Did some exberrymentin this last week....finding out these tihngs are reallly air sensitive,,,if you should happpen upon one of the newer Ford p/u's of the 3/4 ton( and the 1/2 if they are on tall tires) variety pull up to about a car and a half length and watch your DIC..I'd be pulling a solid 33mpg instant in clean air but when I get behind a ferd truck it jumps up to 39/45 pending on how close and in line you get with it( not talking tailgating,, 1 to 2 car lengths at 55). other vehicles will result in different gains...I caught one the other day and was pulling 44 until he turned off...darn...This is with the SS..

 

Yeah! I saw on Mythbusters they had one with mileage and drafting. They even went 2ft behind a semi. Very interesting episode, even though they kept saying not to try it...lol

 

isn't that called drafting

 

yeah, the effects of drafting can start to be a benefit within 100 feet of a semi truck, and obviously improve the closer you get.

Some of the best mileage I got with my jimmy was riding behind my dad in his truck pulling a uhaul. Since it was him and i was watching the trailer anyways I was pretty close to him (not 2 feet though...) and got great milage.

 

I saw that show too and I was thinking that all the truck drivers would be sending them letters...

 

I have played around and got to within 2-3 car lengths of semis and you really can see the mileage jump up when you do. The problem is that the semi drivers really don't like it much and probably note very safe

If it is a windy day, you would be surprised at how much of a difference it makes. on a recent round trip, going into the wind (15 - 20 MPH) I got 28 MPG avg, on the return trip going with the wind I got 34 MPG avg. This was all running a consistent 70 MPH

 

very noticeable gas mileage difference with any tail wind! into a steady wind im getting 26-28mpg but going with the same wind at my back im getting 34-38mpg--- im thinking about putting up a sail to try and get 50-80mpg J/K

 

Just noticed this to I was shocked to find that i actually got great mileage on the side of the semis. Just as good as if I was behind them, my mileage at one point jump up to 50 mpg. Thats while driving on the side not tailgating the semi on a flat stretch doing 80.

 

yeah, the semi is breaking through the wind, and since they are so big, they will create a pocket on the side of them too. I think it would be safer to actually ride their a$$ instead of along side of them though. Wait until you're in his blind spot on his saide and he wants to change lanes... not a good situation

One of the times I was driving back to indiana from michigan, i got hit with some of the worst wind. I was getting 18-20 on the instamatic for a good portion of the trip. It was horrible, not only was it hard to drive in but it sucked through my tank... The semis were going too slow for me to be able to hang behind them.

 

I tried this on my NJ trip, and it helped my MPG's when I would hook up with a truck that was doing a comfortable speed. It was all good until I noticed all the stone chips, so that's nixed that practice for me.