3 ms·

Here in snow country, the last thing I would want is for my wheels to be covered like that.

• claudius 13y ago
  Not everything is snow country and it might make perfect sense in warmer or more densely populated places. There’s no reason why one car would have to be fit for every climate on every continent.
  • alayne 13y ago
    I figured someone would make that comment. I'm just giving one example of why this may not be a good engineering decision. It also makes it hard to access or inspect the wheel/tire in general. You can't just optimize for one thing like aerodynamics without taking into account the big picture (and I personally think aesthetics). I have seen many solar cars and high efficiency cars over the years that are highly impractical because they've optimized one efficiency dimension too far.
    • claudius 13y ago
      Of course you have to take maintenance and aesthetics etc. into account, but depending on your target market and the value you put on fuel efficiency, you can still come to the conclusion that covered wheels are the way to go for this particular vehicle. Nobody would put covered wheels on some off-road car, mostly because these aren’t exactly known for efficiency in the first place.