Waxed car vs non waxed vs mpg

[Bullwinkle007]

I was wondering if anyone has tried this theory of increasing mpg by making sure vehicle is always clean and waxed. I noticed in my Accord, it seems like it has increased, but not yet actually run the calculations

Myth busters said they saw an avg of 2mpg. My brother in law works for Boeing and he was telling me an aircraft will loose 5% fuel efficiency with a dirty aircraft. I know race cars are always clean and waxed.

 

[reemoeMO]

Hogwash. 0.01% at best.

 

[Reggaemon]

My car had hailstone damage. All those dents were like dimples on a golf ball. I could drive like 50 yards farther.
No difference.

 

[BHopkins]

My car had hailstone damage. All those dents were like dimples on a golf ball. I could drive like 50 yards farther.
No difference.

So you saw that Myth Busters episode too!

 

[kschachn]

I was wondering if anyone has tried this theory of increasing mpg by making sure vehicle is always clean and waxed. I noticed in my Accord, it seems like it has increased, but not yet actually run the calculations

Myth busters said they saw an avg of 2mpg. My brother in law works for Boeing and he was telling me an aircraft will loose 5% fuel efficiency with a dirty aircraft. I know race cars are always clean and waxed.

Then they were making some serious errors.

Previous threads:

Waxed car = Higher MPG?

A coworker of mine claims that he gets better MPGs after waxing the car. While this is reasonable it seems to me that the difference is most likely too little to tell. Anyone?

bobistheoilguy.com

New wax job and MPG

Will a car get better MPG when freshly waxed?

bobistheoilguy.com

Clean car gets +10% mpg

Mythbusters. Clean = 26.4 mpg Dirty = 24 mpg

bobistheoilguy.com

 

[Duffyjr]

Only if you use Nu Finish.

 

[RooflessVW]

Gran Turismo says yes.

 

[JMJNet]

Clean car makes the owner/driver feels better.
He/she eager to show it to somebody by driving faster and better mpg.

 

[Reggaemon]

Clean car makes the owner/driver feels better.
He/she eager to show it to somebody by driving faster and better mpg.

I drive my clean car slow, really, really slow, so everyone can admire it. Even better if I'm in the left lane.

 

[DriveHard]

If I had to guess, I would say unmeasurable difference.

 

[tmorris1]

Maybe if completely covered in heavy chunky mud, but I can't see where waxed versus unwaxed would make a measurable difference.

 

[sk_pete]

I was wondering if anyone has tried this theory of increasing mpg by making sure vehicle is always clean and waxed. I noticed in my Accord, it seems like it has increased, but not yet actually run the calculations

Myth busters said they saw an avg of 2mpg. My brother in law works for Boeing and he was telling me an aircraft will loose 5% fuel efficiency with a dirty aircraft. I know race cars are always clean and waxed.

glider airplanes have polished specific paint.

imho wrong tire pressure will make more difference on car. (hydro2 will make the paint feel like oiled pan.)

 

[Bullwinkle007]

Dimples on a golf ball create a thin turbulent boundary layer of air that clings to the ball's surface. This allows the smoothly flowing air to follow the ball's surface a little farther around the back side of the ball, thereby decreasing the size of the wake. Interesting

My car had hailstone damage. All those dents were like dimples on a golf ball. I could drive like 50 yards farther.
No difference.

 

[Bullwinkle007]

Dimples on a golf ball create a thin turbulent boundary layer of air that clings to the ball's surface. This allows the smoothly flowing air to follow the ball's surface a little farther around the back side of the ball, thereby decreasing the size of the wake. Interesting

Did you actually check your mpg or just only fill when the gas gauge hit E

 

[compratio10_5]

The mind is a powerful tool. If you think that you will get better mileage, you will.

 

[CKN]

Nobody is buying cheap beaters (because there are not any) nothing to talk about there.

Nobody is buying new cars (because there are not any) threads on here are getting pretty thin.

Nobody is driving much because fuel is expensive.

Talking about his non sensical topic and egg sandwiches on another thread.

 

[RamFan]

Even better if I'm in the left lane.

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

I dunno about washing but when I hang up a new air freshener

my MPG goes way up!

 

[Owen Lucas]

You will save 1 gallon of gas, over the next 10,000 years.

 

[BISCUT]

All I know is when I detail my F150 or change the oil....she screams so much faster! Gonna blow by some Jersey Troops today on my way home from the beach. I'm good! Just cleaned it and changed the oil. What could go wrong?