Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site inuxc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!inuxc!ralph From: ralph@inuxc.UUCP (Ralph Keyser) Newsgroups: net.auto Subject: Re: Drag coefficient Message-ID: <922@inuxc.UUCP> Date: Wed, 7-Mar-84 09:28:54 EST Article-I.D.: inuxc.922 Posted: Wed Mar 7 09:28:54 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 8-Mar-84 07:45:56 EST References: <325@hou2h.UUCP> <578@u1100a.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Consumer Products Div., Indianapolis Lines: 12 I think it is a reasonably well accepted fact that clean vehicles are in fact "faster". How much faster is the real question, and that has to do with how fast the vehicle goes since aerodynamic drag is an exponential kinda function. For a light aircraft (cruise at 150 mph), a clean one is about 2-3 mph faster than a dirty one (with dead bugs along the leading edges), so a car isn't likely to see as much of a gain. So you can say that a clean car is faster, but in truth, the reason for washing your car is more for better looks than more speed. Ralph Keyser ...!ihnp4!inuxc!ralph