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Today’s tip won’t help you save much gas, but will help you stay out of costly fender benders which, if you ask me, is just as good.
Tailgating doesn’t help your fuel economy, so go ahead and stick to the two second rule.
A couple of people have emailed me and asked whether or not tailgating is a good way to help save gas. One person even asked if “drafting, like what they do in Nascar” could increase your car’s gas mileage by a sizeable amount.
While the theory is sound, I’ll give a couple of reasons why tailgating probably isn’t the best way to go about increasing your car’s fuel economy.
In going back to the Nascar comment, “drafting” really isn’t relevant to us normal drivers. In Nascar, or other forms of motor racing, cars are driving inches, if not millimeters, from each other, and that’s how they’re able to benefit from drafting. Even the most aggressive drivers don’t tailgate that closely on the street.
Also, at some Nascar tracks, the cars are traveling at over 200 mph, so the cars have to use a lot of energy to be able to cut through the air. That’s why drafting is so important; by being on the bumper of the car ahead of you, your car doesn’t have to use as much energy to go as fast. While driving 60 mph on the street may sound fast, you don’t use nearly as much energy to get up to and maintain speed so drafting / tailgating isn’t as beneficial or necessary.
Finally, tailgating will exponentially increase your risk for an accident. By driving closely to the car in front of you, you are decreasing the amount of time you have to react in case you have to stop or swerve. Go ahead and stay at least two seconds behind the car in front of you so you can have enough time and distance to properly react.
While tailgating may be a great idea when you’re driving 200 mph on an oval, it probably isn’t the best way to save gas when you’re driving through the neighborhood.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
If you draft behind a semi, you’ll get some serious fuel savings.
Those trucks are big enough to punch a giant hole in the air, which is why they drive in convoys.
Have just completed a 3000 mile cross country drive on the interstates with an SUV with a 10 sec MPG re-comp capability. We did days of drafting experiments.
+++ car in front – 2-3 MPG increase
+++ Semi in front – 40% MPG increase
+++ Semi with irregular load in front – up to 100% MPG increase
Contrary to the main posting 70-80% of the drafting effect is obtained at 100 and 200 feet distance from the front vehicle. It gets better as you close the gap, but there is serious advantages of drafting a safe inter-vehicle distances.
Without drafting we got 11.5-14.5MPG, drafting took us to 16-28 MPG as
described above. The effects were proven multiple times in each cincumstance. Speeds were 60-80 MPH.
i drive a semi for a living. Drafting is really dangerous for everyone on the road. If any one drafts behind i will warn them a couple of times by flashing my lights and stub braking. If you dont get the hell off my tail i just drive the curb a few times and spew all the gravel and dirt at you. Go on keep drafting and lets see who wins!! You guys dont understand you are messing with our livelihoods and ways for us for feed our families. Anything that increases those odds for us on the road is a NO NO. GET IT. NO DRAFTING
I just drove from Austin to Dallas behind a semi the whole way at distances from 5 feet to 20 feet in front of my suv. since an 80000lb rig cannot possible slow at the rate of my 5000lb suv at full abs panic breaking there is no way possible by physics i can hit a rig that is in front of my when my speed is equal. even human reaction time taken in to account my truck still will stop well before hitting the rig. i did have one panic stop in waco when there was an accident. i never got closer than 10 feet. all you have to do is focus on the tail lights and have a foot over the brakes at all times. that said My suv normally gets 18 on the highway and 285 miles to the tank. I have 392 miles on this tank for an average of 25.29 mpg and thats with over 100 miles mixed urban driving once i arrived in Dalles. whichs means i had to get over 28 mpg on the highway. this is simply too good not to do. i had my pedel at idle to less than 25% the whole way. besides at this distance even driving on the side of the road to spew gravel all over as was mentioned only puts gravel in my tires and grill cover buck O. i have a hood bra and head light covers so who cares if you want to run off the road and risk a blow out i still will stop b4 you even jack knifed. i think the real reason you riggers dont want drafters is that there is no free lunch in the world of physics. the mileage increase i saw was paid for by increased fuel consumption by the rig in front of me. follow the money there children is the real reason riggers dont want you drafting they dont want u to take mpg from there tanks.
go ahead and follow that semi on there back bumper. just remember, most trailor tires are retreades. when one of those tires blow at 200 lbs a piece and make a converable out of your suv or wores yet kills some one in your family. dont get mad at the truck driver. your the tight ass that had to save a dollar and put your family at risk, not the trucker.
buy the way as a driver we dont much care for you four whellers tailgating us . so dont be supprised when the truck suddenly slows, its called a brake check.
have a great day and i hope to see you on the road
So “George M” and “Bushwacker” – you are both disingenuous and hypocritical in your replys – you can’t both advocate for road safety and at the same time do and or threaten dangerous actions. And…is it entirely an illusion that caravans of semis routinely roam the interstates practically bonded to each other both drafting and tailgating? You may want to believe that there are one set of rules for you and an entirely different set for the four wheelers. It will never work that way. Responsible drafting DOES work, and I dare say that fuel saving is entirely the motivator for your own tailgating and drafting. You need to walk the talk, first. For me…my SMART car has finally arrived and moving less mass is truly the safe and responsible way to higher fuel economy. Best non-hybrid mileage and a price point at about 1/2 the hybrids. See you safely on the roads.
I’ve been behind George M and bushwacker on the highway. Bushwacker slammed on his brakes a couple of times nearly losing control of his rig then pulled over on the shoulder. I was laughing as my exit was less than 1/8th of a mile up the road and he was going to burn a chunk of fuel to get back up to speed, and for what? George M kept slowing down, eventually to thirty five mph or so. I just put my flashers on and thought about the great mileage I was getting at that speed till he pulled over on the shoulder. Guess what? My exit was 500 feet in front of his truck.
I keep a car length per 10mph back and I know I’m taking a chance of catching a gator.
Following you isn’t any skin off your back, what’s your beef? You drivers need to pay attention to driving you rig and what’s in front of you, not what’s behind you.
I’ve been behind Sam on the highway. He was tailgating a semi because hes a cheapskate trying to save some money on gas. After a few miles the semi had to come to a quick stop because a suv merged too close to his truck from an on-ramp. Well needless to say sam rearended the semi. Now sams gonna need a tow to a mechanic shop, and a rental vehicle. Hope fully the money he saved on gas will cover the increase on his auto insurance and the lawsauit hes gonna get for putting a trucker out of work for a few weeks. That is if Sam is still alive after the accident.
And all of that for an extra 10 or so mpg? Dont be retarded, keep a safe distance from semis.
I can understand truckers if it is taking away from their gas mileage. The safety issue is ridiculous. Today some truck driver nearly caused an 8 car pileup cause i was driving 20ft behind him, he apparently thought it was too close… slammed on his brakes, swerved back and forth, and brought the entire freeway to a 25 mph violent halt. Im a very safe driver, i drive like an old lady, and decided to search the internet to find any reason that i shouldnt be doing this. Seeing that trucks take much longer to stop gives ample time for the car behind to stop as well. Control issues of a maniac truck driver slamming on his breaks is what is dangerous. But if its taking away from their MPG… i understand why they would not want anyone to tailgate them.