thomasmnile
Deltona, Fl.
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surveyorjp wrote:Did anyone else see last nite's episode of Mythbusters where they coated a car with clay and then dimpled the clay like a golf ball to test for fuel mileage gains? It was very interesting! Basically, using the same principal that dimpled golf balls use to travel farther, the car got an 11% improvement in fuel economy with the dimples versus no dimples.
I'm now thinking about dimpling the old Ram! 
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surveyorjp
Missouri
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That's interesting. On the Mythbuster's car, the dimples they created were much larger than those on the above product. I would seriously like to see more tests because I think there is something to the idea myself.
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BobsYourUncle
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Polish??
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Sport45
Houston, TX
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surveyorjp wrote:Did anyone else see last nite's episode of Mythbusters where they coated a car with clay and then dimpled the clay like a golf ball to test for fuel mileage gains? It was very interesting! Basically, using the same principal that dimpled golf balls use to travel farther, the car got an 11% improvement in fuel economy with the dimples versus no dimples.
I'm now thinking about dimpling the old Ram!
Looks like the extra weight of the clay would have negated any positive effect of the dimpling. Mythbusters is great for entertainment, but their "science" can be suspect. Hopefully, I'll catch a re-run of that one sometime to see what they did.
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carringb
Corvallis, OR
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They tested at 65 mph. They fully admitted that getting up to speed would use more fuel with 1000 pounds of clay. But that's not really relevant since dimpled car wouldn't really be made of clay. That was just a practical way to do it in a short time frame.
Once cruising, the additional rolling resistance from the extra weight is negligible.
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McZippie
USA
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Hmmmmm .... maybe Air Tabs really do increase mileage???
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Capt Skup
Southern Maryland/Nantucket
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Is there anyone else here that thinks the crew on Mythbusters probably have the best dang job in the whole world? They get to act out every crazy idea two twelve year old boys can think of and get paid doing it. Gunpowder, duct tape, boats, explosives, car crashes.... I am green with envy.
Hmmm, if a certain someone dimpled his V-10 powered dually van, think it could hit 160mph?
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surveyorjp
Missouri
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Capt Skup wrote:Is there anyone else here that thinks the crew on Mythbusters probably have the best dang job in the whole world? They get to act out every crazy idea two twelve year old boys can think of and get paid doing it. Gunpowder, duct tape, boats, explosives, car crashes.... I am green with envy.
I agree 100% !
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surveyorjp
Missouri
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Sport45 wrote:surveyorjp wrote:Did anyone else see last nite's episode of Mythbusters where they coated a car with clay and then dimpled the clay like a golf ball to test for fuel mileage gains? It was very interesting! Basically, using the same principal that dimpled golf balls use to travel farther, the car got an 11% improvement in fuel economy with the dimples versus no dimples.
I'm now thinking about dimpling the old Ram!
Looks like the extra weight of the clay would have negated any positive effect of the dimpling. Mythbusters is great for entertainment, but their "science" can be suspect. Hopefully, I'll catch a re-run of that one sometime to see what they did.
Yes they ran the test in such a manner that the weight of the clay was not much of a factor. I agree about your assessment of their "science" on some of their shows, but on this particular test, I could find little to fault with their methods.
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kottfam6wi
South Central Wisconsin
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Those dimples are no where near deep enough to cause much effect.
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