Quote:
Originally Posted by Lazarus
What about situations with stiff x-winds?
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Great question. In 30 mph cross-winds (for the example let's say it's a full, 90-degrees vs. driving direction), if I pass a large vehicle (or vice-versa) the blockage of that crosswind instantly boosts the FE per the SG.
To rule out the noise of the draft effect, during calm winds, the boost isn't as dramatic. In the 'Teg, the x-wind scenario generally boosts FE by roughly 7 MPG, where the "passing draft" gains closer to 3-5. This is generally all of 10-seconds, so you'd have to hang in the "unsafe zone" to take full advantage. On a 3+ lane highway, I often LOD up hills similar to semi trucks. Many build-up momentum to pass in the center or right-center lane and offer up some "help" to climb the hill. I won't make it a habit to maintain side-draft exclusively in the exact same spot. We're each using LOD differently and often lose pace. This doesn't upset the truck driver like full draft does.
For smaller vehicles in a tight corridor formation, this would have to be studied further for solid data.
RH77