• pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online
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    4 months ago

    Also, following a truck will increase your mpg.

    And not because of the lower air pressure zone behind the truck; you have to get dangerously close for that.

    Truckers spend a fuck ton on fuel, so they have a huge vested interest in driving efficiency. My highway mpg rating is 27mpg, but I got 38mpg on an hour drive by chilling a safe distance behind a semi. It only added like 5 minutes tops to my trip.

    • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      Exactly. Similar to how others responded to a similar comment to yours, there isn’t much slipstream savings without getting into the danger zone of around 30m (100ft), which you can’t get with 3 second gaps at speed.

      But you do get more fuel savings from driving at that slower speed, and from coasting and accelerating lightly/cruising. It perplexes me why people alternate gunning it with braking so much on the highway.

      • Threeme2189@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        It perplexes me why people alternate gunning it with braking so much on the highway.

        Because big fast car go brrrrrrr!

      • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        It perplexes me why people alternate gunning it with braking so much on the highway.

        Allowing a molecule of space in front of you at any time makes everybody late!!1

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      Agreed, provided you’re not driving very far.

      I go on several hundred mile trips almost every year (usually ~800mi), and going 10mph over the limit saves over an hour and can be the difference between making it in one day and having to get a hotel.

      So I’ll hang out behind semis on shorter trips (<200 miles) and speed ahead on longer trips. It costs more in gas, but I make up for it in other costs.