How Wyoming Wind Helps/Hurts Gas Mileage

Only in Wyoming is fuel mileage calculated by wind speed.

Let's do the math and figure out how much the wind can help or hurt you when driving in Wyoming.

A few years back, I was on a long straight Wyoming highway going the speed limit, I swear I was, of 70mph. There was a tailwind helping me along that was 50mph.

A curious idea popped into my head.

I slowed down to 50, rolled down my window, and stuck my hand out. Moving that fast and feeling nothing was a weird sensation.

A tailwind that is going slower than you are driving does not mean that the wind is pushing you, but it does mean that you don't have to push through the air as much as if there were no wind or a headwind. With a tailwind, there is less drag produced by the car.

I once drove from Casper to Cheyenne with a stiff tailwind and barely used a quarter of a tank of gas. But driving back to Casper in that same wind cost me half a tank.

A  car moving at 175 mph with a 35 mph tailwind experiences air resistance equivalent to a car traveling about 140 mph without wind, requiring roughly half the power to overcome the drag.

When you set your cruise control and drive into the wind, the car will reach the speed you've chosen, but a headwind will make it harder for the car to get to and maintain that speed.

A listener to my radio show told me that he had driven from Gillette to Cheyenne and back with heavy winds. On the way down to Cheyenne, he was getting 32 miles to the gallon. On the way back, he was getting only 19.

Crosswinds have less of an effect on fuel efficiency, but can still help or hurt if coming from a little behind or a little ahead.

Winds are usually gusty. So the help you get with a tailwind that comes and goes or the hurt from a headwind.