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Tesla redesigned its Model S with a yoke-style steering wheel, and we’re not the only ones wondering: Is it safe for the average driver?We reached out to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and learned that they don’t “approve” design changes like this—it’s up to the automaker to make sure its products meet safety standards before they release them.The steering yoke has both fans and detractors but Elon Musk says it is here to stay.It just wouldn’t be a conversation about Tesla without some sort of controversy about the screen or the styling or the promises of performance. Everyone’s favorite new Tesla topic is the steering wheel, or rather, the steering yoke, in the Model S. The redesigned Model S comes with a rectangular “wheel” with no top bar. It looks like an upside-down Formula 1 wheel, or, as many people have pointed out, like the controls in Knight Rider’s K.I.T.T. Neat. The scuttlebutt about the yoke is not whether it looks cool, but if it will be comfortable, or even safe, on the road.
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Many fans and detractors have assumed that Tesla will eventually offer the Model S with a traditional wheel, but Musk recently put the kibosh on that with a terse tweet to an online query. “No,” he said in a thread discussing possible alternate steering styles.
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When it was first announced in January 2021, there were even questions about whether it was legal, with quotes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) appearing in multiple articles saying it was “reaching out” to Tesla for more information. Whatever that conversation was, it must have satisfied the NHTSA investigators, because when Car and Driver approached them for an update about the safety of the yoke, the rep responded with a sigh that was audible through email—ours must not have been the first query on the subject.

“NHTSA does not ‘approve’ or test vehicles prior to their introduction,” she told us. “Manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that their vehicles meet all NHTSA safety standards and must certify the compliance of their vehicles. NHTSA’s standards do not prohibit non-circular steering controls, but manufacturers must ensure the steering control meets all requirements for occupant impact protection.” So, basically, if the steering control won’t impale the occupants or leave the vehicle and impale pedestrians, NHTSA doesn’t care what shape it is. Good news for Tesla, bad news if you were hoping to sell a spiked dog-collar version. Just because something is legal, though, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea in a car. Or maybe, more accurately, just because something is a good idea in an airplane or race car doesn’t mean it’s a good idea in a street car. Yoke-style steering controls are not new; they’ve been on dragsters since the beginning of nitro racing, in airplanes, and in the earlier mentioned F1 cars, but one rarely has to parallel park an open-wheel Ferrari, and if you’re doing a three-point turn in a Top Fuel rail you’ve got more problems than just an uncomfortable steering ratio. From watching videos of people driving the Model S, it looks like parking is the most complicated change for people used to a round steering wheel. Some of this has to do with Tesla’s decision not to adjust the steering ratio to go along with the new yoke—it would be better with a quicker ratio where the yoke wouldn’t have to be turned as far—and we have to imagine this will be addressed in the future. Tesla seems to have no problem with developing products on the go. Some videos make the yoke look impossible, but anyone who has ever gotten out of a manual and into an automatic and had to spend a day pressing on an invisible clutch before the muscle memory faded should have some idea of how quickly we can learn a new automotive layout. We did notice that racer Randy Pobst didn’t seem to want to risk that learning curve on the curves of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Pobst can be seen hustling a Model S Plaid up the mountain to a class win and 10thoverall finish with a traditional round wheel in the car.
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For people not doing their test drives cliffside, there are plenty of positive yoke reviews on YouTube too, much of it seems to be about how much the driver wants to like the yoke.
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“I’m a big believer in Tesla and what they’re doing, but I’d call it out if it wasn’t good,” said YouTuber and electric-car enthusiast TeslaRaj when we asked him about his yoke test drive. “I can’t say the yoke will drastically improve the driving experience or safety, but I can say you get used to it quickly and it doesn’t feel unsafe. If I had any complaint about the yoke it would be that the turn signals are hard to use, not the steering.” Raj went on to say that he did notice, and enjoy, the clear field of vision allowed by the truncated wheel, and that he thinks any minor learning curve is worth it for the style it brings to the cabin. “If I’m paying X amount for an electric car, it should feel like I’m in the future, and this feels like the future.”Another review, the one that prompted Musk’s recent tweet, seemed to agree with Raj that it wasn’t the steering that was hard to use but the touch-sensitive controls—and this is hardly a Tesla-only problem. Mercedes, we’re looking at your tiny steering-wheel buttons.
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It’s fun to throw a fit every time an automaker tries something new, but crows and octopi can use tools, so we, most adaptable of monkeys, are going to be able to figure out how to drive using the new Tesla Model S yoke even if it isn’t the most sensible solution to steering. Is the Lamborghini Huracán paddle-shift-into-gear sensible? Is the Porsche left-hand key? Is anything about the Ram TRX? If sensible was the only rule to automotive design, everything would look like the inside of a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. The yokes are coming, and if they start crashing at an unreasonable rate, we’ll check back with our friends at NHTSA.

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Bentley’s Mulliner division worked with carbon experts Bucci Composites over five years to create 22-inch carbon-fiber wheels for the Bentayga.The wheels shed about 53 pounds off the Bentayga’s 5400-pound curb weight and were tested around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany.Bentley also says the lightweight, rigid material makes the Bentayga more nimble, reduces tire wear, and prevents rapid tire deflation in the event of a severe impact to the wheels.Both lightweight and rigid, carbon fiber has become prolific in modern supercars and sports cars, helping automakers shave that extra tenth off the car’s lap time by removing extra mass. But carbon fiber’s popularity among performance vehicles has also meant that it is in vogue for vehicles that are not exactly suited for the track, such as the 5400-pound Bentley Bentayga. Bentley has revealed a set of 22-inch carbon-fiber wheels for the Bentayga, developed by Bentley’s in-house coachbuilder Mulliner in collaboration with carbon specialist Bucci Composites.

Bentley

The wheels took five years to engineer, and Bentley claims that this is the largest carbon-fiber wheel in the world. Each wheel saves about 13 pounds for nearly 53 pounds of total weight savings. Bentley tested the wheels at the Nürburgring Nordschleife to boost their performance credentials.

Although the weight savings aren’t going to make such a colossal vehicle noticeably quicker around the Green Hell, Bentley also touts safety improvements brought by carbon fiber’s rigidity. With an aluminum wheel, Bentley said, a severe impact could cause the wheel to crack or shatter, in turn causing the tire to burst, but Bentley says that the carbon-fiber weave would tend to come apart more gradually in the event of an impact, producing less-extreme tire deflation.The British marque also argues that the reduced weight and increased stiffness of the wheels boosts steering agility and grip, as well as leading to more responsive braking. We found this to be the case when we compared the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R’s carbon-fiber wheels with the aluminum units on the GT350 in 2016, crediting the 58-pound-lighter wheels on the R for its quicker acceleration and better grip.Finally, Bentley says that the stiffness of carbon fiber means less flexing of the wheel and a more consistent contact patch between the tire and the ground, reducing tire wear. The new 22-inch wheels will become available to order through Mulliner later this year, although there is no word yet on how much extra the carbon-fiber rims will cost.
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McLaren revealed the 765LT Spider convertible, and it has a carbon fiber retractable hardtop that can be raised or lowered in 11 seconds. The 765LT Spider is powered by a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 that produces 755 horsepower, and McLaren says it’ll do 60 mph in 2.7 seconds.Orders are open now starting at $388,000.The McLaren 765LT, the stripped-down, track-focused Longtail counterpart to the 720S, is the third-fastest car at our annual Lightning Lap test with a time of 2:38.4 around Virginia International Raceway’s Grand Course. That’s not its only accomplishment at VIR. It also hit the fastest speed we’ve ever recorded—174.6 mph—on the front straight. Now there’s a Spider convertible model available to order, and like the coupe it’s limited to 765 units. Its one-piece carbon retractable hardtop can be raised and lowered in 11 seconds (quicker than the 675LT Spider) can operate at speeds up to 31 mph. McLaren says it provides more headroom than the Coupe, even with the top up. The Spider also has a power rear window that can be lowered even when the roof is up like the 720S Spider (or the Toyota 4Runner), and you’ll have to pay extra for air conditioning or a sound system. The 765LT Spider is 108 pounds heavier than the coupe, McLaren says.

The Spider is still powered by McLaren’s M840T twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 that makes 755 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. McLaren says the Spider will reach 60 mph in 2.7 seconds, the same as the coupe. In our test of the 720S Spider, we reached 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. The 765LT Spider is equipped with Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires and features all the same weight-saving measures and aerodynamic elements as the coupe. McLaren will only build 765 units of the 765LT Spider, and it’s available to order now starting at $388,000.
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