coasting w/ square vehicle?

[brelandt]

If you haven't read my very first post on gassavers.org under the "introduce yourself" then I will tell you a little about my vehicle first before I ask my question.

It's a 92 Suzuki Sidekick JS 2 dr convertible w/ 5speed tranny. 187,000 miles and dents all over the body. Even the top is ill fitting!

anyhow, on to my question. With my other car I had a 91 Integra I was able to glide for at least 3/4 of a mile before I had to step on the gas pedal again. On my Sidekick if I tried to glide (starting point at 55mph) I'm down to 45 in less than 5 seconds. If I do this at a slower speed (35mph) I can coast quite a ways.

My truck is a box I know and I can only take a guess at it's CD. Am I out of luck here or I'm I not doing this right? AKA need to speed up to a greater rate prior to gliding....

[Hockey4mnhs]

You need to glide at slower speeds if you have bad CD. Lower speeds you can coast longer.

[GasSavers_Red]

Rapid decel at 55 and above sounds normal. My Jeep does the same. Some things to check with 187k on the clock

Wheel bearings
Dragging brakes or misadjusted drums
Maxing sure the top seats properly

Those can cause additional drag than what would be normal

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Same with my flatbed pickup truck. In areas where the Camry will coast from 75-50mph over 5-10 miles, the truck will drop down to 50mph within a mile or so. It's just the large drag coef.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

my car will coast almost twice as far if I have 5 people in it, your sidekick is pretty light, and not very airodinamic, integuras are sleek, and heavy, so it's like comparing tossing a basball to tossing a beach ball, of corse the small dense vehicle is going to cost farther then the large light fluffy one.

[DRW]

"coast farther then the large light fluffy one."
Mmmmm... light, fluffy and square, sounds yummy.
You're driving a big Rice Crispy Treat!
Sorry, I just finished a bike race and all I can think about is food right now.

[rh77]

Originally Posted by DRW

"coast farther then the large light fluffy one."
Mmmmm... light, fluffy and square, sounds yummy.
You're driving a big Rice Crispy Treat!
Sorry, I just finished a bike race and all I can think about is food right now.

Tire over-inflation is a key component to coasting long-distances (and the tire type as well). I hear that cold pavement is also a drag as well, but colder tires prove to be harder and roll easier.

RH77