Other Technologies That Will Need To Adapt

[LonePine]

FYI:

Maybe you've noticed by now, but, like the extremity the achilles tendon is attached to, theres only one in contact with the ground when walking.

 

[LonePine]

If anyone is driving like a fool it's people with anti-lock brakes, traction control, and allthe other fun toys that make them over-confident. You can always blame drivers, and for the most part you're right, BUT... Some vehicles STINK on icy roads, and some are above average. Bad tires will ALWAYS stink on ice, no matter who is driving. The pickup I drive is one that is terrible on ice. On an icy day I can count multiple examples of the same model in the ditch, outnumbering all other cars put together. No, I'm not making excuses for having taken a snow bath myself, (never happened to me), because I KNOW this thing is not good for snow. Then again, I never said it HAS to be. Every vehicle has it's own character in winter conditions and you gotta know your ride.
Trying to guess the Elio's handling characteristics is probably just that, a guess. Lighter is BAD for traction. Then again less mass does mean less latteral force to counter in curves. Single rear wheel might mean more weight per square inch of tire surface. Then again, if the rear wheel does break traction there is no second chance. But it might grip well enough to not have an issue, long as you don't over do it. It might be an awesome snow beast, then again it might stink. We won't know till its on the road in real world conditions. But even if it wasn't so great, so what? Lots of other cars ain't great for snow either.

Hey, in my 31 years with my local Sheriffs Office, the type of vehicle seen Most in the ditch were pickups. The least ? Motorcycles. What you said about overconfidence in the big 4 wheeled metal box being a chief cause of accidents is absolutely true. Being aware of your surroundings is the #1 safety feature out there.

 

[Snick]

Hey, in my 31 years with my local Sheriffs Office, the type of vehicle seen Most in the ditch were pickups. The least ? Motorcycles. What you said about overconfidence in the big 4 wheeled metal box being a chief cause of accidents is absolutely true. Being aware of your surroundings is the #1 safety feature out there.

I don't think this is appreciated enough. A well-functioning human brain, aware of its surroundings and cognizant of its own limitations and the limitations of its vehicle is far more important than any other feature.

When I was in high school, I worked at a ski resort as my part time job. On the way to work riding the resort's worker bus, I would see 3-4 fresh vehicles stuck in the ditches each morning, and one or two from the week before. Guess what? They were 90% 4x4, jacked up pickem-up trucks. Rarely did a front wheel drive car get stuck in a ditch. Another time, I had a job as a paperboy. One morning, I awoke to 3 feet of freshly dumped powder snow. On the last leg of my route, I watched a 4x4 get himself MORE stuck by trying to race out of the drift that trapped his rig. Then, a HUMONGOUS 4x4 (must have been 12 feet tall) came by to tow his buddy out. Meanwhile the beatnik neighbor with his espresso went to dig out and start his VW bug to warm it. 10 minutes later, as the two 4x4's got themselves hopelessly stuck and there was much cursing, the little beatnik with his coffee and bagel walks out to this black 1970 Beetle and simply drives off with no muss/fuss/or worry. God, I laughed so hard, I think the crazy rednecks wanted to kill me.

 

[NSTG8R]

I don't think this is appreciated enough. A well-functioning human brain, aware of its surroundings and cognizant of its own limitations and the limitations of its vehicle is far more important than any other feature..

Amen to that Snick!

 

[skygazer6033]

Many times 4 wheel drive can help you get into a spot where you REALLY can't get out of.

 

[ElioDigger]

After driving a CanAm Spyder for a couple of years I can say I never had a problem with the three wheel configuration. You just let the pot holes go between the front and to the side of the rear.
I do have some concern about the size of the front tire as I will likely be using open fenders in the city. I hope the wheels don't look like spar donut tire like the one in my trunk. But I got a feeling they will and I will have to split for some new chrome wheels for the thing.
MK

I am thinking the same thing. I think the fender option would include alloy option if not, tirerack can hook you up

 

[Truett Collins]

Many times 4 wheel drive can help you get into a spot where you REALLY can't get out of.

I tell people up here that the purpose of 4 wheel drive is to get you out of the ditch once you get in it.

 

[ncarter124]

Hey, in my 31 years with my local Sheriffs Office, the type of vehicle seen Most in the ditch were pickups. The least ? Motorcycles. What you said about overconfidence in the big 4 wheeled metal box being a chief cause of accidents is absolutely true. Being aware of your surroundings is the #1 safety feature out there.

Yup, I grew up in Iowa and on super bad days the ditches had more trucks than cars. I cannot count how many times you'd see a big 4x4 go flying by everyone and then about a mile later you'd see him in the ditch wondering what happened. Stupidity... that's what happened.

 

[Jay3wheel]

Oil change service center without hydraulic jacks have an opening in the floor to service from below, I can imagine a worker pulling forward too much and the back wheel falls in the opening.

Go to the PEP Boys, they will know what to do.

 

[carzes]

Maybe you've noticed by now, but, like the extremity the achilles tendon is attached to, theres only one in contact with the ground when walking.

Well... having stated that the single rear wheel might be the achille's heel of the Elio, I'm not sure the reference crosses over. Achille was, (according to one legend), dipped in the river Styx by Thetis, making him invincible except for the heel by which she was holding him in the process. His subsequent death by injury to that heel by Paris left us forevermore with the ubiquitous reference to a single point of vulnerability, as well as the name for the tendon connecting the calcenous to the gastrocnemius and solus muscles.
Stretching the reference to walking though, specifically in snow and ice, feels a little off. The achille's tendon is only one of over 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments controlling 33 joints of 26 assorted bones in the foot alone. Coupled with a meticulously programmed control system that represents the most complex device in the known universe, you have a traction-control, stability adaptive, all-terrain locomotive method that is MANY orders of magnitude beyond the simplicity of a mere pneumatic wheel, no matter how clever the car companies want us to think their latest traction control gizmo is. AND.. despite all that, we still fall down. So where that leaves us I dunno, just haning some fun with this.