Did waxing my car improve my gas mileage?

[Jehu]

or did i just drive more slowly to show off the shiny paint? Either way i was getting up around 25MPG tonight on the highway after i waxed the car this afternoon.I had been getting about 18MPG...

[jbraswell]

haha I wish. I keep my car way too clean and my gas mileage still sucks.

[markus]

u must do a lot of highway driving. im happy when my OBC says 18mpg.

[Jehu]

I do do alot of highway driving.The nearest high end healthfood type store,Whole Foods is about an hour round trip and i needed some Green Tea and Goji Berry Juice..

[mzarifkar]

I think i read somewhere that they used to polish up Concorde before each flight to reduce drag

[pundit]

Did filling my tank with gas improve my power?

[Denton]

A clean car always drives better than a dirty car! ;)

[Jehu]

Well,i keep my car clean.I wash it whenever it shows any dust or dirt clinging.I run it thru a touch less wash with polish,wax and clear coat but i hadn't really waxed the entire body for some time.It had to have contributed somewhat to reducing drag.I used this (http://www.amazon.com/Zymol-Natural-Liquid-Cleaner-Wax/dp/B0002JN510/sr=8-1/qid=1166408637/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7215687-6530352?ie=UTF8&s=automotive)

[Traian]

did waxing my car improve my mileage?

No.

[BillionPa]

waxing the car, and using rain-x on the windows does reduce the fluidic drag friction of the air, which will improve mileage at higher speeds.

also, filling up the tank with more gas balances out the weight distribution, which can help the car put more power to the ground, although it now has more weight to push around. it does however make the pump have to do less work, as now it has the help of gravity.

[Jehu]

waxing the car, and using rain-x on the windows does reduce the fluidic drag friction of the air, which will improve mileage at higher speeds.

also, filling up the tank with more gas balances out the weight distribution, which can help the car put more power to the ground, although it now has more weight to push around. it does however make the pump have to do less work, as now it has the help of gravity.

I did have a fresh full tank of gas too so this is great to know .An extra 4-5 miles per gallon is always weclome.

[Traian]

waxing the car, and using rain-x on the windows does reduce the fluidic drag friction of the air, which will improve mileage at higher speeds.

Well I don't know the exact figure, but most places say driving with the windows down at highway speeds decreases mileage by about 3-5%. Personally I find it makes no difference at all, and I have driven hundreds of consecutive kms with the windows down on the highway, but anyway, for argument let's just say 3-5%. That's an obvious aerodynamic change, in fact, the entire envelope of the car is different. Accepting all that, waxing will not give you a 20-25% increase (even on the Concorde, which is a bit of strange cat because it travels at > Mach 2)... My personal experience is 0 change, but then what do I know, it's not like I drive the same car :D

[repenttokyo]

a full tank of gas = less fuel mileage, not better fuel mileage. it's a simple equation - you are moving more mass.

[Traian]

One neat thing that I love about this car is that it nets only about 10% change in consumption between about 100-160 km/h. This according to the little needle, which could be off by God knows how much, but for relative measurements it should be good. Nice touring machine! Okay, I complimented her again, now something else is gonna break...

[Jehu]

Whatever it was my OBC was reporting over 25MPG tonight on the highway driving around 65 MPH where it has normally been around 18MPG. The only thing different was my having applied the Zymol polish and buffed it to a slippery shine.Maybe its the solar winds,eh?

[Alexlind123]

Whatever it was my OBC was reporting over 25MPG tonight on the highway driving around 65 MPH where it has normally been around 18MPG. The only thing different was my having applied the Zymol polish and buffed it to a slippery shine.Maybe its the solar winds,eh?

Its a coincidence, you probably got some exceptionally good gas at the last fillup.

[Qube]

It must have been REALLY REALLY dirty...

I remember back in Gran Turismo there was a 'car wash' option whereby it increased top speed and acceleration after a few races :)

On that note, you're probably driving slower for others to admire your wax job.

[JerseySi]

Washing my car will improve my mpg? Damn, that's why I average between 13-14mpg then! :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/RoverDog/2006-12-17055Medium.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/RoverDog/2006-12-17055.jpg)

[E34-520iSE]

An old feller I knew many years ago told me that during WW2 the RAF used to meticulously polish the aeroplanes 'to make them fly faster'. I don't know if it really worked or if it was just to boost the morale of pilots regularly getting shot to bits? Good story though.....

Cheers,

Shaun M

[KenB]

My car always seems to run smoother, faster and better after a good washing and especially after waxing; although mileage remains the same.;)

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

An old feller I knew many years ago told me that during WW2 the RAF used to meticulously polish the aeroplanes 'to make them fly faster'. I don't know if it really worked or if it was just to boost the morale of pilots regularly getting shot to bits? Good story though.....

Cheers,

Shaun M

My dad was in a WWII RCAF Air Recon wing, and they would keep the planes clean, polished & waxed to reduce drag.

Recon planes only carried cameras, so you had to run fast after jerry smiled for the picture.

[Alexlind123]

I thought they were called krauts.

[Jehu]

After doing a little more thinking about this i realize this wasn't even a true wax,was it ? Its a Polish. Time to get this Porter Cable (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=007&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=170062257365&rd=1&rd=1) polisher and some fancy Carnuba Wax.Then I'll REALLY fly!

[Alexlind123]

After doing a little more thinking about this i realize this wasn't even a true wax,was it ? Its a Polish. Time to get this Porter Cable (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=007&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=170062257365&rd=1&rd=1) polisher and some fancy Carnuba Wax.Then I'll REALLY fly!

hehehe or even better, use some teflon wax like i have! it will be really slippery then :)

[E34-520iSE]

Recon planes only carried cameras, so you had to run fast after jerry smiled for the picture.

Nice one! LOL

Cheers,

Shaun M