Oh, that is a cool effect. (Particularly when it doesn't cover the wheels, like from 0:09 to 0:15.) Any idea why the back wheels do this while the front wheels don't?
I do notice that the game smoke seems a lot more billowy and unreal than this video - partly because the smoke just doesn't look thick enough to me, but partly because it's all one color and thickness. Dunno how easy it would be to copy the 'stuttering cone' effect with the smoke trails, but I suspect it'd look cool.
The back wheels are smoking more because they’re being driven by the engine and are spinning against the ground, while the front wheels aren’t doing anything except rolling with the car.
I agree that it’s not super realistic, but the game does have to diverge from reality at some point and this is the point I chose. It’d be much harder to get more realistic looking cartoon smoke that still works with this art style. I also think it’s fine like this because it’s very readable - either the smoke is there or it isn’t, and you know exactly when you’re drifting or not.
