[Vwdiesel] Tale of windy towing

[dieseltdi at verizon.net]

Hi all, Just got back from a short spring break trip.  We did some  
driving across the Pan Handle of Texas the day the big grass fires  
broke out.  Missed the fires but learned a lesson in wind and drag.   
My 04 Passat TDI usually gets between 24-26 mpg when towing my 1700  
lb pop up trailer (sometimes as high as 28 but the average is about  
26).  This trip we found that even if you have a high MPG car, the  
wind can really screw it up.  At times we were driving into 40-50 mph  
head winds with reported gusts greater than 60 mpg.  Now I am no  
mathematician or physicist, but I can basically understand that if my  
car is going 65 mpg into a 40 mph head wind then the engine must be  
working like it is driving at 105 mph or so.  Well what ever the  
math, the car got considerably poorer mileage than normal, with   
21-22 mpg on the tank and parts of another tank saw MFA averages of  
17-19 mpg.  Despite the wind, the car and trailer combination handled  
well.  I didn't have any problems even driving up the mountain  
valleys in New Mexico headed towards Ruidoso.  My newly installed EGT  
gauge showed that the average temperature when towing on a flat road  
with little to no wind was around 395 degrees C, with wind closer to  
475 degrees C. Maximum temperature that I saw was climbing one good  
long grade, into the wind,  when it briefly touched on a bit over 600  
degrees C (about 1100 degrees F).   My thermocouple is literally 1"  
from the turbo so not much chance for a large temperature drop to  
occur.  I have spoken with my local diesel guru and he tells me that  
in the VERY short distance that the exhaust travels in a car, there  
is VERY little difference between preturbo temps and post turbo  
temps, maybe 100 degrees F or so.  Anyway, glad to be home and if the  
rain stops today I will be working on my TDI truck conversion.  Hayden

" Those who are willing to sacrifice Liberty for Security, deserve  
neither Liberty nor Security."  Ben Franklin
"Dictatorships all have common factors:  a government controlled by  
one party, a leader who claims to have special powers outside the law  
to keep the country "safe", secret prisons where people are locked up  
without charges or trial and government opponents are branded as  
unpatriotic and charged with aiding the enemy."

Visit my website at:  http://mysite.verizon.net/resosxp8/mydieselpages/
Proud owner of:
2004 Passat TDI GLS, 2.0l, 8 valve, 134 HP, 247 lb/ft of torque  
(making 150 hp with Diesel Power Tuning Box), Blue Graphite,  
Anthracite leather interior, ABS, ESP.
1998 Jetta TDI (Wetterauer Chipset, 2 1/2" exhaust, K&N Filter,  140K 
+ miles, and running biodiesel)
1981 Rabbit Pickup -Awaiting a TDI engine swap with a 96 Passat 1Z  
engine.
And many, many, many VWs; from a 1946 Beetle (11 Beetles total), to  
Vans (5 - 3 splitties, 2 bay window), Rabbits (3), Karmen Ghia (1),  
Jettas (5), Passat (1), Dasher (1), New Beetle (1), and Rabbit  
Pickups (3) most now gone but not forgotten.