a few days into the Euro 2008 football championships fans are being advised not to fly their flags - because they could damage the environment. Engineers have declared that the flags, which are usually attached to window frames, cause wind resistance, which alters a car's aerodynamics and causes it to burn more fuel. Austria's automobile club, the OAMTC, says attaching two flags to a car leads to an increased petrol consumption of "up to half a litre a kilometre on motorways and rural stretches".
Austria's automobile club, the OAMTC, says attaching two flags to a car leads to an increased petrol consumption of "up to half a litre a kilometre on motorways and rural stretches".
Half a litre per kilometre? That would give my car a range of about 80km.
Do you think they mean a half kilometre less per litre?
I don't believe it.
But if I normally get 60mpg, that's about 20km per litre. So to drive 80km without a flag takes 4 litres.
A flag costs an additional 40 litres over that 80km????
I realise they aren't going to be talking about my car. But it still seems a suspiciously high figure if talking about cars. What did they test it on? A Hummer full of bricks?
(Unless, of course, I've got Wednesday morning syndrome and my maths is screwed.)
Have they change the design of these flags? I don't remember them being the size of a house and made of brightly painted depleted uranium.
