MajorXx
Elio Aficionado
I wonder what to expect on mountain inclines. I think it might be similar to a Geo. I wonder if the P3 or P4 has ventured up there yet.
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Elio In The Mountains
- Thread starter MajorXx
- Start date
I heard many months ago that it should be good in the mountains, I plan to ask again on Saturday though.
Jeff Porter
Elio Addict
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Does it boil down to power-to-weight ratio? Hoping that's all good, and even with two people and 20 lbs in the small trunk, that a driver might have to drop one gear down, no more, when driving up mountain inclines. :-)
NSTG8R
Elio Addict
I don't think it's going to be a problem either. I just saw Jeff Porter answering a thread pertaining to mountains (yeah, I know you lived in CO Jeff 
)and it peaked (no pun intended) my interest. From Hays, KS to pretty much Aurora, CO is flat as a pool table (or it seems that way at least).
Back in the carb and distrubutor days you had to know how to tweak things above 8000 ft, but with the modern fuel injection, the computer takes care of all the "tweaking" for you. The only thing I'd be concerned about driving an Elio in the mountains, is the 18-wheelers bearing down on you on the declines.
)and it peaked (no pun intended) my interest. From Hays, KS to pretty much Aurora, CO is flat as a pool table (or it seems that way at least).Back in the carb and distrubutor days you had to know how to tweak things above 8000 ft, but with the modern fuel injection, the computer takes care of all the "tweaking" for you. The only thing I'd be concerned about driving an Elio in the mountains, is the 18-wheelers bearing down on you on the declines.
This motor is being designed for torque which is what is needed in the mountains. It also has two modes of operation, using two stage intake valve lift and timing, one for efficiency and one for power. Combine these two facts with the vehicles light weight and the fact that everything is controlled by a computer which can adjust on the fly and this vehicle should handle the mountains just fine.
zelio
Elio Addict
I drove a 3 cylinder Daihatsu in the mountains of Northern California and found it was great. Did it out run more powerful vehicles? No, but it did manage to keep up to the speed limit without noticeable effort. :-) Z
Music Man
Elio Addict
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Not sure Major, if they have taken the P3 or P4 up there in the mountains yet or ont, but hardly think it would be a fair assessment, since neither of them actually have they motor OR drive train that will be on the actual production models.
wayne kemp
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It's just a Cycle with a top, right? I see no problem if they stick to the engine and torque they say they will use and the weight the Elio is now. After all it's not but a few hundred pounds more than a Goldwing.
Jay3wheel
Elio Addict
My first car was a 58 VW 36 horsepower, no gas gauge, crappy heater with no fan, I mean it was my dream car. As I tooled around the hill of Southeastern Ohio, I often had to shift to a lower gear to get up some hills. Of course my top speed on the flat was about 70.
No wonder I'm so easy to please, my first car was a piece of poop and I didn't even know it.
No wonder I'm so easy to please, my first car was a piece of poop and I didn't even know it.
Going up a mountain in an Elio could be a chore...remember, you're only starting out with 55 HP and as you go up in altitude the engine is losing power...I've been in the mountains on motorcycles that have a much higher power to weight ratio than the Elio and it was very noticeable even with them...