My commute to work is about 70 miles round trip, 65 of those miles are spent on the interstate. You always see a lot of weird stuff on the highway. The one that I can’t figure out is I see many cars on the road with just the rear windows rolled down. Why? And more confusing for me, how does that not deafen the passengers? Every 4 door car I’ve owned makes a headache inducing pulsing with just the rear windows down.
Help me understand this strange world world we live in.
Could they have a sunroof that is cracked open? I know in the GLI tilting the sunroof and having a back window down is pretty nice but like you said... close the roof and open the back windows and any prisoner will talk after a mile...
Did you check to see if they had their wife in the car? That's what I do when I have mine....
I always kept my rear windows open and my sunroof cracked. Makes a real nice wind tunnel.
Not all cars have the same amount of noise in that position. I rather have all four windows down about three inches.
Some cars can eliminate the pulse by dropping one rear window more than the other. Breaks the harmonics, or at least moves them.
Of course here in GA right now the only reason to have windows down is that your AC is broken or you are trying to get a clear shot for a drive by.
I have found that having the rears down and the fronts JUST cracked will keep the buffeting down yet keep the car cool.
If I drop one window at highway speed, I'll get the pulsed/buffering, but as soon as I drop a second even just a crack, it helps tremendously.
The infamous "Helicopter in the Back Seat"
I suspect smokers.
The wind buffeting depends greatly on the car. I have no AC in my W201 Merc, so I do this all the time. Front window half way down, back all the way down. Left and right sides at different heights.
My inlaw's Fusion: no amount of rear window opening was acceptable. It immediately created the buffeting harmonic that makes one ready to kill.
I can’t stand having the windows down on the highway. Even in a E36 M3 box economy car it’s worth running the AC and keeping them up.
What really amazes me are the new, high dollar luxury cars I see with all the windows all the way down. Dude, you may as well drive a 1984 Chevy pick-up at that point. Automotive engineers spent a LOT of time and effort making your ride as quiet as possible, use that.
In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :
Some people like fresh air. I rarely, if at all, use the air con. It works perfectly in both the Abarth and Disco, I run it occasionally to keep it working, but I do not like the artificialness of it. I find it makes the heat outside worse.
Also, not on new luxury cars, if the blend door or hvac fan is malfunctioning, putting the rears down a bit can pull more of the cooled air through the vents....
Wife likes fresh air.
Kids like pushing buttons (and always ride in the back)
Those were my reasons.
I have a window open unless I’m getting rained/snowed on too hard. Opening one rear window for the dog is painful but cracking the other and it’s as smooth as the Steely Dan on the stereo.
Luxury car settings: Windows down, A/C on. It's decadent and amazing. Like buttering your toast before putting the peanut butter on.
Agreed. AC on and windows down. Except if its like 100+ degrees out.
Top down in the Miata all the time, unless active precipitation is happening. Been over a hundred all week and it is still down. A/C does not do much if the top is down.
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