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Tesla’s Lead Cybertruck Engineer Responds to MKBHD’s Long-Term Cybertruck Review — “I Bet You Feel Disappointed Getting Back to Your Porsche 911”

A few weeks back, MKBHD sold his Tesla Model S Plaid & replaced it with a Porsche 911. Today, as MKBHD releases his effusive Cybertruck 2000-mile review video, Tesla’s Lead Cybertruck engineer asks whether he regrets moving from a Tesla to a Porsche 911.
Tesla Cybertruck

In his latest installment of Cybertruck-related content, MKBHD released a 27-minute video explaining the Cybertruck’s quirks and features.

This time, MKBHD framed his review from the perspective of a Cybertruck owner who has owned the truck for over a month and driven the vehicle over 2000 miles.

MKBHD revisits some of Cybertruck’s features throughout his video, but now from a long-term owner’s perspective.

Finally, the Youtuber attempts to answer whether the Cybertruck has already become an iconic vehicle.

MKBHD starts his video by showing the ridiculous level of attention the Cybertruck garners wherever the vehicle goes.

In the opening scene of his video, MKBHD shows people stopping in the middle of the street to take a picture of the Cybertruck, vehicles following him to capture video, passersby approaching him, and so on.

The Cybertruck garners so much attention that some introverted individuals have even reported that it has become impossible to drive their trucks in public.

Following, MKBHD goes over the Cybertruck’s features from a long-term owner perspective and tries to classify them as overrated or underrated.

The first Cybertruck feature MKBHD revisits is the truck’s breakthrough steer-by-wire variable gain steering system.

What is a steer-by-wire steering system?

Virtually all vehicles on the road feature a mechanical link between the steering wheel, wheels, and tires. A steering input through this mechanical linkage is transmitted to the wheels, allowing the vehicle to turn.

However, the Cybertruck has no mechanical connection between the steering yoke and the wheels. When you apply a steering input, it’s recorded by a computer, and the signal is transmitted to independent motors situated between the wheels, which turn the tires.

The mechanical decoupling of the steering yoke from the wheels allows Tesla to program variable steering ratios for the Cybertruck depending on speed.

Related News: Tesla Officially Makes the Case Why The Cybertruck is the “Perfect Mom & Family Vehicle” – Is the Cybertruck an EV to Drive Around Your Kids or a Serious Off-Road Truck For the Work Site

The steering yoke is programmed to cause significant tire rotation with minimal input at low speeds. This makes executing a U-turn or maneuvering in tight parking spaces particularly hassle-free.

However, at high speeds, the truck’s steering system is reprogrammed to ease off the steering response so that it does not become jerky and cause accidents.

Utilizing this steer-by-wire system, lock to lock the Cybertruck steering yoke only turns 170 degrees. The Cybertruck has become the first vehicle to eliminate hand-over-hand steering.

After driving the Cybertruck for over 2000 miles, MKBHD is a huge fan of the Cybertruck’s steer-by-wire system and says it’s an underrated feature.

The Cybertruck’s stainless steel exoskeleton

Famously, the Cybertruck’s exterior, unlike virtually all other vehicles which are made out of stamped sheet metal, is built out of ultra-tough 30X cold-rolled stainless steel.

The stainless steel exoskeleton gives the Cybertruck its unique triangular shape and shiny metal finish.

Tesla has demonstrated the sturdiness of the Cybertruck’s exoskeleton by showing the vehicle stopping bullets.

This is a neat feature; however, MKBHD says the stainless steel exterior also brings with it other unforeseen problems. One particular issue is that the truck is a fingerprint magnet and is impossible to keep clean.

For this reason, MKBHD says the Cybertruck’s stainless steel exoskeleton, although unique, is an overrated feature.

Cybertruck build quality

During his latest video, MKBHD addresses some of the issues he has encountered on his truck. In his previous video, MKBHD showed that his truck’s driver door had a massive panel gap that could fit a finger.

Since then, Elon Musk has responded, stating that the problem is "Not a 'door fit' issue. About 15 Cybertrucks in service had an issue where the door striker loosened in the field due to insufficient torque after the door fit. It takes 5 minutes to fix in service and has been addressed in production."

MKBHD revealed that he hasn’t been able to get his vehicle serviced; however, he has found a solution: duct tape on the door striker, which allows the Cybertruck’s door to fit better and eliminate the panel gap.

Was Tesla’s Cybertruck versus Porsche 911 drag race faked?

During the Cybertruck delivery event, Tesla showed a tri-motor Cybertruck Cyberbeast beating a Porsche 911 in a drag race while towing another Porsche 911.

Seeing a sports car lose a drag race to a full-sized pickup truck is uncanny on its own; however, the truck being able to beat the sports car while towing the exact vehicle is mind-blowing.

With this race, Tesla demonstrated the Cybertruck’s incredible performance; however, since Tesla shared the video, people have poked holes in some of Tesla's claims.

Despite what we were led to believe, the Cybertruck vs Porsche 911 race did not run a full quarter mile but stopped at the middle point.

The 1/8 mile drag race gives the Cybertruck undue advantage thanks to electric vehicles' inherent ability to accelerate better from a standstill.

Luckily, making it easy to test Tesla’s claims, MKBHD recently sold his daily driver, a Tesla Model S Plaid, and replaced it with a Porsche 911 Turbo S.

With a Porsche 911 and a Cybertruck in hand, MKBHD took both vehicles to the tracks and rerun the now-infamous Porsche 911 vs. Cybertruck drag race.

One thing to note here is that MKBHD’s Porsche 911 is the highest-end Turbo S variant, whereas Tesla likely compared the Cybertruck against the base Porsche 911 Carrera.

With that out of the way, how did MKBHD’s Cybertruck vs Porsche 911 drag race unfold?

As expected, the Porsche 911 Turbo S beat the Cybertruck in a quarter mile; however, rather interestingly, the Cybertruck was still ahead of the Porsche 911 up until 600 feet, where the Porsche took the lead.

Overall, MKBHD says the Cybertruck has incredible performance, and the truck’s power is underrated.

In addition to these key points, MKBHD addresses the Cybertruck’s other features, including the 800-volt high-voltage architecture and the 48-volt low-voltage architecture.

The YouTuber highlights the fact that the Cybertruck is the lightest full-sized electric truck on the market and attributes this to the truck's 800-volt and 48-volt architecture.

Finally, MKBHD asks the biggest question: is the Cybertruck an iconic vehicle? To answer this question, MKBHD compares the Cybertruck to the Lamborghini Countach and the Bugatti Veyron.

MKBHD makes the point that the Cybertruck already has an iconic status, but how would Cybertruck perception change once Tesla produces the truck in millions?

The creator highlights the fact that there were only 2000 Countaches and 500 Veyrons ever produced, adding to the vehicles’ mystique.

So what will happen when Tesla produces millions of Cybertrucks? As a cautionary tale, MKBHD shared a comment he received under his previous video. The commenter wrote that the Cybertruck reminds him of the PT Cruiser.

When the PT Cruiser was released and available in limited quantities, people liked it; however, after Chrysler churned out more than a million PT Cruisers, the vehicle lost all its appeal.

MKBHD finishes his video, leaving open the question of whether the Cybertruck will become an icon similar to the Lamborghini Countach and Bugatti Veyron or go the way of the PT Cruiser and lose its appeal.

Cybertruck lead engineer Wes Morrill hoped on X and tried to answer MKBHD’s question by inviting the creator to continue his thought experiment.

Wes writes, “Let's continue your game - think about this answer: Would you consider the Porsche 911 an Iconic car? I would say so, and there are more than 1.2 million on the road. My opinion, but I think Cybertruck has Icon staying power. I've personally lived with Cybertruck day in and day out for years, and I still find myself doing the glace back as I walk away from my parking spot.”

It can be argued that as the lead engineer, Wes is partial to the Cybertruck; however, as the person who has spent the most time out of anyone with the truck, Wes is also uniquely qualified to answer this question.

In addition to trying to answer the Cybertruck’s icon status, Wes also made several comments regarding MKBHD’s long-term Cybertruck review.

Wes admired the highly produced and graphics-rich Cybertruck video, sharing a clip and calling the intro underrated.

Finally, Wes continues, writing, “Your comment on steer-by-wire is 100% right; it's ruined driving anything else for me. But let's be honest - it's not just making other trucks feel outdated; I bet you feel the same disappointment getting back into that 911 Turbo S.”

As I have already mentioned, MKBHD has recently sold his daily driver Tesla Model S Plaid, and replaced it with a Porsche 911 Turbo S.

By writing, “I bet you feel the same disappointment getting back into that 911 Turbo S,” the lead Cybertruck engineer appears to be throwing a jab at the YouTuber for selling his Tesla.

If you are interested, I have explained MKBHD’s reasoning for switching from a Tesla Model S Plaid to a Porsche 911 Turbo S in detail.

MKBHD has yet to respond to Wes Morrill, however, we’ll be sure to keep you posted if anything interesting unfolds. Until then, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.

So, what do you think? What are your most interesting takeaways from MKBHD’s long-term Cybertruck review? Do you agree with MKBHD’s decision to replace his Model S Plaid with a Porsche 911? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Image: Screenshot from Marques Brownlee’s YouTube channel

For more information,  check out: A Tesla Cybertruck Takes a Chunk Out of a Nissan Sentra Using Its Stainless Steel Exoskeleton During a High Energy Crash – The Nissan is Totaled While the Cybertruck Gets Barely Dented

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.

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