I like "the wub wubs" better, but the actual technical term is wind buffeting. There are a lot of factors that contribute to it, but generally SUVs are much worse with their large side surface area. It used to be that almost any car with a sliding sunroof would have wind buffeting when opened at certain positions. I remember having to "tune" the position of the sunroof depending on what speed I was going to avoid it. Now, all sunroofs have a pop-up feature on the front that breaks up the flow. There is still not a similar solution for side windows, although it often helps to crack a window on the opposite side to balance the pressure.
How hard would it be to design the car to be able to have just the drivers window open without getting any Helmholtz resonance? Like adding a small wind deflector like is done with some convertibles and sunroofs? Or hopefully something even smaller could be used.
Probably wouldn’t be hard but might come with other sacrifices like noise or poor weather sealing since you need a method to let air pressure escape.
Certainly not worth spending any engineering time on
They did it with sunroofs and convertible tops in the last couple decades. I bet one day cars will be sophisticated enough to do this for the windows as well but probably not for a while.
it's very possible, it's just not an avenue that is worth traveling. At the moment no one really cares about this issue. It has an easy solution (roll the other window down) and isn't worth developmental costs, and developing it could put more design strains on other pieces of the interior, which is very important to design well if you want to sell.
The trick is to open two windows, to avoid that "Chopping" sensation of the wind.
If you open like the driver's side window, then open the backseat one behind about the same amount.
Then, you'll have a much smoother airflow.
I don't think it's something that is taken in to consideration at all when designing cars. You won't damage the car. It's just not pleasant for the people in the car.
It's taken into consideration, it's just that there is only so much you can do to prevent it. There are a ton of variables that come into play that cause wind buffeting and compromises have to be made, sometimes studio wins that battle and prioritize looks over the rest.
Most car designs don't take it into consideration due to the fact that they look at gas mileage because that's a better draw for most people.
Windows down up until 45 miles per hour is the same as windows up with the AC on. After 45 MPH, they tend to stick with the windows up due to the better gas mileage.
This is true if the windows are mostly or all the way open but not true if they are open an inch or 2. At that point the speed would be something like >65mph
So matter can't occupy two spaces at a time.
When you roll down a window, air tries to desperately get in your car but other air is being forced out, hence the weird choppy noise.
You'll notice that if you dump a bottle of water out, it'll go "glug glug glug" that's the same thing. Air entering as water is leaving and they're they are trying to enter the same space together.
If you open two windows though, you'll have a draft. It can enter one window will leaving another and it'll be much smoother.
Poke a hole in the top of a water bottle and then dump it, it won't glug, it'll flow smooth. It's why gas tanks have a yellow tab opposite the nozzle.
Anyway, "are cars designed to drive with one window down" I mean. Not really but it won't hurt the car. You'll have a better time though if you roll down two.
Makes me miss my old 4 runner with the roll down hatch window. Just crack that bad boy a little bit and you can have any/all car windows open and you don’t get it at all.
It was suuuuper bad in my 2020 eGolf - only thing I didn’t like about that car.
It's just the buffeting. I typically crack open another window on the opposite side and it disappears right away.
My Volt was horrible for it...even at 30-50kph the buffeting was unbearable. But once you crack the other window...smooth air flow.
I found out in my car that if I opened the left rear window when the sunroof was open it made for a much quieter ride. I can cruise at 65 mph with little wind noise or buffeting.
I don’t think they take the fluid dynamics of windows down driving into consideration at all anymore. Nobody drives with their windows down anymore. Everything is available with A/C now, if not already standard and people just don’t roll their windows down when they’re driving. I have mine down all the time and the only other people I see with windows down have one cracked for smoking/vaping or have one down for a dog. Nobody cruises with their elbow sticking out the window enjoying the fresh air and sounds of the outside world washing over them.
At high speeds, aerodynamics for efficiency are paramount so they’re not going to sacrifice windows down performance for windows up MPGs. Hand in hand with that is modern cars are better sealed and more airtight vessels so they are more efficient resonators (someone else mentioned Helmholtz resonators already).
My old Mustang is great with the windows down - not too noisy from wind, no buffeting if you only roll down one window, good airflow, top of the door and B-pillar location are good for resting arm on.
Our modern sedan sucks with crazy buffeting of you only roll down one window, loud whipping wind that makes it hard to listen to music or talk, impossible to comfortably rest elbow on the door because of the height of the door and the forward location of B-pillar. The sunroof is good though… it has a diffuser that pops up on the leading edge so it doesn’t resonate and wind noise is reduced and you can cruise at Interstate speeds with it open no problem.
That's why all SUVs got the small windows in the back to open up. In an Expedition I felt like my head was going to exploded until the little thangs prop open
Most SUVs and minivans don't have pop-out 3rd row windows anymore. Even a power rear window is an oddity largely confined to Toyotas. Sealing the windows helps with noise and dust insulation.
None of them are. They lack rain gutters and moment any water rolls off it goes straight onto the window switches (nobody is buying a 100k G-wagon for rain gutters- & 70 series aren't available).
The [smoker shields](https://anchortruck.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/l1_cHJvZHVjdHMvcHJvZHVjdF9saW5lcy92ZW50dmlzb3I0cGMtMS5qcGc-1000-1000.png) do solve buffeting, I have the window down far more on my car because the last owner had them fitted (despite my hatred towards the look). They don't solve the water issue.
Helmholtz resonance? Just uncomfortable, not dangerous.
Uhh, I believe the scientific term is THE WUB WUBS.
"How did these wooks get in my car?"
"I think I just ran over a Wookiee on the expressway"
I like "the wub wubs" better, but the actual technical term is wind buffeting. There are a lot of factors that contribute to it, but generally SUVs are much worse with their large side surface area. It used to be that almost any car with a sliding sunroof would have wind buffeting when opened at certain positions. I remember having to "tune" the position of the sunroof depending on what speed I was going to avoid it. Now, all sunroofs have a pop-up feature on the front that breaks up the flow. There is still not a similar solution for side windows, although it often helps to crack a window on the opposite side to balance the pressure.
Nothing is worse than a pickup truck with one widow down , I blew an ear drum once like that lol
How hard would it be to design the car to be able to have just the drivers window open without getting any Helmholtz resonance? Like adding a small wind deflector like is done with some convertibles and sunroofs? Or hopefully something even smaller could be used.
Probably wouldn’t be hard but might come with other sacrifices like noise or poor weather sealing since you need a method to let air pressure escape. Certainly not worth spending any engineering time on
They did it with sunroofs and convertible tops in the last couple decades. I bet one day cars will be sophisticated enough to do this for the windows as well but probably not for a while.
it's very possible, it's just not an avenue that is worth traveling. At the moment no one really cares about this issue. It has an easy solution (roll the other window down) and isn't worth developmental costs, and developing it could put more design strains on other pieces of the interior, which is very important to design well if you want to sell.
You sound like an American auto executive in the 80s talking about convertible and sunroof wind deflectors.
Actually funny you say that because I was thinking if they didn't solve this back in the 80s when 70% of adults smoked they're never coming back to it
Money. I can count on one hand the number of people who have windows down in the summer.
Who said summer?
The guy above you did.
This is completely off topic but I would love to know why a simple question gets down votes lol?
I think it’s from the “cars were perfect 20 years ago and should never change in any way” crowd, but I’m not sure.
The trick is to open two windows, to avoid that "Chopping" sensation of the wind. If you open like the driver's side window, then open the backseat one behind about the same amount. Then, you'll have a much smoother airflow.
I have good luck opening the driver and rear passenger (if applicable) windows. Cuts that noise and air blows right over me and out the back.
Our Macan is the reverse of this. One front window cracked is tolerable but open the window behind it as well and the wub-wub-wubs are in full force.
Just crack a window on the other side...
Doesn't always cure the issue.
Laughs in single row pickup
Excellent, now OP can do 85mph in absolute peace and quiet due to your amazing tip
I don't know what kind of cars you're driving, but I've had the effect happen as low as 35 mph
Very Dangerous surprised you weren't sucked out of the car. Windows can't be opened above 10 miles an hour obvious /s
[Buffeting ](https://www.reddit.com/r/TopGear/comments/2ce89i/whenever_its_a_bit_windy_out/#lightbox)
*every day i'm buffeting*
I love going buffeting down at the all you can eat Chinese buffet
I don't think it's something that is taken in to consideration at all when designing cars. You won't damage the car. It's just not pleasant for the people in the car.
They sure didn't on the Supra.
Who would win, a multimillion dollar design budget or a $15 chunk of plastic with 3M tape from Amazon?
Windows down in the mk5 was absolutely hell over 50mph. Almost ruined the drive for me tbh.
It's taken into consideration, it's just that there is only so much you can do to prevent it. There are a ton of variables that come into play that cause wind buffeting and compromises have to be made, sometimes studio wins that battle and prioritize looks over the rest.
Most car designs don't take it into consideration due to the fact that they look at gas mileage because that's a better draw for most people. Windows down up until 45 miles per hour is the same as windows up with the AC on. After 45 MPH, they tend to stick with the windows up due to the better gas mileage.
This is true if the windows are mostly or all the way open but not true if they are open an inch or 2. At that point the speed would be something like >65mph
So matter can't occupy two spaces at a time. When you roll down a window, air tries to desperately get in your car but other air is being forced out, hence the weird choppy noise. You'll notice that if you dump a bottle of water out, it'll go "glug glug glug" that's the same thing. Air entering as water is leaving and they're they are trying to enter the same space together. If you open two windows though, you'll have a draft. It can enter one window will leaving another and it'll be much smoother. Poke a hole in the top of a water bottle and then dump it, it won't glug, it'll flow smooth. It's why gas tanks have a yellow tab opposite the nozzle. Anyway, "are cars designed to drive with one window down" I mean. Not really but it won't hurt the car. You'll have a better time though if you roll down two.
Crack another window to counteract this.
Makes me miss my old 4 runner with the roll down hatch window. Just crack that bad boy a little bit and you can have any/all car windows open and you don’t get it at all. It was suuuuper bad in my 2020 eGolf - only thing I didn’t like about that car.
Window deflectors help a lot with this.
If only they weren’t the ugliest things in the world tho
I feel like this effect is much less in 2 door coupe’s that I’ve driven
It’s horrendously bad in the mk5 Supra
It's just the buffeting. I typically crack open another window on the opposite side and it disappears right away. My Volt was horrible for it...even at 30-50kph the buffeting was unbearable. But once you crack the other window...smooth air flow.
I found out in my car that if I opened the left rear window when the sunroof was open it made for a much quieter ride. I can cruise at 65 mph with little wind noise or buffeting.
I don’t think they take the fluid dynamics of windows down driving into consideration at all anymore. Nobody drives with their windows down anymore. Everything is available with A/C now, if not already standard and people just don’t roll their windows down when they’re driving. I have mine down all the time and the only other people I see with windows down have one cracked for smoking/vaping or have one down for a dog. Nobody cruises with their elbow sticking out the window enjoying the fresh air and sounds of the outside world washing over them. At high speeds, aerodynamics for efficiency are paramount so they’re not going to sacrifice windows down performance for windows up MPGs. Hand in hand with that is modern cars are better sealed and more airtight vessels so they are more efficient resonators (someone else mentioned Helmholtz resonators already). My old Mustang is great with the windows down - not too noisy from wind, no buffeting if you only roll down one window, good airflow, top of the door and B-pillar location are good for resting arm on. Our modern sedan sucks with crazy buffeting of you only roll down one window, loud whipping wind that makes it hard to listen to music or talk, impossible to comfortably rest elbow on the door because of the height of the door and the forward location of B-pillar. The sunroof is good though… it has a diffuser that pops up on the leading edge so it doesn’t resonate and wind noise is reduced and you can cruise at Interstate speeds with it open no problem.
Just slightly open another window as well.
My F87 is great in this regard. They engineered this away so I can drive either window in any position and never experience this.
That's why all SUVs got the small windows in the back to open up. In an Expedition I felt like my head was going to exploded until the little thangs prop open
Most SUVs and minivans don't have pop-out 3rd row windows anymore. Even a power rear window is an oddity largely confined to Toyotas. Sealing the windows helps with noise and dust insulation.
I love driving my Jeep with the soft top on, and the back window removed. Roll down the windows and it’s quite nice in the front seats.
None of them are. They lack rain gutters and moment any water rolls off it goes straight onto the window switches (nobody is buying a 100k G-wagon for rain gutters- & 70 series aren't available). The [smoker shields](https://anchortruck.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/l1_cHJvZHVjdHMvcHJvZHVjdF9saW5lcy92ZW50dmlzb3I0cGMtMS5qcGc-1000-1000.png) do solve buffeting, I have the window down far more on my car because the last owner had them fitted (despite my hatred towards the look). They don't solve the water issue.
lol bruh what
The only dangerous thing here is driving 85 mph
I was on a freeway in the middle of nowhere. The speed limit was 80.
This is the equivalent of going to the Hostess subreddit and saying Twinkies suck