Drafting

Two-second rule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Just pick a spot on or next to the road and when the vehicle ahead passes it count "one-thousand one, one-thousand two". Also, large vehicles such as 18wheelers can straddle and thus not swerve for items in the roadway that can easily damage a car or its tires.

It's no secret that drafting increases fuel economy but is it worth the few extra mpg's?

Value judgement: doing this with 3 other people in the car is wrong.

 

Experiments can be fun. A more practical approach is to use slower traffic as a 'pacing' vehicle because it works in urban and highway driving:

• pickup truck with a trailer (often lawn equipment)
• moving vans (trying to minimize breakage)
• slow moving, large trucks

By 'pacing', leave space so if someone cuts in, no big deal. This is especially useful when traffic includes road rage, drivers. Pacing means using cruise control to match the speed. Best of all, following traffic 'sees the Prius stuck behind that truck' and zips around with few, if any, tailgating issues. They see the slow truck and life for everyone is less stressed.

Bob Wilson

 

I have followed trucks at a safe distance and could still see a +10 mpg increase in mpg. No sense in taking chances for just a few more mpg.

 

A semi pulls an envelope of air that's roughly 2x the length of the rig. While its true that the closer you get the more benefit you obtain, its not necessary to get closer than one semi-length to see real benefits.

 

Driving safely is way more important to me than saving gasoline, Your Motivations May Vary. I post various 'contrary' opinions suggesting NOT to over inflate your tires beyond the label on the tire itself, that you should check local laws BEFORE tinting your windows, and that converting your headlight bulbs to a different technology is illegal in the US unless you convert the reflectors and the wiring harness. These may be unpopular views, but they are the safe way to live.

 

Just in case someone likeminded was drafting you: you'd be better off using the brakes immediately, not B. They're going to need all the warning you can give them.

 

Here's an interesting video, on advantages of increasing following distance:

 

Drafting close @70 with a car full of people......bad idea

Staying close to cut people off from changing lanes......bad idea

 

Dan for the two second rule, 12 car lengths is the right distance. At 60 mph, you are moving 88 feet/second. 2 seconds means 176 feet. The prius is 14.7 feet long. dividing 176/14.7 = 11.97 car lengths. So 2 seconds is spot on to 12 car lengths.

"As I said earlier, leaving too much space between cars is an invitation for people to cut in front of you." - Dan

I don't understand why you, like many many people think this way. Having people cut in front of you is NOT bad. If you let this get to you, you will/are an angrier person in general. I'm not saying that you might be all the time but this behavior doesn't help you. If you drive by leaving a larger gap and don't try to "block" people from getting in you will probably be a calmer driver. Do you find that after driving you are on edge? It's probably because of the way you drive.

I know it's annoying letting people in front of you especially when so many people are jerks and have road rage up the wazoo. You're driving a Prius. The slower you go the better gas mileage you get. Keep in mind that people that drive aggressively get lower gas mileage than people who drive calmer. If you haven't seen the mythbusters, they did an episode on this. So, for instance, a camry that cuts you off, that is designed for 25mpg is driving like this all day racing around cars and trying to get that next empty spot will maybe end up with 20 mpg at the end of the day or worse while you, driving safely with a 2 second gap and remaining calm through your trip will not only get above the 50mpg average stated for the car but will be happier and not always on edge about people cutting you off. I take comfort in that the aggressive drivers' rage is costing them money.

If you try to drive safely but also blocking drivers then you no doubt have stepped on the gas harder than you normally do to speed up to close the gap to prevent them from cutting in right? Then what happens in a traffic jam? The cars in front of you speed up like crazy and now a gap forms. So what do you do? Speed up to close it once again. It's a vicious cycle that eats at your mpg.

In contrast, when you drive behind vehicles, don't you feel generally calmer than when you are worried that someone is cutting in front of you? You have no worries that someone will try to get in front, usually because there is always that 1 idiot, so when you get to where you are going you're not on edge are you?

I feel it is important to drive this way for 2 reasons. 1) For my mental sanity at the end of the day. 2) For my wife's sanity at the end of the day. I don't know if you're married or not, doesn't affect anything, but you are around people are you not? If you have a bad drive to work you might be on edge with your fellow co-workers. If you have a bad drive and get home, you might be on edge at your wife or girlfriend or roommate. And this I believe is way more important than preventing that 1 or 50 idiots from cutting in front of you. Imagine how those drivers are to be around at home or work. Always on edge. Not cool.

I say give this a shot Dan. Thank you for reading this far btw. You might find your drives more pleasant, begin and end the day in a better mood, and save money in the process. It feels great to be honest. Let the other people burn their gas and waste money. Let them be angry all the time. Let those truck drivers, not the semis the regular pick up trucks, think they are kings of the road by speeding by and going around you. They might end up with 15mpg if they're lucky. Cost to fill up for them? $70-$100. trip distance maybe 250-300 miles. Cost to fill up for you maybe $35-$45 depending on gas prices. Trip distance 500+ Who wins in the end?

 

unbelievable

 

It's easy to spot the idiots, George Carlin explained it very eloquently a few years back:

"Anyone in front of me is an idiot, and anyone behind me is a maniac"

(I'm likely paraphrasing a bit)