Quote:
Originally Posted by gascort
I see that too, but I have to wonder how much attached air there is there, right after the giant wheel well about .4m to the back of the car.
|
But the tail light is interacting with flow that is mostly
above the wheel arch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
I think it's a place to put the reflector.
|
I wondered that too.
But note that the rear facing reflector in the tail light assembly isn't in the step; it's incorporated into the curved plastic. It's the trapezoid at the bottom (not currently reflecting the camera flash in my photo.)
Demonstrating there's no functional reason they couldn't have done the same with side reflector (incorporated it behind the compound curves of the assembly). They didn't have to build the "step" just for the reflector.
I'm betting they killed 2 birds with one stone: airflow detachment was bird #1. Bird #2 was the stylists using the structure as a nifty place to house the side reflector.