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can anyone remember those rooftop wind delecters,  what happened to them ?

and did anyone do a proper evaluation on them.  in these days of high fuel costs are they worth another look at

Hi discodriver

Just realised I must have been hitting the bevvy a little to much, when I suddenly stopped wondering why your tag was Dis Cod River and re read it as Disco driver. Silly me.

I think the Caravan Club did some reserch which if I recall it was inconclusive. The fuel saving was not that great. Don't forget that when they were popular cars were not as powerful as they are now and turbo diesels were fairly rare.

David 

I believe there was some wind tunnel research & anecdotal evidence that suggested they potentially caused some turbulence and possible resultant instability between the car & caravan, possibly as they were just added as an afterthought rather than properly aerodynamically designed for that particular car/caravan combination (manufacturers spend millions on wind tunnel testing before a spoiler makes it onto a car!). However, as many many trucks have them where the trailer is higher than the cab roof, that seems to suggest to me that they are effective.

My guess would be that they dropped out of useage as folk couldn't be bothered to mess about fitting them & taking them off every time they hitched-up/unhitched, and they spoiled the sleek good looking lines of their smart new cars........ And as the fronts of most caravans have now become more aerodynamic in the first place anyway......

someone also said previously, another reason may be that cars dont have rain gutters, so a vehicle specific kit would be needed for the deflector, rather a PITA when its for roofbars, let alone just a deflector.

Newer vans are also alot more aerodynamic themselves, ie longer sloping fronts, rounded corners, not like my old tin box!!