No drafting here, learned early on that drafting off of trucks leads to a broken windshield.
Yep I had a friend that thought it was cool and fun to draft semis so she could get better gas mileage. Until one day, the semi in front of her nailed a dog. Guess where the dog went? In many yucky bloody pieces all over her car. She said she also wrecked because sheDrafting is for race cars on race tracks. Following that closely to someone on public roads is dangerous, and the effectiveness is marginal. Not worth the risk.
Not to be a kill joy, but....
At 70 mph you cover 102.62 feet every second. If you're less than 100' from the back of another vehicle while trying to save 1 mpg and they straddle a piece of debris, you've got less than second to react. I'll round it and give you the full second to react though. Unfortunately studies have shown that the average perception reaction time (PRT) while driving is 1.5 seconds, which means you'll hit the object before you even have time to attempt to avoid it. Don't confuse PRT with simple reaction time. PRT takes into account that while driving you have other tasks requiring your attention. You need to see the threat, perceive it as a threat, and then take action. This typically takes 1.5 seconds though some people are a little faster/slower (1.2 - 1.8).
So with the boring numbers out of the way. If you're truly concerned about fuel efficiency the easiest way to achieve it is by slowing down. To be clear, I drive slow just because I'm not in a hurry not for efficiency. I rarely drive the interstate but I recently wen to MI. As I typically do, I set my cruise at 65, stayed in the right lane and let all the speeders zig and zag and get stressed out. I just turn on some tunes and enjoy the ride without having to brake, accelerate, and weave all the time. At 65 mph I'm only 5 under the limit, and by staying in the right lane everyone can easily pass me.
The unexpected result of going slightly slower, and not having to constantly adjust my speed was 26.7 mpg. No that's not a typo, yes it got over 25 mpg even with a 2" lift. No drafting, no games manipulating the "current' mpg counter. Here's a photo of my trip screen. After 168.5 miles, and a bit under 3 hours, I averaged 26.7 mpg. That was actually roughly the half way point when I stopped at Cabela's, but the second half had the same result. If you're actually concerned about saving a few mpg, reducing your speed 5-10 mph will save you more fuel than tailgating.... oops I mean "drafting".
! Now, she gives any vehicle in front of her lots of space
NOW that would make a great Farmers Insurance commercial
Farmer's "The Dog Grinder"Yep I had a friend that thought it was cool and fun to draft semis so she could get better gas mileage. Until one day, the semi in front of her nailed a dog. Guess where the dog went? In many yucky bloody pieces all over her car. She said she also wrecked because she
