Dimpled cars?
Mythbusters use golfball effect to boost fuel efficiency
Every time Congress considers boosting vehicle fuel efficiency via CAFE standards, the auto industry lobbyists descend on the Capitol to bleat about how higher mileage targets will bankrupt the industry.
I was watching a recent episode of Mythbusters where they ‘dimpled’ a car to see if the dimples would improve the laminar flow and reduce drag like they do on a golfball.
In spite of adding 800 lbs to the weight of the pictured sedan (car was coated in clay rather than denting the metal to get dimples), they were able to increase cruising fuel efficiency 11% !! Could you imagine what the auto industry could achieve by throwing some skilled engineers and designers on this? Hell, if they’d just produce cars with an actual streamlined design (rather than what people think is streamlined), they’d greatly increase fuel efficiency.
Stumble it!
Tags: automobile industry, CAFE, congress, fuel efficiency
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:18 am
“Mythbusters use golfball effect to boost fuel efficiency.”
Translation: All oil company executives and lobbyists were sent to play golf indefinitely while America got on with creating an energy policy.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:13 am
I saw an inventor covered recently who has a stick on dimpled plastic he developed. He is trying to get investors and thinks the best use is for trailer trucks.
From the look of it and the age of the Mythbusters show, he could have gotten the idea from them.
October 27th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
That would be cool! If/when I get my plug-in hybrid, I’ll apply stick-on dimples.