On Apr 11, 3:42*am, Cats wrote:
On Apr 9, 8:19*pm, Adam wrote:





More trailer-talk....

I have a Minden-Fab / Scheder-style trailer and tow with a 200hp V6
station wagon. The front "barndoor" of the trailer is about 1.5 to 2
feet higher than the roofline of the car. The whole setup feels draggy
on the road. 65 mph is about the limit before I feel like I am abusing
things. I get about 17 mpg with the trailer, 26mpg without. I plan on
a 3000 mile round trip this summer and with gas where it is, a few
more mpg would be nice.

I was wondering if it would be worth fitting a deflector to my luggage
rails near the back of the wagon to reduce the drag and increase my
mpg a few points (and my L/D would also go up too!).

I will can fabricate something from stainless sheetmetal that would
mount to my Thule rack. Any tips or guidelines on the form of such a
deflector are appreciated. Or is this a bad idea?

Speaking as someone who lives in the UK, it strikes me that a change
of tow vehicle could produce major fuel savings all the time. *I mean
- 26mpg at best! *My car is perfectly capable of towing my glider in
it's trailer at UK legal speeds, without the trailer it does almost
50mpg, with it it drops to low 40s. *Surely similar vehicles are
available in the US?

BTW not sure if you are leaving the roofrack on all the time. *Taking
it off when you don't need it will improve your mpg.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yup, but that is not gonna happen. I am driving a A6 Quattro in the
upper midwest and log thosands of miles in snow and ice yearly. It is
not a mileage leader but it is not so bad to justify selling it. I
swear by quattro + decent snows. So like everything in life, it is a
compromise. Most in my situation would go for a 14 mpg SUV. So for my
needs, I feel I am way ahead.

My wife's Passat 1.8T manual gets 35 mpg at 75 mph. Anything beyond
that is typically in the TDi and hybrid realm stateside.

The A6 has a lot of drivetrain drag, hence the figures. The VW Passat
4motion with the 1.8T gets no better.

When Audi or VW re-releases a TDI quattro wagon in the US, I'll be
first in line. The old ones from 2004-2005 fetch near list price so it
seems a solid investment.

/Adam