Can power folding mirrors increase range?

[Texas Dan]

The F150L has really big mirrors that have to produce significant drag. I’m wondering if Bluecruise will still work if the mirrors are folded. You really don’t need mirrors if Bluecruise is doing the driving.

In Texas you legally only have to have one mirror so it shouldn’t be illegal to fold your mirrors while driving as long as you can still see out the center window. I use power mirrors when someone has their lights shining in my eyes but I never thought of using them to increase range. If anyone has any experience driving their F150L with the power windows folded please post.

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[alockbox]

I’ve accidentally folded the mirrors with BlueCruise going and it did work, but not long enough to test.
That being said, they were odd and distracting folded, since they are so large. The reflection zooms by.

 

[Maxx]

Mirrors have cameras on them. I am not sure if BlueCruise is using them. It will definitely help your range. By how much is a matter of your speed.

with both mirrors folded you reduce the area wind is fighting by 650 centimeter square. Find the cross sectional area (A) of your Ford, plug in before and after and you get the idea. I hear Cd for Lightning is 0.56.

or just drive the same road on the same day/ around same time and compare.

 

[Lightning Rod]

Sounds a little dangerous.

 

[Karlos]

As stated above, anything that reduces cross-sectional area reduces drag & power required to push the truck thru the air (down the road in ground-pounding terms). I fly a Cessna Cardinal retract & if I leave the engine cowl flaps open (roughly 2 postcards) at a 45d angle to windstream, it will slow me down 3-5 mph.
Fold'em, can't hurt

 

[BzzzzztZapPow]

DOT needs to change the regulations to allow interior screens with exterior cameras to remove the exterior mirrors on all cars and trucks.

 

[Joneii]

It does seem to help. I tried it for about 50 miles and seemed to gain about 0.2 m/kW. However, I ended the experiment when I got to an area with other traffic. I realized that my habit pattern is to continually check the mirrors to keep track of other traffic and know if I have an out if anything unexpected happens. I felt like my Situational Awareness was too low with the mirrors folded and it wasn’t worth the risk. I am keeping it in my bag of tricks if I ever have an extreme range issue, but to make it matter you have to recognize the problem and pull the mirrors as early as possible to get the most benefit. I guess I could work on updating my cross check to include the center screen with a camera view to make it a little safer, but right now it just isn’t worth the squeeze for me.

 

[meow]

DOT needs to change the regulations to allow interior screens with exterior cameras to remove the exterior mirrors on all cars and trucks.

And catch up with other countries? Pfft that’s not the way, let’s keep mirrors until they’re cool again!

 

[Crilly]

Cowl flaps open is not the main cause of drag when open. It is the increase of air flow through the engine that adds drag.

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