Team-BHP - Want to improve your FE - give you car some dimples!

A popular TV show (Mythbusters) did a test which shows an 11% improvement in highway FE just by covering a regular car's surface with dimples like to ones found on a golf ball. The dimples reduce drag and make the car more aerodynamic.

Here's a link from HowStuffWorks that explains the the concept behind the dimples on golf balls - HowStuffWorks "Why do golf balls have dimples?"

Here's links to the particular episode where they test this - MythBusters: Dirty vs Clean Car : Videos : Discovery Channel
VIDEO: Mythbusters test golf ball-like dimpling effect on fuel economy (*Spoiler Alert!*) — Autoblog

So stop loosing sleep over trying to keep your car dent free and go cover it with a thousand plus dents and dings! Just don't blame me afterwards, I'm just sharing what I saw on the Discovery channel.

@Mods: I don't know if we ought to put this under the shifting gears section.

Quote:

If that's the case, the much-dented taxis in Bombay must be returning an amazing "average".

Hehe........The dimples on the golf ball are calculated for aerodynamic efficiency. Irregular body dents will increase drag.

Heres another interesting test.
YouTube - Mythbuster TC Model Drag Test

Shan2nu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shan2nu (Post 1566523)

Hehe........The dimples on the golf ball are calculated for aerodynamic efficiency. Irregular body dents will increase drag.
Shan2nu

True, All they did was cover the car's body with a "regular" pattern of dimples like on a golf ball and got an 11% increase over the stock car.

Would an 11% difference be explained by other factors like wind direction,etc. or should we really start putting dimples on cars - being FE obsessed as we are (by and large).