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Originally Posted by Bullockracing
A shiny car will get better mileage...
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That is false.
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The reference to the NASCAR cars triggered a special I saw where they talked about using skins instead of decals on the bodies of the NASCAR cars. This would be similar to removing all of the little emblems on the car to smooth out the surface.
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That makes sense, though the improvement won't be noticeable, we're talking less than a 1% drag reduction.
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Also, in WWII, the USAAC discovered that there was significant drag associated with the olive drab painted aircraft, and that by removing the drab paint and leaving the bare metal, they not only saved some weight, but big gains were the reduced drag on the plane.
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Planes do not exactly travel at the same speed as we do.