1/14/2015 - Elio Motors Engine Debut (with Photos!)

[AriLea]

MAN! lots of chatter today. Sorry I couldn't post earlier. On Saturday Jerome said they've been doing dry-run pressure testing up to now. So some of this rigging possibly is in support of that. What 'dry' means to me is putting all the pressure levels the engine would get in normal running, but with out fuel or ignition systems involved. So some compressing and spinning with oils and fluids in the right places are part of the activity. They may even heat some things up to expected temperatures.
By the time they run this on actual fuel it will have already demonstrated all the flow and structural characteristics they need.
So yes, I can imagine it now shows wear, tare and heat discoloration.

 

[Bert]

There will not be an EGR valve on this engine either. Most companies figured out how to do away with them over a decade ago.

Not trying to a awrnrey here, but in the five part series about the engine, the EGR valve was mentioned specifically. Old school tech, working on todays designs. Saving money and weight!

 

[Catia]

We are seeing something not everyone will see this happen as we are seeing for first time for lot of us. How many times do you see new Start-up Vehicle Manufacturer in your life time? I doubt many have not! Now that is something that we will remember for years to come. ELIO MOTORS
Elio Motors Becomes First Start-up Vehicle Manufacturer to Build Engine From the Ground up in 60 years;

 

[Gas-Powered Awesome]

Not trying to a awrnrey here, but in the five part series about the engine, the EGR valve was mentioned specifically. Old school tech, working on todays designs. Saving money and weight!

Yep. The EGR in the Elio is not about emissions (it does help) so much as it's about reducing pumping losses. At small throttle openings there are large pumping losses because the engine is trying to act like a vacuum pump. By using an EGR to allow exhaust gas to recirculate those losses are significantly reduced. Same as in the old Honda Insight and other ultra-efficient piston engines.

 

[Anderson Howard]

An interesting piece of equipment.

1st pic seems like the newest.
looks like they are still replacing early concept components with pre-production components (Pic 1 vs pic 2 and 3)
Top plate looks temporary.

I like how the alternator is easily replaceable.
As is the water pump. Even the compressor doesn't look too bad.

Looks to be a fun engine!

(where's the turbo charger?)

Somewhere it is written that the oil filter is on the front side of the engine.That put all the belt driven things on the firewall side

 

[JEBar]

I'd forgotten about that old video .... thanks for finding and reposting it

 

[JEBar]

Somewhere it is written that the oil filter is on the front side of the engine.That put all the belt driven things on the firewall side

in looking at the pictures, with the oil filter on the front of the motor, the belt driven pulleys will be on the right end of the motor (right meaning on the driver's right side)

 

[charchri4]

Excellent video thank you for posting it! Interesting I did not know EGR was coming back to the industry. I need to read up on that.

 

[ecdriver711]

What I find interesting are parts that are obviously no way going to make it into a sub $7k vehicle. TIG welded stainless steel exhaust manifold? With a V-Band clamp even?

The individual long-tube intake runners appear hand TIG welded too, and also does not appear to be a final result mass produced part.

Why are they not testing the engine with the final production intake and exhaust manifolds?

Maybe that contributes to the $500 over budget.

 

[Truett Collins]

This article says Elio is building the first ground up engine since the Nash, more than 60 years ago. I'm no gear-head, but what about the Mazda rotory engine? I think it first went into a car called the Cosmo in the 1960s -- a little more recent than the Nash.

The Adams-Farwell firm's automobiles, with the firm's first rolling prototypes using 3-cylinder rotary engines designed by Fay Oliver Farwell in 1898, led to production Adams-Farwell cars with first the 3-cylinder, then very shortly thereafter 5-cylinder rotary engines later in 1906, as another early American automaker utilizing rotary engines expressly manufactured for automotive use. Emil Berliner sponsored its development of the 5-cylinder Adams-Farwell rotary engine design concept as a lightweight power unit for his unsuccessful helicopter experiments. Adams-Farwell engines later powered fixed-wing aircraft in the US after 1910. It has also been asserted that the Gnôme design was derived from the Adams-Farwell, since an Adams-Farwell car is reported to have been demonstrated to the French Army in 1904. In contrast to the later Gnôme engines, and much like the later Clerget 9B and Bentley BR1 aviation rotaries, the Adams-Farwell rotaries had conventional exhaust and inlet valves mounted in the cylinder heads.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_engine