Why don't people drag race with mirrors folded?

[BubblegumPete]

I've heard Elon Musk mention that if they removed side mirrors it would improve drag resistance quite a bit and I'd imagine this is probably something they'll do sometime in the future with camera mirrors on the inside, like the new Honda.

But for now we still have the mirrors on the outside. All the drag racers I've seen have the cars with the mirrors folded out. I thought this might be because the car won't let you fold them while driving. However I tested this today and it appears that you can fold your mirrors in drive mode. So the question is, if mirrors cause drag, why don't people fold them in to try and minimise drag and maximise their times. I doubt it would make much of difference but considering the lengths people go to to improve times, it's got to be worth a try?

 

[GTIceman]

How fast were you driving with them folded in? I have never tried it with my Tesla, driving at speed with folded mirrors. I know my BMW auto folds out at 25 MPH

 

[BubblegumPete]

How fast were you driving with them folded in? I have never tried it with my Tesla, driving at speed with folded mirrors. I know my BMW auto folds out at 25 MPH

Good point, I only tested it on the driveway. Yes maybe they automatically come out.

 

[WarpedOne]

>> So the question is, if mirrors cause drag, why don't people fold them in to try and minimise drag and maximise their times.

Folded mirrors cause even more drag than 'extended' mirrors because of poor aerodynamics.

 

[BubblegumPete]

>> So the question is, if mirrors cause drag, why don't people fold them in to try and minimise drag and maximise their times.

Folded mirrors cause even more drag than 'extended' mirrors because of poor aerodynamics.

Oh right, I thought it might be something like that.

 

[SubSolar]

If you look in this video, the guy drag racing does hit Fold Mirrors at the line:

 

[BubblegumPete]

If you look in this video, the guy drag racing does hit Fold Mirrors at the line:

I've actually seen that video before, never noticed him press the button. So it looks like they must unfold over a certain speed then as when the camera cuts to his exterior you can see they're still unfolded.

 

[jsmay311]

The mirrors in my Model 3 unfold at 32 mph.

(I discovered this due to a quirk/bug in the mirror folding behavior after using Summon when mirror auto-folding is turned off, discussed here: Model 3 mirror folding behavior after using Summon... )

 

[SubSolar]

I've actually seen that video before, never noticed him press the button. So it looks like they must unfold over a certain speed then as when the camera cuts to his exterior you can see they're still unfolded.

Yeah, I have mine auto fold when I get home. When I leave the house, I don't manually unfold because it does that automatically once I drive off within a block

 

[Wahbash]

I've heard Elon Musk mention that if they removed side mirrors it would improve drag resistance quite a bit and I'd imagine this is probably something they'll do sometime in the future with camera mirrors on the inside, like the new Honda.

But for now we still have the mirrors on the outside. All the drag racers I've seen have the cars with the mirrors folded out. I thought this might be because the car won't let you fold them while driving. However I tested this today and it appears that you can fold your mirrors in drive mode. So the question is, if mirrors cause drag, why don't people fold them in to try and minimise drag and maximise their times. I doubt it would make much of difference but considering the lengths people go to to improve times, it's got to be worth a try?

Because then you can't see the people you are racing.