I'm probably not the only one here who gets into discussions about things related to automotive efficiency: aerodynamics, safety, engine operation and efficiency, etc. In particular, grille blocks, wheel skirts, tire inflation pressure, Kammbacks and boattails, mooncaps, pulse & glide, coasting, etc. Sometimes a friend or family member can't believe that a roof extension helps aerodynamics, or that the car dealer lied when he said that the huge spoiler improves fuel economy. Other times I throw my two cents into a discussion at a forum and all hell breaks loose. When I try to explain in a simple manner I get accused of being naive, when I go into details I see that people get lost and start knit-picking, probably thinking that if they don't understand something then I'm definately lying.
Sometimes the arguments I give aren't enough to get others to believe/understand me, so some external help would be nice. As many hard facts as possible. The best would be a bunch of links to more or less scientific papers that would show I'm not the only heretic out there, but that I actually know what I'm talking about. The least is to get others to see that I still have my marbles (most of them, anyway
), better would be to show them that they've got the wrong picture in their head. I know that getting everyone to switch to my side of the Force is asking too much, but I want the person(s) I'm disputing with to understand I'm not a freak, and hopefully any bystanders to see that my arguments are stronger than my opponent's. This isn't an ego thing, I don't want others to say "Oh, you're sooooo smart". I just want others to understand how things work and see how things can easily be made more efficient. And to understand that nothing is holy just because the car company did or said so.
I'd like this thread to be collection of information and tips on how to spread the ecomodding word, what to pay attention to, which arguments work and which only result in more questions and/or aggression. As I mentioned earlier, links to hard numbers are very welcome! Also, we can share some interesting/funny stories about discussions we've had, not to get a laugh but to see what kind of reactions to expect and how to deal with them.
I know that at least 30% of the threads at EcoModder qualify, but sifting through umpteen threads about grille blocks or belly pans is timeconsuming and may not find you more than umpteen threads of opinions and butt-o-meter testing, not hard info.