MythBusters - Dirty vs. Clean Car - Dirty vs. Clean Car

[xReventonx]

So all in all, I'm wanting to repair my car with golf ball (hail) damage and in fact is better than it being repaired ? If so, saves me "fixing" it since it already is "fixed" :P

[madhoyden]

All the more reasons for me to wash my car other than it bothers me when it feels icky once a week.

[millionsteve]

will my hail damaged give me car better gas mileage?

[KripDrip]

the dirt on the car would only make the car heavier making it use more gas to run

[TENNSUMITSUMA]

u people that believe in these 'gas saver' devices ever heard of hyper miling? im doing that now even though my o2 sensor is bad an i get 18/24 mpg (that about how much the car gets normally) . imagine how much i would get once i fix that thing. how do you get it?

1 seafoam out the car

2 clean the car inside and out

3 use all of the hypermiling tactics possible (i do everything that doesnt require modifications - tire pressure, tun off engine at red light, etc)

car: 2001 kia optima se v6

[Humbuckjoe]

You can tell its a Ford :p

[acdc133]

i love this show :)

[jon1590]

how popular is a ford Taurus who dosent know what they look like lol

[rsuesakul]

randy suesakul

[BPMrecords]

we can already tell its a ford taurus, did you really have to remove the logo?

[zbret]

@BPMrecords Removing the logo makes it run faster, or is that a MYTH?  :D

[hyrael2]

Clean car better, i wonder why the wash planes, better aerodynamic ( Daft punk :) )

[littleseanx]

HAHA THEY REMOVED THE FORD LABEL!!

[girlyanimeboy]

*RESULTS*

They did 10 runs down a 1 mile track, 5 dirty 5 clean. The dirty car did worse than the clean car,getting 24mpg. The clean got 26. BUSTED

Next they tested if the golf ball effect that the dirt was suppose to have works on a car. they covered a car in clay and smoothed it down so that it was the same shape as the car body. They did the same test as before, 5 runs smooth, and 5 with golfball dimples. Smooth-26mpg, Dimpled-29mpg.

So a golfball surface is better than a smooth one =]

[imtang0708]

I live in a dirt road in the middle of the woods and know that after shitty weather my car can literally carry an additional 100 lbs. of dirt on it at least! I'm sure the owner of the quarter carwash hates me!!! My dirty car is the same as a constant passenger.

[mrblockboii]

r u serious? lol ive never noticed the difference in my car when its dirty

[imtang0708]

I am serious! Just today I spent $30 at the quarter car wash removing the 200 lbs. or more of mud from my wheel wells and under carriage! This did not include "washing" because my car still looks filthy but it no longer rides like a go-cart! All of my mud=2 or more passengers which decreases gas mileage. BTW, I'll bet the owner of said car wash isn't happy that I was there!

[casprd33]

@girlyanimeboy - so next hail storm I'm in like flint. :-)

[zbret]

@girlyanimeboy Thats really interesting, though I'm a bit surprised by the amount of improved mileage. I would have predicted the dirt not to make any significant difference, and I would have not have expected it to act 'dimpled', but the idea of dimpling a car would make the fuel efficiency improve by that much is really interesting. Makes one think carmakers should look at this - seriously :)

[zbret]

@girlyanimeboy Thats really interesting, though I'm a bit surprised by the amount of improved mileage. I would have predicted the dirt not to make any significant difference (if anything the added weight would be worse), and I would have not have expected it to act 'dimpled', but the idea of dimpling a car would make the fuel efficiency improve by that much is really interesting. Makes one think carmakers should look at this - seriously :)

[AdamLambertFan101411]

@girlyanimeboy thank you for posting the results. it helped me with my extera credit.

[XBrootalBeatDownX]

there are other factors involved like your tire pressure

[imtang0708]

Actually living on a dirt road on a rainy day can add at least 100 lbs. to your car, cause your tires to be off balance from the giant mud packs on the inside of your rims and inside of your rear bumper! Even when my car looks clean I'm still carrying a dead body's weight worth of mud causing shittier gas mileage!!!!

[Whitehorze]

I can tell you right now the myth is BS...

1) The weight of the dirt will drag down the mileage.

2) Your mileage will improve if you just slow down and stop pushing so much air...

[chuecco]

one star for being an ad

[SoloFantasy]

Im an engineer at Continental Airlines. It is all about Aerodynamic. If you know anything about fluid mechanics, then you will know that a smooth surface will be more aerodynamic. It is all about boundry layer.

[ennder1254]

i disagree with all of you, have you physical proof that this "myth" is false/true? than you have no right to make these statements, yes they are opinoins (parden my spelling), but if you have not ran tests testing this you will not know the outcome, some myths have acctually been proven to be true so don't count it to being wrong is all i'm saying.

[JoseJimeniz]

1 star for it being an ad.

[ajman031790]

no way it would add weight to the car n give it less MPG's

[Delus1on77]

...... just a teaser - this sucks

[debiaptget]

Shit... this is just a teaser.

[bernieborn]

I gotta believe some guy made a joke about how his car gets better MPG when it is dirty just because he had some doink telling him his car needed a bath. I do this to my brother all the time. He is so litteral and it takes him days or weeks to get a joke. Sometimes NEVER!!!! I guess I agreed with him (when he was 2 years old) that he was probably adopted and he hates me for it to this day because he thought I was serious! I was a 4 year old stand up comedian!!!!

[PsychedelicSexDream]

More surface area and weight so probably less fuel efficient

[bobbybob3680]

i think the mythbusters have it wrong here. they said theyre going to cover a car with dirt, but i think the myth is that a small sort of film of dirt, like dust, is what the myth is about.

[n91guru]

having a small/thing layer would have no effect as obviously it would follow the contours of the car and not change it in a way that could effect its aerodynamics..

but then again.. we wont know what they did untill we see it on TV

and this episode airs October 21st.. IE... comming wednesday

[bobbybob3680]

well i mean like, it might slice through the air better or idk.. you know like if you apply a thin layer of baby oil to something it comes very slippery? meh

[n91guru]

baby oil works as a lubricant against a surface when contact is made, when dealing with just air, its a whole different game.

because there is no physical contact (as such)... i dont think a "air lubricant" exists..

[briantexts]

In addition to making your car look shinier. =D

[takid123]

that sword scares me

[Abengoshis]

Are their standards slipping?

[oolong2]

This is stupid.... They CAN'T POSSIBLY believe that there is any validity to this "myth" (as if this is a real myth)

ANYONE with any sense would know this is complete crap. ANYONE who has flew on a plane and sees how meticulous they are about keeping the outside of the plane clean not just for safety but for FUEL EFFICIENCY...

Some of these "myths" are really just an insult to the intelligence of their viewers....

[C9H13NO3Adrenaline]

I totally agree with you...

[playgrrrr]

wow youre deluded

[SAsgarters]

I'm not saying you're wrong, in fact I agree with you, but I read somewhere not too long ago about a new aircraft "skin" that was supposed to create that effect and reduce drag.

But I don't believe for a second that dirt would do that.

[MJDreamWalker13]

It's a show that makes money.

As long as there is profit in making up myths to then test them out then that's what they'll do. Even if it means trying to prove that watching laundry is bad for your eyesight. Although it'd be good to know...

[capitalsown]

Yeah too bad aerodynamics and driving a car are hardly the same thing.

[Watupm]

aerodynamics has a huge affect on cars lol

[capitalsown]

yeah I guess I was TRYING to say "yeah too bad flying a plane and driving a car are hardly the same thing".

Besides, they don't clean the plane so much because they think it will move slower, they do it because they don't want it to fly in a different more erratic way.

[Similarx]

Why is sharks' skin rough?

[BenderRodrigez]

It'll be fun to watch f1 to see the carst come into the pit, not for a reful but for å redirt:P

[DVLARMY]

What's the outcome?

[ChaoticRain1]

If this were true, all race cars would be dirty as fuck...

[GamingMentor117]

574932658726972st

[coleskater16]

3rd

[zurba511]

second