Made in USA
Elio Addict
How is two wheels in the front and one wheel in the back less stable?
How would it be more impossible to get out of a roll over crash in the Elio? There are something called windows where you can roll down or smash open. Or are you talking about other 3 wheelers that aren't made to be as safe as the Elio?
First let me say that I'm talking about three wheelers like the Elio with two wheels up front. And yes, I was talking about other three wheeler not being as safe.
Elio stability: Think of the outer wheel as a ballast or counterweight. As a vehicle goes into a corner or starts to slide sideways, the vehicles weight is shifted to the direction it is moving in. For instance, turning left puts more force on the right side wheels and suspension. Motorcyclists learn quickly to lean into the corner or they would literally flip over if going fast enough. A three wheeler has the same issues but does have more stability due to the two front wheels. If you looked at the forces on a three wheeler going into a corner, the body is actually trying to twist as the rear section wants to lean easier than the front. On a car with four wheels the whole body is leaning with better stability due to more counterweight better distributed front to back. Many other factors come into play such as center-of-gravity, whether front wheel drive or not, tire size and pressure and many more. A suspension engineer could spend a lifetime in the field and still not know it all. It is complicated. One good feature of the Elio is the front wheel drive. This helps pull the vehicle out of a sliding situation where a rear wheel drive will tend to make the situation worse. Three wheel drive would be somewhat better, but four wheel drive (or all wheel drive) is about the best option. Problem with more driven wheels is that the costs go up proportionately.