There’s a certain comfort in absolutes. Chocolate makes everything better. Never walk quickly through your living room in the dark without shoes on.
One question to which several people want an absolute, definitive, all-time answer is: “Is it more fuel-efficient to drive with my tailgate up or down?”
Autoblog finally has it – courtesy of the 2015 Ford F-150. The site got its hands on one in the Blue Oval’s wind tunnel. You might think that leaving the rear panel down allows air to flow more freely out of the bed of your pickup.
Wrong. Wind collects back there and creates drag, reducing your miles per gallon. When your tailgate is up, its top cap gives air coming from over your cab a place to touch down and exit.
Brad Richards, design manager, Ford Motor Company, states you can add something to your truck to make it even more slippery; the new F-150’s cargo box partially replicates the gas-saving effects of this device.
Hit the video after the jump to find out what it is.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
