I think you got Francis hooked.
Once you get a taste for how to do it (efficiency gained and NOT getting noticed doing it, it is hard to stop). For everyone following this thread I will say this: There are lots of ways to draft and I would argue only a few ways to do it without getting noticed. For instance: while there is light traffic you should do everything to a lesser extent like 'don't follow closely' and stay at the end of the 'draft shadow' for a much shorter time.
After being pulled over by a cop to get a warning $15 to which they added $75 court fee and now seeing a jump in insurance due to a "citation " i do not think i will be drafting again. The traffic was light and we NEVER came close to an accident. And with the other drivers being 18 wheelers and i in my Roadster i do not see how i scared them.
And this is why I believe some would be interested so things like that are less likely to happen.
I would just maintain a safe two second following distance. Less of a draft, but no possibility of a ticket. It would be nice to have ACC to do this automatically.
GSP
This is usually a good rule of thumb but in heavy traffic (I'm looking at you California!) might be equally as dangerous. A different way to look at the dynamics of drafting in heavy traffic would be to just 'do what everyone else is doing' but do it a little bit safer. In heavy traffic most cars tend to follow too closely and this actually 'decreases' the efficiency of drafting since you are in the very turbulent eddies and not being pulled along by the 'apparent wind' created in the 'draft wake' (great, now I'm using sailing terms...)
Did you guys form a paceline??? :love:
Paceline would have been cool and does work really well for bikes and even NASCAR, but unless the traffic is super light it is not advised. I'd be happy to do this at Laguna Seca ReFuel 2014 and test some hypothesis with folks though if anyone is interested. I believe we could get 400 miles out of a Model S at much higher speeds if we could paceline or, in the interest of time, try for most efficient lap at speed. My guess is that with proper drafting a car could see as high as 20% power savings even during a high speed lap (but let's save that for another thread)
Appears to be an ongoing campaign against 'messing with semi's' among other road-safety foci. Might be better to steer clear of the big boys lest some road nanny sees extra points in his near career.
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I'll say this simply: Drafting semi's can be done even at 200' or greater (well back from being able to see the semi's side view mirrors) as you are still well inside the 'draft shadow'. Even at the tail end of the shadow you can achieve 5 to 10% gains. And also note that this applies mainly flat roads at constant highway speed.
I wanted to make a sign that says ' May I draft behind your vehicle?" or something
some people get pissed off if you try and follow between 1 and 2 seconds behind.
I wouldn't advocate drawing attention to your vehicle as I would advocate that being more discrete and subtle ends up being safer overall
In Atlanta we call that 'leaving a gap'.
The gap is the key where whomever you are drafting believes you are 'not following' and is not bothered at all while you are there and the next time they think about it you are already gone.
In Dallas they call that 'defensive driving'. Seriously, it seems like every old clunker round these parts is constantly drafting behind me!
Common mistake folks make is to hang on too long and too close, following every move. Truth is, good drafting is knowing when to pick up faster leads and when stay 'tucked in'
but when there is no traffic on the road and you try and draft someone it is a little different. I know I'd get a little disturbed if I was the only car on the road and someone was trying to tailgate me.
Light traffic drafters tend to stand out and everything you do needs to be more subtle.
