Drafting works....but it's a stupid idea Feb 7 Written By Jason Lanier Ever heard of drafting in your car to save gas? The theory is you get close behind a semi-truck which reduces your headwind and you get in the draft of the bigger vehicle in front of you...thus reducing your consumption of gas in your car. I was driving a rental car from Miami to Orlando on the turnpike late at night. The turnpike has gas stations every 40-50 miles and is desolate in between the stops. Having never driven this car before (Dodge Charger) I judged my gas availability based on the top half of the gas tank...and how long it took me to go through the top half of the tank. Well...by the time I was above a 1/4 tank left...I had about 30 miles to the next gas station....I was very wrong....Before I knew it I was literally past the "E" with the gas light blaring at me....and the sign told me I had 10 miles to go. I couldn't believe it went down so quickly. My buddy Gary sitting in the passenger seat suggested drafting behind the semi-truck in front of me. I pulled in snug behind the truck and we began to drive white knuckled just waiting for the engine to choke. I hit the trip meter so we could track how far to the station...and every time we got another mile closer we let out a nervous cheer. The semi-truck knew what we were doing and didn't like it. He sped up, slowed down, but we stayed the perfect distance behind him. It was really funny to be going 60mph and see all the cars passing us that we had passed when we were cruising at 85 mph...we got some real funny looks. We honestly were in disbelief when the exit came for the gas station and we coasted to the gas pump. It really was kind of nerve wracking...because it was 11pm, and the thought of being stranded in the rain late at night was a very uncomfortable thought. I will never know how much the drafting helped...but I do know that if the situation was the same...I would do it over again.... Jason Lanier
Drafting works....but it's a stupid idea Feb 7 Written By Jason Lanier Ever heard of drafting in your car to save gas? The theory is you get close behind a semi-truck which reduces your headwind and you get in the draft of the bigger vehicle in front of you...thus reducing your consumption of gas in your car. I was driving a rental car from Miami to Orlando on the turnpike late at night. The turnpike has gas stations every 40-50 miles and is desolate in between the stops. Having never driven this car before (Dodge Charger) I judged my gas availability based on the top half of the gas tank...and how long it took me to go through the top half of the tank. Well...by the time I was above a 1/4 tank left...I had about 30 miles to the next gas station....I was very wrong....Before I knew it I was literally past the "E" with the gas light blaring at me....and the sign told me I had 10 miles to go. I couldn't believe it went down so quickly. My buddy Gary sitting in the passenger seat suggested drafting behind the semi-truck in front of me. I pulled in snug behind the truck and we began to drive white knuckled just waiting for the engine to choke. I hit the trip meter so we could track how far to the station...and every time we got another mile closer we let out a nervous cheer. The semi-truck knew what we were doing and didn't like it. He sped up, slowed down, but we stayed the perfect distance behind him. It was really funny to be going 60mph and see all the cars passing us that we had passed when we were cruising at 85 mph...we got some real funny looks. We honestly were in disbelief when the exit came for the gas station and we coasted to the gas pump. It really was kind of nerve wracking...because it was 11pm, and the thought of being stranded in the rain late at night was a very uncomfortable thought. I will never know how much the drafting helped...but I do know that if the situation was the same...I would do it over again.... Jason Lanier
