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Originally Posted by Jt martin
1. Is it advantageous mileage wise to drive near the retaining wall on the freeway or in a more open spot?
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I would say no, because forms such as planes in free airflow achieve much lower drag than those in ground effect. Could you extend that relationship to include highway barriers as a sort of double ground effect? Maybe. On a day that isn't windy, is the barrier really doing anything for you? I doubt it.
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2. Is it advantageous to drive in the low pressure zone on the side of a truck - mileage wise. If you don't know what I mean, the next time you're on the freeway and you're passing a semi truck, notice that as you come up the side of the semi truck there's a tendency for your vehicle to be pulled in towards the truck - and as you get to the front of the truck, the air being pushed out of the way of the truck will tend to push your car away from the truck.
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Put low pressure areas in front of your car and high pressure areas behind it as often as possible. This is why we like to drive in the wakes of other vehicles- they are lower pressure areas that help "pull" our cars along. If someone is following very, very close (inches) behind you they can actually lower your drag a very small amount as well, but this has little practical application outside NASCAR. Aerohead has a thread on this with illustrations.
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Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Is it what?
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You forgot affect/effect.
(Affect=verb, Effect=noun)