I thought you were very polite and respectful, no worries.

I only know enough about aerodynamics to understand that I don’t actually know shit. I think most racing fans are in the same boat as me.

I’d love to learn more, and that’s really all that I was asking for.

Do you know the magnitude? If not, we’re both talking out of our asses. There must be some research or wind tunnel data out there about this, but I don’t have the numbers and I don’t know where to look.

I’ve been into sim racing for nearly a decade. There’s never been a better time to get into it IMO.

Sim racing games and equipment have gotten significantly better and cheaper over the last 5 years. Hydraulic pedals and direct drive wheelbases did exist, but they were in the $2k-$4k price range. Now you can get high quality gear with that technology for under $500.

iRacing and Assetto Corsa are still the kings, but we are spoiled for choice when it comes to excellent sims.

If you are any kind of gearhead you’ll love it. There are even thriving sub-hobbies for things like bass shakers and motion platforms, which add back some of the seat feeling that you miss out on versus IRL.

Did you do motorcycle racing IRL? I’ve seen crazy motorcycle sim builds with motion, lean, etc., but I don’t think serious simulators exist yet. I’d love to see it.

As for Tesla, I don’t think we can know unless a Tesla engineer/aerodynamicist chimes in. There are other more serious examples of executive meddling in engineering, like the use of visual cameras instead of radar/lidar. Working for them must be a hair-pulling experience for their engineers.

I’m talking out of my ass. I’m big into (mostly sim) racing myself, but I have no formal training or experience. You probably know way more about it than me!

If you’re a racing nerd then you know how strong the suckage can be. My car uses premium fuel and I get about 7L/100km on the highway. That adds up on long trips, so I try to save fuel when I can. I’ve tried drafting behind transport trucks. Even at only 90 kmph, I was able to get that number down to 5L/100km.

Electric vehicles have a lot of design features to cut down on aerodynamic and mechanical drag. Special hub caps, no grilles, low drag tires, etc. for the purpose of helping their main problem and selling point: the vehicle’s range on a single charge. I assumed the flush door handles were just another design feature for reducing aerodynamic drag, where every little bit counts.

Again, this is all out of my ass. I am well aware that aerodynamics are far far more complex than “smooth = better”, and that most cars are probably already designed so the door handles aren’t a problem. Maybe the door handles make no difference and having them flush is just optics for Tesla.

It comes into play much sooner than that when you’re designing for maximum range on an electric vehicle.

That sounds like the video stays on your device but the photos do not.