Mythbusters tested a Taurus out to see what the effect of dimples would be on gas mileage... and it was about 10% fuel mpg improvement. From 26 to 29.6 mpg
Adam had so much more life/enthusiasm than Jamie.
I think it's to be expected from someone that chooses to look like this
and the dimples weren't big enough. There's a ratio of surface area to dimply area, in order to cause enough variance to get air to break the laminar layer. That's why the dirt was a hinderance in the Myth Buster test, and they only achieved 24 mpg, less than the 26 of the clean car test
I always thought they stopped short on this myth. They should have done it with about ten semis. Not Swift though. Then, they would have some real good information.
Richard Petty in the 1968 Daytona 500 tried the “golf ball theory” by using a textured black paint on the roof. It didn’t end well.
ReplyDeleteyes, I posted about that around 15 years ago. The roof just isn't enough surface area to make much difference
Deleteand the dimples weren't big enough. There's a ratio of surface area to dimply area, in order to cause enough variance to get air to break the laminar layer. That's why the dirt was a hinderance in the Myth Buster test, and they only achieved 24 mpg, less than the 26 of the clean car test
DeleteI always thought they stopped short on this myth. They should have done it with about ten semis. Not Swift though. Then, they would have some real good information.
ReplyDelete