Wind Resistance

JanandBob · Member

Wind Resistance

dave06 · Guru

you know this has been the centre of many a debate in many a pub, but the concensus is that one should travel anti clockwise, if one studies a map the prevailing wind (particularly across the treeless plain) is from west to east, the top end doesnt really have a prevailing wind not counting cyclones and thats a tail wind you dont want anyway,and the east coast is mainly onshore? , but if one picks the days then I dont think it would make all that much difference any where except the nullabor, we have done it both ways and the fuel economy was roughly the same if one divides the miles correctly, the most dangerous thing as far as fuel economy is concerned are the diversions, we travelled probably twice as far as was actually necesary to circumnavigate the island but hell dont we all, last time we took three days to cross the nullabor and it was no mean feat to pull away from the whales and their little calves then I can tell you. look do your sums for the cost of fuel and then at least triple it, cos' you aint going straight I can tell you from experience, but it is the little side paths that make for the memorys, petrol savings HAH!!! forget it, enjoy the trip, we did and are going to do it again, time is your mortal enemy, not the wind

Basil Faulty · Guru

Tried to find the site because some tests were done alas it's hiding from me. Essentially what was disacovered was that the extra windage from travelling with the wind as against the wind was actually negligable. The biggest problem was from crosswinds that cause more problems than head on or tail winds.
So it's all hubris, on a long drive the wind has the ability to attack you from all directions and any advantage you may gain from a tail wind one day will be lost from a head wind the next.

chezgo · Senior Member

We did it clockwise and everyone told us we were supposed to go the other way and we didn't meet too many people going in our direction they were all going anti-clockwise. Going across the nullabor we were going into a very strong head wind all the way and it did affect the petrol consumption Cheryl

JanandBob · Member

Thanks for the advice, everyone. It sounds like the Nullarbor is the main place where we will encounter the winds although we probably won't change our plans to avoid them. We planned go west up north, either on the Gibb River road or the southern alternative depending on road conditions and then head east again across the Nullarbor.

dave06 · Guru

Janice, would you have room in your boot PLEASE!!!!, I promise I wont drink ALL your grog!!!!, I'm going stir crazy waiting for our next trip. dont worry about the winds across the nullarbor just enjoy and have a look around, plenty of great coastal scenery and maybe a couple of dawdling whales, dont miss the Gibb river road, nowadays its a walk in the park, watch the little off shoots though, terrific spots but some are still a bit rugged

JanandBob · Member

No worries, Dave. I'm sure we can jettison a couple of tins of beans and squeeze you in. Thanks for the advice about the Gibb River road. We'll be careful with the detours as we're not really very experienced with offroad driving.

dave06 · Guru

if only, janice, if only, boy I envy you heading into gods country

NannyMon · Veteran Member

dave06 wrote:

Janice, would you have room in your boot PLEASE!!!!, I promise I wont drink ALL your grog!!!!, I'm going stir crazy waiting for our next trip. dont worry about the winds across the nullarbor just enjoy and have a look around, plenty of great coastal scenery and maybe a couple of dawdling whales, dont miss the Gibb river road, nowadays its a walk in the park, watch the little off shoots though, terrific spots but some are still a bit rugged

Hi Dave,

As you can see I'm baaack ! Talking about winds, I have trouble with the Hi Ace swaying in windy weather. Any tips on that. Coming home from Nowra they other day it was raining and very windy and I was a bit worried so I filled up the water tank, hoping this would give me a bit more weight and stabilise the van more. Also what are your thoughts on stone guards, would that be causing wind resistance. I have one on the van and I find that if I look down on long trips it makes me giddy, I was thinking of having it removed, but my sons howled me down saying it would stop trucks from throwing up stones and breaking my windscreen, in all the 43 years I have been driving I haven't had that happen. Has anyone else any thoughts on all of the above.

ta ..... Monica

dave06 · Guru

Ah HAH!!!! so you are, we missed you, that bloody Basil has nicked off to bermagui as well, the mongrel has gone for a week no less, where did you go, what did you see what were your experiences, look the hi-ace will sway about in the wind ,not a great deal to be done about that only dont travel when it is extreme, because it is a high roof model it catches a lot more wind than normal, just be carefull in high winds from the side, the stone guard will decrease your economy a bit but not a hell of a lot and yes it will protect your windshield from wayward stones and no it has never happened to me in the 25 plus years travelling and the 10 or so years we have had the hi-ace, BUT IT MIGHT!!!, anyway welcome back, when's the next one and where are you going

NannyMon · Veteran Member

dave06 wrote:

Ah HAH!!!! so you are, we missed you, that bloody Basil has nicked off to bermagui as well, the mongrel has gone for a week no less, where did you go, what did you see what were your experiences, look the hi-ace will sway about in the wind ,not a great deal to be done about that only dont travel when it is extreme, because it is a high roof model it catches a lot more wind than normal, just be carefull in high winds from the side, the stone guard will decrease your economy a bit but not a hell of a lot and yes it will protect your windshield from wayward stones and no it has never happened to me in the 25 plus years travelling and the 10 or so years we have had the hi-ace, BUT IT MIGHT!!!, anyway welcome back, when's the next one and where are you going

rofl .... I bet your pea green with envy that Bassie has gone away for a week !!

dave06 · Guru

pea green, I'm bright bloody purple, going round the twist here listening to others making their plans and nicking off, I cant move too far for another 2.9 years, only the little short hops of one and two weeks

NannyMon · Veteran Member

I went down as far as Nowra to see my 85 year old boss, I have not been down that way for 10 years or more and my goodness it has grown, last time I was in Gerringong, it was mostly paddocks, now new houses everywhere. Same goes for the little town/villages on the way, still beautiful country though, love the up hill and down dales. I put the van through her paces from Gerringong to Berry, I had picked up bad fuel at Taree and it was coughing and spluttering, surgeing and chugging, carrying on a real treat. Took three tank fill ups to get it back to normal and you have never lived until you have driven in Sydney peak hour traffic with a van that is coughing and spluttering and chugging around corners and crawling through traffic lights. My son was with me and he was saying "Give it more gas Mum" so I pulled over and let him drive, and he did worse than me, as I knew by then how to "baby" it along. We had a good laugh though.

My old boss took me sight seeing in her old Datsun, talk about scary, she can't see very well anymore and we were skimming along the gutters. I keep on yelling "move over Heather", and she would just grin and keep skimming the gutters, can't hear very well either. I was one happy lady to get out of that car.

-- Edited by NannyMon at 21:35, 2008-09-19

NannyMon · Veteran Member

dave06 wrote:

pea green, I'm bright bloody purple, going round the twist here listening to others making their plans and nicking off, I cant move too far for another 2.9 years, only the little short hops of one and two weeks

lol those little short hops are better than nothing.

dave06 · Guru

arent the gutters there to guide one along the road

NannyMon · Veteran Member

dave06 wrote:

arent the gutters there to guide one along the road

I thought they were for the rain to flow down when it fell

dave06 · Guru

OHHH!!!! I thought they were to guide the drunks home

NannyMon · Veteran Member

dave06 wrote:

OHHH!!!! I thought they were to guide the drunks home

But what if you get in the wrong gutter weirdface

dave06 · Guru

damn!!!!, hadnt thought of that, could end up in singapore, the old adage that women are wiser always comes to the fore

NannyMon · Veteran Member

dave06 wrote:

damn!!!!, hadnt thought of that, could end up in singapore, the old adage that women are wiser always comes to the fore

and what if you sat down to rest, and it rained, you could be swept down the drain and then where would you be !!!

glenc · Member

Here are some wind maps, it depends when you go.
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/wind/wrselect.shtml

-- Edited by glenc at 08:33, 2008-11-23

dave06 · Guru

yep had a look at that, good spot, but if you have a look at a weather map on the news any night of the week you will see that the winds "circle" the arctic in a clockwise direction or basically west to east so in theory if one travels the nullarbour west to east (anti clockwise)then fuel savings should result, the top end really has no "prevailing winds" so I dont count that