Be honest...

[Rattlenbang]

Who drafts when on the highway? I notice the big rigs especially in the states travel nose to arse all the time, the guy behind enjoying the wake of the lead truck. When trying this, I noticed my EGT dropped by 200 degrees, about 20% at 100Kph, which likely translates into significant fuel savings. Looking around I see everyone driving on top of the next guy, at least on the freeways, but it still gives me the willies as I never know when the guy in front is going to throw a road alligator through my windshield. It's awfully tempting though.

[konadog]

Never. It's dangerous and reckless IMO.

[sub-arctic]

yeah these vans have dismal front end crash ratings. you kind of are the crumple zone, so i would avoid the drafting, in case of problems. you could do it 100 times with no issue, but its the 101st time that will kill you.

[Firesong]

I would hate to get a rock in the windshield too

[thelazygreenfox]

R&B
I don't ever follow too close cuz one time a car haulers mud flap broke off, slapped my drivers side windshield so hard I thought it was coming through. Instant blackness in front of me too.

It takes a blink of an eye for a rock or in my case a mudflap to travel the distance. Twice I've seen large rocks from logging trucks go halfway through a window. Both drivers were very lucky. Always seems to be on the drivers side.

TLGF

[Rattlenbang]

I agree with all of the above, and yet so-called pro drivers do it all the time. And the other day when I was driving into San Fran at rush hour (6 lanes each way!) thousands of cars were traveling at 70mph with hardly a car's gap between them. Pileups there must be spectacular.

[glenn]

see: Holy cr*p, this is, this is...

[Rattlenbang]

Hahahahahahahahahahah!

[FalcoColumbarius]

[Yokohama]

You may notice that you can be a safe distance behind trucks and still get some effects.

[RadarGrrl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lttgT1XZVvE

This isn't something I'd be trying. My Other Half would freak out anyway.

[FalcoColumbarius]

One thing about the truckers drafting is that they have radios in which they communicate with one and other, thereby able to notify when they are braking, &c.. Still however, is the advent of unforeseen circumstances which requires immediate action with no time to warn tail end Charlie. Wow. A double jackknife whammy.

Even though they're not as sophisticatedly developed as the amazing human race I figure that the geese have it down pretty good, eh (and they're Canadian) ~ in which case I'd think that the best drafting would take place in the next lane, driving in echelon. There again, no one does it better than the dare-devil pigeons that fly through tunnels and surf on your forward displacement wake, just above and ahead of the cockpit. Kowabunga! Talk about shooting a tube!

In the meantime, here's a couple of potential drafting scenarios for your viewing enjoyment.



Falco.

[RadarGrrl]

One thing about the truckers drafting is that they have radios in which they communicate with one and other, thereby able to notify when they are braking, &c.. Still however, is the advent of unforeseen circumstances which requires immediate action with no time to warn tail end Charlie. Wow. A double jackknife whammy.

Chicken Band (i.e. CB) radios are still quite available, and we could all listen in to them if we wanted. I'll stick with my quadband and avoid drafting.

[Morganizer]

Yeah, and don't forget it's RHD too. You can't see oncoming traffic about to cross the centreline, so better make sure they can see you. Stay well back of the trucks.

Theoretically, 7x the height of the truck, there's still turbulence, so it's breaking the wind for you even at that distance. You don't have to get close to save fuel. Experiment and find the "sweet spot" with good visibility, and still some fuel savings.

[Rattlenbang]

I think the geese do it off to the side because they are winged and aerodynamic, not massive blocks. Birds evolved to minimize turbulence while trucks evolved to have massive engines.

Having said that, when there's a rig beside me and one in front, the sudden surge in speed is so overwhelming, it almost brings a tear to my eye.