When I got my new Kia it had those plastic strips on top of the side windows, the dark ones that are around 3-4 inches long and hang over the window protruding about an inch or so. Well, when one started to come off I superglued it back on, but when a second began to come off, too, I thought it was just a temporary lot thing and tore them all off.
Do they generally save gas mileage by making vehicles more aerodynamic? Or do they drag it down and are just for appearance and/or slightly more shade? Or is it pretty much a wash?
I always thought they were there so you could lower your window a couple of inches without all that wind noise, or so you could leave your window open a little while parked without worrying about rain getting in.
I know that in older cars at highway speed, you could get pretty wind-whipped with the window all the way down, but those deflectors would keep the 70 MPH wind from blowing through the car.
I’ve never heard of them being used for aerodynamic reasons, with regard to MPG.
I’m pretty sure those are rain guards that allow you to crack open the window without rain coming in during a shower. Convenient for smokers and for people that don’t have or don’t want to run the a/c.
I asked about this a few years back. the answer I go was that they were to aid in window alignment when rolling up the window, especially when travelling at highway speeds.