I have made this point in other similar posts. A large part of our populace depends on it's income from oil companies. My mother has been employed by one oil comapny or another since 1979! I think it is appropriate that these companies invest in our future and continue to research alternative fuels. Our current infrastructure is dedicated to oil and transportation so the obvious move would be to migrate to something that will maintain this infrastructure.

 

Don't forget to lube your corn hole while you are at it............
I will pass on the Greenpeace and insure my wife continues to shave appropriately.

 

Please post any new replies in the general discussion forum under "More Power????"


Thanks all!!

 

I'll post here, thanks..

I think I can answer for a lot of folks, for a lot of your issues.

I wanted better performance from my '05 F150 than what came from the Dearborn Truck Plant. I knew it was there, the things are actually "de-tuned", if you will, from the factory.

There is a gain in performance to be had from just really minor mods on these trucks. Ford has to send 'em out basically tuned for farmers, ranchers, your 75 yr. old Grampaw. I think most of us understand that, probably GM/Chevy comes the closest to Ford for tuning their trucks for actual work.

Anyway, I've only made three performance mods to my truck and not only have I picked up about 2 mpg, I've also gained approx. 60 hp to the rear wheels. Very much a "win-win", except for my poor ol' rear rubber.. LOL

So don't dismiss folks wanting to add a cat-back or intake or tuning as just a$$holes.. Done right, each and every one of those mods will not only increase the performance but the gas mileage as well.

Yeah we use these trucks as our daily drivers, and yeah the mpg sucks no matter what.. but I can still throw all the mowers, rakes, weedeaters, whatever needs to be hauled, in the bed of my truck..

No Camry, or Malibu, or freakin' Prius is ever gonna do that.

12 mpg city, 19.8 mpg highway, with the engine and mods shown below.

 

For real.

 

I must be real ****ed up then cause i am a soldier who is jus home on leave from iraq and one of the first things i did was go get sum gears put in my truck and prepare for efans. Well first off terrorist dont get there funding from oil sales nor do we even buy our oil from iraq. Terrorist actually steal oil and sell it on the black market or just get there funding from other third world countries who support there cause. So i say suck up all the oil u want and try and get as many ponies out ur 5.4 or 4.6 as u can for god sake this is america and most of us our guys its in our blood lol

 

Really? SO you are accusing, and, have proven that these guys have a direct link to funding terrorism? Or is this just an ignorant blanket statement from someone like you, and others, who have no clue as to what they are talking about?

Give me one design equation for that? DO you have any clue as to how complex this can be? You mention people actually discussing these ideas? Ok well, lets go for it. Whats your take on drag coefficient? What designs have you come up with? Have you taken fluid dynamics, or even thermodynamics, or, are you just running your mouth, again?

People don't want to come here and talk about advanced engineering design equations. They want to talk about fuel saving or getting more HP if possible. They are enthusiasts talking about enthusiast things. This is an enthusiast website, what did you really expect? It took you 456 posts to realize this? Too much smoke in your brain?

Basically, you can back absolutely none of this b.s. up with any facts pertaining to honest, hard-working Americans supporting terrorism. I find it extremely insulting that you would say this.

 

You mentioned above that people are here to talk about horsepower and fuel savings..........two things that become easier to achieve by way of reducing drag. Reducing drag does not involve redesigning the internal combustion engine, integrating hybrid systems or anything of the like.

As a matter of fact, yes I did study thermodynamics in school.
I did take an introductory course on fluid dynamics recently and one of the things that fascinated me was the amount of an engines power that is used to overcome drag. I think I have a legitimate argument in that the vehicles we drive could be better designed aerodynamically, however it may not be as aesthetically appealing. Like wise I think we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our resources, especially if we elect to use something that can be substantially less efficient (trucks).
All of us are here because we really enjoy our vehicles whether it be work or play. I think we like to be up a little higher on the road and see what is going around.
I do believe that oil consumption is a contributing factor to terrorism in that because it is in such demand, it warrants a higher price. I would be pretty pissed off if you set up camp in my back yard with out invitation because you need to secure your finite resources of which you have a horrible addiction to. I am not insulting Americans, I am insulting corporate America for creating such a horrible mentality.

To create a discourse on drag, we should define it for the rest of the ignorant masses (as I believe you referred to them) wouldn't you agree?


Drag is a quality (dimensionless) that describes the amount of aerodynamic resistance caused by fluid flow. In an atmosphere (or medium), drag force is fairly proportionate to the square of the velocity (speed AND direction) of an object moving through the fluid. (equations may be furnished upon request)
The flow around the object (correct me if I am wrong) is referred to as a Reynolds number (anyone can Google that BTW), This number is actually a ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces. Reynolds numbers are prevalent when analyzing laminar and turbulent flows about an object. The parts of the equation are as follows (going from memory here so bear with me):

Force of drag (usually F)
Density of the medium being traveled through (p) Air is about 1.3kg/m3 at 1 atmosphere
Velocity (v)
Area of the object (a)
Drag coefficient of the object (C)

I may look like a dumba$$ here, but this is my attempt to show you the formula:

F= -1/2pv(sqd)CA (i couldn't figure out how to show v as being squared)

Keep in mind this does not show how we calculate the actual drag coefficient.

Can we design a truck to mimic the drag coefficients of say a SAAB or a Prius? Would it look goofy as hell?

In vehicles, by reducing the frontal area of the vehicle we can directly reduce drag. The average passenger car has a frontal area of about 8 to 8.5 sq', and trucks can exceed 25 sq'! Compare the end of a brick to the small side of an egg.
One drawback to reducing drag is that we have to be careful about the lift we generate (Bernoulli's principal).

I hope that i some form or fashion this answer has qualified my ability to have discourse on the subject. Should you be of like mindedness I invite you to continue this discussion with me in the "General Discussions" section of the forum.

 

Amen and well said! Right back at you my man.