Best technique when driving in strong head/tailwinds

[brucepick]

Its the cube of the airspeed.
From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_%2..._high_velocity

Power
The power required to overcome the aerodynamic drag is given by:


Note that the power needed to push an object through a fluid increases as the cube of the velocity. A car cruising on a highway at 50 mph (80 km/h) may require only 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) to overcome air drag, but that same car at 100 mph (160 km/h) requires 80 hp (60 kW). With a doubling of speed the drag (force) quadruples per the formula. Exerting four times the force over a fixed distance produces four times as much work. At twice the speed the work (resulting in displacement over a fixed distance) is done twice as fast. Since power is the rate of doing work, four times a [the] work in half the time requires eight times the power.

It should be emphasized here that the drag equation is an approximation, and does not necessarily give a close approximation in every instance. Thus one should be careful when making assumptions using these equations.

[end of Wikipedia quote]

[Lug_Nut]

Originally Posted by brucepick

Its the cube of the airspeed.

With a doubling of speed the drag (force) quadruples per the formula.

So two times faster increases air drag four times? That's squared, not cubed. Two times two.

Exerting four times the force over a fixed distance produces four times as much work. At twice the speed the work (resulting in displacement over a fixed distance) is done twice as fast. Since power is the rate of doing work, four times a [the] work in half the time requires eight times the power.

Four times the force already figures in the double speed, why is the double speed considered twice? If you are keeping a constant time, then the distance is double and thus the power exerted over the same time increases by the cube.

80 mph for one hour uses 8 times (2x2x2) the power of 40 mph for one hour. That's a cube, but the distance (displacement) is double.
80 mph for 40 miles uses 8 times (2x2x2) the power of 40 mph for 40 miles (a fixed displacement or distance), but for half as long. 2x2x2x.5 is the same as 2x2. 2x2 is a square, not a cube.
To me that's logical. If I'm wrong, why does it make sense to me?