Not seeing how saving $10 is worth that level of risk.

The difference at $4.5 per gal of fuel from 32 mpg to 38 mpg is like $9.00 for a 400 mile trip.

Should really rethink the cost / benefit there. One thing that irks me beyond believe is people who follow me too close. Find someone without the self discipline to refrain from locking up the brakes, It is going to take a whole lot saving up to pay for the damage.

If you really can't afford to pay for the fuel, walk, it is healthy, good for the environment, and low stress for the rest of us.

 

Not to mention that you can get pulled over and ticketed for tailgaiting as well...

 

Explain that to me, please. If they instantly came to a dead stop (not really possible) I think it would mean that you would hit them in 0.82 seconds.

What I said was, "...you have 0.82 seconds to notice their brake lights and match their deceleration." Not come to a complete stop.

What I didn't quite realize is that it assumes you need to maintain the same distance, exactly. Which you don't. So, the One car length for every 10 mph rule does allow more margin.

The number I've seen is that it takes a person 0.2 seconds to react to a task they are expecting. The example was a person told to press a button when a light comes on. That means they are concentrated on the one task and have their finger over the button. Your time sounds more like they have two buttons and the light can light up different colors, signifying a particular button to push. Add to that the time it takes to move your foot from the gas to the brake, and take up the play in the brake pedal. If you are watching the SUV to your left weaving with cel phone distraction, or the pickup just behind your rear bumper, or watching for CHP, your time to notice the brake lights may be will be longer.

How do you do it if all that is known is the 60-0 distance? Can it be done?

 

That "2 second rule" that OPC mentioned is the best plan to 'keep your distance' safe.

Simple and Easy to implement and follow, it increases distance automatically to compensate for speed.

 

1 second is plenty for us. Because the car in front of us will not stop instantly. MCS can out brake all of them, remember?
OK. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE. DON'T TRY IT.
(Although.... I have found the happy medium between the safe distance and the drafting distance at all speeds.)

 

I was rambling off into different scenarios. The .82seconds is the time it takes a vehicle traveling at 60mph to cover 72feet (6 car lengths). That's all I meant.

Your other question: 60-0 in 72ft. Acceleration can be calculated, but there's a time interval to account for and I'm not digging out my dynamics book right now. Maybe in the morning.

 

As noted before, you will see the best mileage benefits when traveling in a pack of cars. Having groups of cars to the front, left and the right gets me nearly 10mpg more compared to the same speed/incline. It's also the most dangerous situation to be in on the freeway. It drives me insane to be there. I get out of them as quickly as I can.

100 feet behind a semi is far from insane on an otherwise empty multi-lane freeway. You'd be hard pressed to come up with a cab/trailer/load combination that could even begin to surprise a mini in a braking situation, and you have the option of moving to the open lane in most scenarios. I'd wager that most of us are never that far behind the car we are following in rush hour traffic, anyway. In deference, not everyone lives in the NASCAR race that is D/FW. If I drove in downtown Butte the same way I drove here, I would probably end up in jail quickly, and rightly so. If I drove in Mumbai the same way, I'd probably be unceremoniously run over from behind. Driving here the way that I am expected in either location, I'd probably cause or have a wreck in a short amount of time.

 

You don't have to be doing the NASCAR bump draft to benifit from a vehicle in front of you. At 70 and 70+, a 2-3 second interval isn't tailgating. And even at that distance the OBC shows a decreased consumption rate.
Riding somebody's bumper is asking for trouble. Keeping a safe interval and still saving gas is a good idea.

 

Cars do come to complete stops instantly.
They zing from the oncomming lane and hit people head on.
They're drunks comming up the offramps that should be offramps.
Cellphone talking no looking monster truck drivers crash
into disabled vehicles.

It happens frequently.

 

And don't forget: the distance between you and the semi is also for the safety of the truck driver -- you get too close to their back-end, and they can't see you in their mirrors, no matter what you drive! As I've posted on other threads, truck drivers nowadays aren't as careful or as good drivers as they used to be...which means WE have to be more vigilant.

 

At 70 mph you are traveling 103 feet per second. So, a 2-3 second interval is 206-309 ft. (about 17-26 MINI lengths) I believe that is beyond a drafing area.

 

Works in theory, fails in practicle.
Take a look at the traffic around you next time you are in moderate traffic at highway speeds. You see 300 feet between cars?
Just sayin', is all.

 

I think you'd also have to take into account that most cars will not stop on a dime, so it's not as if when the person in front of you brakes, that you have exactly 103 feet to stop... Plus the subsequent reaction time of everyone involved. A true 1 second interval is probably closer to 2 seconds if the person is actually paying attention to their surroundings and notes the moment the car in front of them slows.

Now whether or not people actually pay attention to the road is another debate altogether... From Mr. "I can't get this GPS to work right" to Miss "Gotta answer this text message", I'd say drafting is probably a worse idea now than ten years ago. How many times have you seen folks swerve in their lane (or across lanes) because they were distracted? If the idiot in front of you loses control of their vehicle, where will you be in the next few seconds?

Personally I'll keep a good distance.

 

Is drafting REALLY worth it???????

 

Wow, you should've bought a Prius. Motoring is not tailgating for fuel economy; you should be embarassed for posting this.

Ciao,

Jeff

 

 

DISTANCE (ft) SPEED (mph) FUEL CONSUMPTION DECREASE
100 55 11%
50 55 20%
20 55 27%
10 55 39%
2 55 28%

Looks like you don't have to be that close

 

I also drove my MCS to Maine recently and hit a hair over 40 (hand calculated) on one tank. The other tanks were in the 37-39 range. It was better than expected!

 

Exactly, i like to have a clear space around me. 10mpg improvement be damned. If i dont feel comfortable in the position I'm in, there's no way I can put my full attention towards the road. Plus I HATE not being able to see at least a few 100 yards ahead.

I've been hit by a Semi, and there's no way on this blue-green earth, i'd stay that close to one now, i dont care if i save 1000 mpg.

 

I swear it works. When I am the second car in the paceline and when the front car pulls off to the right lane I immediately feel the drag and have to press on the gas pedal to maintain the speed.

 

Sure, it works. That's why it is so popular in racing. The Mythbusters showed to what extent it works. The point is that it is too dangerous for street use where you aren't dealing with skilled drivers all headed to the same destination. Also, racing is known to be risky, in spite of top level skills. So, racing practices don't always make good street practices.

 

so ive been stablizing at approx. 33mpg combined city and highway. im more or less satisfied but can't help but be a tad bit concerned as it seems alot of you blokes are in the 38's. but then i factor in the fact that i did get the jcw upgrades. could the exhaust/intake/ecu upgrade possibly be a reason for my deficiency in mpg? that sounds like such a newb question but...hey..i really am a newb. and im also driving fairly slow and granny shift as im still in the breaking in period. which gives me even more reason to think that my mpg should be a little higher than it is.
on the whole...i really cant complain. its not like 33mpg is terrible.

 

That's what I'm getting as well...and I'm quite happy with that. 4K miles and it's been solid.

I love the commercials that other makers are saying about their new models getting 30-32 mpg, then look at the small print and it says "highway". Sorry but Mini should be able to advertise 40-44 Mpg ( "highway") because thats what I routinely achieve.

 

I was 40 meters behind a semi in TX on I-10 at about 70mph as I was aiming for an exit. An inside rear dual let go and filled the air with a cloud of debris that included four-foot long pieces of flayed tread flying well above my car. By the grace of God, I was able to avoid the big pieces.

Draft anything? Nope.

 

The money you save on gas will be spent on tailgating tickets and repairing rock chips.