So... Mythbusters got a stock Hemi Magnum to get 44.5 MPG

[velociT]

They got 44.5 MPG without modifying their Dodge Magnum.

They followed a semi at highway speed at a distance of 10 feet.

I can't help but think that means we'd probably be getting 90-100mpg in the same test.

 

[yatzee]

i'm don't agree with many of their methods for recording fuel economy and 10 feet isn't exactly very much distance.

On the other hand, if I just did 60 mph everywhere like most of the semis, i'd probably see an improvement...

 

[TurbinePower]

They are typically going by the computer calculated mileages, and their tests aren't precisely vigorously retested for subsequent results.

Still a cool show, though.

 

[egibbys]

Very nice. I think we would get better.

 

[aja8888]

10 feet? It's a good thing they didn't have to stop fast. The mileage test would have been over early.

 

[bikeprof]

FYI..., the tests that MYTHBUSTERS do are very well controlled!

They have a "do not try this at home" type of disconnection from anyone that wants to do it their way...(so they won't be liable).

SO NO, they would not tell the driver of the big truck to stop, would you(unless your 01M was going bad and needed a "new" vehicle)?

 

[Thunderstruck]

Do you realize the size of the wet spot on their pants if the driver had tapped the brake pedal?

 

[UFO]

If you connected a tow bar and shut the engine off, you'd get better mileage. Safer too.

 

[Lug_Nut]

And yet no one worries about the trailer crashing into the tractor when the driver brakes?

Put the drafting car right against the ICC bar and there is no closing speed. Tractor, trailer and drafter will all slow at the same rate.
20 feet draft distance will cause more damage to the car than will 10 feet.

 

[diesel-dave]

Do you realize the size of the wet spot on their pants if the driver had tapped the brake pedal?

ya, I didnt even do that with my bike. Thats askin for death

 

[McBrew]

if I just did 60 mph everywhere like most of the semis

Wow... they drive that SLOW where you live? lol!

 

[VeeDubTDI]

The point here is not whether or not following a semi at 10 feet is safe. I think we all know the answer to that.

The point is that Mythbusters is not known for controlling their fuel economy calculations or letting the experiment go on for enough miles to get a true and accurate fuel economy reading.

I think it's probably safe to say that their actual range could be anywhere from 30 mpg to 50 mpg.

Also, this isn't really new news or a big myth. Everyone knows that following in a vehicles slip stream reduces the work that the engine needs to do to maintain speed.

 

[scmadm]

And yet no one worries about the trailer crashing into the tractor when the driver brakes?

Put the drafting car right against the ICC bar and there is no closing speed. Tractor, trailer and drafter will all slow at the same rate.
20 feet draft distance will cause more damage to the car than will 10 feet.

If you WERE to do this you should have your cars brakes wired/wireless to the trucks brakes so you would brake when it does (just like the truck's trailer does).

 

[MarsBar]

Ten feet behind a semi sounds suspiciously like drafting, so I would expect there to be great mpgs. What the best they could get in "real world driving conditions" would be significantly lower.

 

[dieselfueler]

Aren't those hemi's equipped with a system that disables up to 4 cylinders to get better mileage under reduced load? so it really was a 2.7liter 4 banger?

 

[mx07gt]

following a semi 10 feet apart is illegal anyway... I'll stay with my 50+mpg jetta or beetle at a safe distance any day.

 

[Lug_Nut]

Interestingly, pacing alongside the cab of the tractor provides almost as much decrease in fuel use as following behind. Think of the V formation of geese in flight or an eschelon of cyclists. The "wake" from the front of the tractor bows out from the sides enough that there are several feet of relatively dead air alongside at about where the tractor drive wheels are.
You're still in a big blind spot, but you're not tailgating.

 

[4Gman]

The point here is not whether or not following a semi at 10 feet is safe. I think we all know the answer to that.

And yet some need a reminder....

---------------

 

[nicklockard]

If you connected a tow bar and shut the engine off, you'd get better mileage. Safer too.

My next mod will be a 500 lb-force electromagnet mounted to my front bumper by spectra-reinforced bungee cord and fired by CO2 paint ball gun cartridge. When I want loose I'll just tap on the brakes and it will let loose, then I'll reel it in by hand crank.
I think I can average 750 mpg on highway trips this way.


This post is humor/jesting.

 

[Keith_J]

Volvo CitySafe?

 

[Thunderstruck]

I've seen good results when I'm behind tanker trucks-for some reason they seem to cut a good hole in the air for me. I'm plenty far back-the key is to open the sunroof, and when the wind noise gets down to almost nothing you are in the zone. And with tankers, the sweet spot is a good safe distance back, not 5 feet like you see some idiots doing.

 

[Lug_Nut]

And yet some need a reminder

Why don't all semi trucks come with brakes that stop from 65 mph in 10 feet distance? How many G force is that again?
And why tailgate in the breakdown lane at highway speeds?
You might as well have shown a car crushed by a tree for all the relevancy....

 

[ARCJr]

Don't think its the breakdown lane, Lug.
Look in front of the trailer's rear wheels, you can see a white painted line. Could be the end of the on-ramp, beginning of an off-ramp, or just some place with very long white lines.

Shame about the car, in any case...

 

[VeeDubTDI]

The Corvette ran into the trailer at an incredible speed (police chase, anyone?) and then the truck pulled off to the side of the road.

Think outside the box, people. But yes, the fact remains that following a semi truck at 10 foot distance is not going to result in what you see in that picture, unless the truck slammed into the side of a building, which there aren't very many of in the middle of the interstate.

 

[velociT]

Metallurgy 101:

Fiberglass is not metal.

 

[UFO]

My next mod will be a 500 lb-force electromagnet mounted to my front bumper by spectra-reinforced bungee cord and fired by CO2 paint ball gun cartridge. When I want loose I'll just tap on the brakes and it will let loose, then I'll reel it in by hand crank.
I think I can average 750 mpg on highway trips this way.


This post is humor/jesting.

Nice.

 

[grizzlydiesel]

the corvette picture is not relivant. you can tell its the shoulder because of the rumble strips. either the vette ate the rear end and the truck pulled off, or vette driver somehow veered off the road and hit the parked truck. either case, that was not a 10 foot crash.

I have drafted in my full size blazer before, you can indeed feel when you enter the zone, and from my recolection it was not very close, certainly not close enough that i was worried that i would hit the truck in an emergency braking situation. of course i also dont talk on a cell phone, drink coffie, text friends, or try to turn my car into a mobile office full of distractions.

that being said, no, i would not follow a semi 10 feet off its bumper. and as to driving along side, thats just annoying to everyone who's trying to pass the semi truck. ive wanted to run people off the road for pacing the semi trucks before.

 

[Lug_Nut]

Could be the end of the on-ramp, beginning of an off-ramp, or just some place with very long white lines.

Look closer. What you want to believe is a white paint stripe on the road surface is actually the trim around the rear window of that black car.
Is it an Olds or a Ford Crown Vic? I can't tell from just the tail lamp.

 

[K5ING]

Mythbusters isn't that good when trying to dispel myths. Remember when they declared that "any diesel car can burn WVO without any modifications at all"? Yea, right.

I remember the one they did with the tailgate up or down on pickup trucks. To prove/disprove it, they used a couple of modern crew (long)-cab, short-bed trucks. Amazingly, they found that the cab formed a bubble of air in the bed and they got better mileage by leaving the tailgate up. WRONG!

That "myth" was started a long time ago when pickups had short cabs and long beds. I'm also sure that extreme aerodynamic testing wasn't done at tht time. They should have used one truck, say, a '72 Chevy single cab long bed with a Scangage or other instrument to see realtime results with the gate up and down. I'm not so sure that the bubble of air they found would have held together in an 8 ft bed.

Another one they did that bugs me is the "penny dropped from a tall building and injuring someone" myth. That myth was started when pennies were made of copper and 2 to 3 times the weight of todays alloy pennies. But that's a subject for another message board.

 

[bikeprof]

Look closer. What you want to believe is a white paint stripe on the road surface is actually the trim around the rear window of that black car.
Is it an Olds or a Ford Crown Vic? I can't tell from just the tail lamp.

Good observation but I have to disaggree.
There is a white line that goes from the front of the trailer tires to the dolly's of the said trailer, all on the RIGHT side bottom of the trailer that is in the PIC.

I do see your trim piece, it is very clean, nice observation...