autobahn going the way of the dinosaur? attn: Dirk

[jklun at earthlink.net (John Klun)]

Y'all-

I also suspect that a vehicle traveling in the 'fast' lane of the 
autobahn doing a 120 mph+ coming up on a vehicle doing 70 mph+ will be 
pushing a wall of air.  When that wall of air 'hits' the vehicle in 
front, it could actually 'push' that vehicle.  That vehicle getting hit 
by that 'wall' of air can lose traction and become unpredictable to 
handle.  At that point there isn't much you can do other than ride it 
out.  How many times have you seen this happen during a NASCAR race- the 
overtaking car comes up on the bumper of the slower car and the slower 
car ends up in the wall or unless the driver is reeeeally good, he 
controls the breaking loose of the rear end and avoids a crash.

How many of you have followed an 18 wheeler doing 75 mph+ on an 
interstate.  If you're close enough, you'll feel the  'hole' in the air 
made by the truck sucking you into that hole.  Now, imagine you're 
driving 120 mph+ and your pushing your own wall of air...  In my Vanagon 
(and other passenger cars I've driven), I am buffeted by that disturbed 
air and it can be scary.  Many years ago driving cross country through 
400 miles of New Mexico, I hooked up with a trucker on my CB and with 
his permission and pre-arranged signals, he let me drive in his 
slipstream at 70-80 mph.  At that time, there were few cars or trucks on 
the road and we stayed constantly in communication.  I was driving a 
1980 short bed Chevy van  with a 6 cyl.  My normal gas mileage over the 
trip was around  17-18 mpg.  The 400 miles behind the truck got me 22 
mpg.  This was a thrill I'll never forget and something we'll never 
duplicate again because of the increasing traffic on our interstates.

John