if at interstate speeds of 70-80 mph (105 feet to 120 feet a second!!)  That's why the two-second rule is recommended for all speeds- it correlates to low or fast speeds.  Drive safe and don't tailgate- you'll be held liable when you rearend someone.

Answer 4

yes its true. i forgot what my bf calls it, but it works really good. the car in front of u has to be bigger than ur car. and u have to get pretty close to get the best advantage. the closest ive ever gotten was probably 3 ft away from a rv...and no u do not put ur car in neutral, just leave it in drive or 5th/6th gear.

Answer 5

Hoping that I'm not creating a dangerous maniac like the guy in this article .. http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/... ... read about this guy's extreme measures to increase MPG.

Answer 6

Check discovery.com and look for the 'Mythbusters' section. They did a segment on one of their episodes that dealt with this and you can view the results of the testing they did there.

Answer 7

Wow, no. I'd personally find that extremely dangerous, in Neutral, because when that guy speed's up, your gonna jump into Drive, and that can s***w up your transmission when the gears are already in motion.

Now, if you are talking about 'Drifting', thats another story, and yes it does work. I don't know about saving gas, but it uses the guy's vehicle in front of your as a "shield" against the wind, allowing you to reaching higher speeds at lower RPM, making less use of your engine, so I guess you would be saving gas.

I wouldn't recommend either of them, just play it safe, do your own thing. Coz, if he hits the brakes. Your the one in trouble, not him.

Answer 8

Tailgating is illegal. Tailgating a large truck is sheer stupidity.

Answer 9

its very dangerous, as if that truck driver has to slammed on his

brakes you will not have to time to react and you could

easy be decapited (litery lose your head)

plus if a cop see you  he will cite you for tailgating (which

would be lot better then losing your head)

Answer 10

Mythbuster's segment was very good at showing how much better fuel economy was by drafting anywhere from 100 ft to 2 feet away from a semi which is insane but interesting. Requires a high degree of concentration to do even at 100 ft and is probably illegal but it would be neat to get car companies to develope a radar setup that ties into the speed or cruise control to accomodate trains of cars behind semi's---should have a way to use all that wasted airflow around semi's.

Answer 11

For guidance on safe spacing between vehicles, we have the Highway Code in the UK. Rule 105 suggests a two second gap between you and the preceeding vehicle - that is they pass a road sign and you pass it two seconds later.

There are other (safe) ways of saving fuel - try the UK SMMT guidance booklet at the second hyperlink.

Answer 12

As other have already posted. It's sheer stupidity.

Would you rather save a few bucks on gas, or pay a couple hundred (or more) for a ticket? Or even worse, get killed in an accident, possibly taking other with you.

Answer 13

That is stupid and dangerous. You're really not saving a lot of fuel (hardly any) and you have to follow so closely you cannot see infront of you, and if the truck makes a sudden stop ::splat!:: you go into the back of it. It's a really dumb idea and I'd advise against it.

Answer 14

It is true but at the speeds you would be going in a personal car it would be EXTREMELY dangerous to follow that close. You would have to be right on their bumper and if the police see you doing this the few dollars you would save in gas would be negated by the huge fine for not leaving an assured distance between you and the car in front of you. The reason drafting works in auto racing is because they are traveling at often over 200 MPH.

It might also interest you to know that driving a vehicle with the windows up and air conditioner on takes more gas than the drag created by leaving the windows down. Those A/Cs guzzle the gas.

Answer 15

It's something only an idiot would attempt. Also a good way to become dead,which the person would fully deserve.

Answer 16

Let me tell you how it saves gas.  You are in the blindspot of the truck.  When it stops suddenly, you hit it and get killed.  Then you never use gas again!

Drafting is for professional race drivers on the track, not for anybody on the highway!  It is illegal and dangerous.

Answer 17

yeah i do that sometimes i stay within a car length and my gas jumps 2 miles more its very dangerous and is scary but im a college student and i need money and save money