Tonneau Cover Range Improvement numbers

[RLXXI]

Have not read all of the posts so someone may have mentioned this before. These covers are not weightless. Neither is the stuff that I carry around in the frunk or cab that I rarely if ever use. Things like the 110/220 charge kit, trailer hitch, air mattress setup for the back seat, rear floor coverings, etc. If you are really obsessing over your mileage, go for the low hanging fruit first. Keep your speed at 55 MPH, don't run your heater or A/C or your stereo, dim your interior lights and put your big screen to sleep.
Or just enjoy your truck!

Truth!

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[2sleep]

Agreed that you can't really make a brick aerodynamic. But IMHO, what ever small loss or gain you would have having a "closed" bed verses an open one is less important than the terrain and/or headwind/tailwind and speed.

 

[Cbowe]

Agreed that you can't really make a brick aerodynamic. But IMHO, what ever small loss or gain you would have having a "closed" bed verses an open one is less important than the terrain and/or headwind/tailwind and speed.

Pretty much and the open bed ends up filling with an air bubble that allows the air to flow right over it so it ends up not really making a difference cover or not

 

[Pitbull2o08]

I assume you are just being belligerent for fun, but in fact, there is nothing in the paragraph you quoted that is false. And oddly, you go on to agree with my several points. Wierd.

The First Statement:
"So, the theory is this: a tonneau cover lowers the Cd (coefficient of drag) of a pickup truck."
That is entirely true and very well known by every aero guy or gal at all the manufacturers. Does the theory pan out in practice? That's another question. But the answer there is also well known, and Brad Richards of Ford (see the autoblog video) puts its well: "Tonneaeu covers are more efficient." He goes on to say that the tailgate top surface mimics the last 6 inches of a tonneau cover.
So the first statement 100% true. Anyone arguing otherwise, would have to know essentially nothing about the last 50 years of auto aerodynamics studies.

The Second Statement:
"That is almost universally true, for reasons that are probably intuitively obvious. " It is 100% true that the theory is universally recognized, by those with subject matter expertise. Granted, there are loads of people who know nothing about aerodymanics, but I think, in context, we can say that I am not treating their theories (whatever they may be) as a "theory". They are instead "hunches". For example, the hunch that lowering the tailgate would reduce drag is clearly not useful. The SEMA tests. long ago showed that not to be valid, as had tests elsewhere at manufacturer's wind tunnels decades ago.
So, again: 100% true.

The Third Statement:
"The tailgate is an obvious apparent wind catcher." No one but a fool would disagree with this, and even you agree: "The tailgate does trap air," you say.
100%, unambiguously, and simply true.
(The second part of your statement is not strictly true without further explanation, given that local velocities within the general bed bubble are actually substantially higher that the free stream velocity, and therefore of lower pressure. Bed blowing would help with your theory.

The fourth statement:
Try to carry a sheet plywood with the flat side facing the wind on a gusty day, and you will appreciate aerodynamic drag."
Even people with essentially no aerodynamic training or exposure to physics would agree with this statement, unless they have led very sheltered lives. I might have gone on to say "Hold the sheet at its trailing edge, and with an angle of attack of 10 degrees, and as it flips over on top of you, you may also gain an intuitive understanding of lift... and even aerodynamic center and moments" .
100% true and known to anyone who has given these issues any thought.

So, were you hallucinating, or perhaps responding to someone else's post?

Are you thinking the Brad Richards is a fraud? What do you think his motives for lying would be?

I can’t explain fluid dynamics to you if you’re not capable of receiving the information. Good day.

 

[WXman]

Didn't Mythbusters test a truck with and without a tonneau cover using instrumentation? They found that the cover did not help.

I have driven my Lightning on the same daily commute for the last several months. When I installed the hard cover on it I saw ZERO increase in mi/kWh. Not even a tenth.

 

[RLXXI]

Didn't Mythbusters test a truck with and without a tonneau cover using instrumentation? They found that the cover did not help.

I have driven my Lightning on the same daily commute for the last several months. When I installed the hard cover on it I saw ZERO increase in mi/kWh. Not even a tenth.

I saw the tailgate episode, don't remember if they included a tonneau or not, doesn't sound familiar.

 

[ZeusDriver]

I can’t explain fluid dynamics to you if you’re not capable of receiving the information. Good day.

Nevertheless, gosh golly I sure appreciate your trying to do so. I suffer from IIS (idiopathic idiocy syndrome) so struggle to grasp anything more complicated than making toast. Is there a lynch party being organized to hang Brad Richards, who is on record as the Ford representative who claimed (fictitiously, apparently) that tonneau covers improve aerodynamics, as proven in their full scale wind tunnel? Let me know who, precisely, did the DOE and SEMA studies that showed the same effect, and I will gather up some of my idiot friends to lynch the perps.

 

[Firn]

Nevertheless, gosh golly I sure appreciate your trying to do so. I suffer from IIS (idiopathic idiocy syndrome) so struggle to grasp anything more complicated than making toast. Is there a lynch party being organized to hang Brad Richards, who is on record as the Ford representative who claimed (fictitiously, apparently) that tonneau covers improve aerodynamics, as proven in their full scale wind tunnel? Let me know who, precisely, did the DOE and SEMA studies that showed the same effect, and I will gather up some of my idiot friends to lynch the perps.

Nobody here is debating that in some particular cases a cover could increase efficiency. What we ARE discussing is if a cover affects the efficiency of THE LIGHTNING.

A short cab long bed at 50mph, yeah possibly. Our crew cab short bed, we'll we have lots of accounts that people have NOT seen an improvement.

In fact, I fully believe ford in their reports that the large flat top of the tailgate is specif8cally there to increase efficiency. And I believe it does, maybe, on a longer bed, at the epa testing speed. And maybe, on a shorter bed, at a different speed...

Heck, I HAVE the research paper from GM that shows the efficiency differences of a cover. Heck, in it they even highlight the differences provided by HALF a cover. And I HAVE tested it myself, just to end up seeing the exact same efficiency WHEN TESTING ON A CREW CAB SHORT BED. From there I have done tuft testing and observed directly that the airflow does not impact the cover, which is where the efficiency gain would come from.

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