3 Wheels - Street Legal - 70 Mpg - $7700 Available Today

['lio]

Why would you only want 1 wheel in the front?

That reliant footage is completely staged.

Why do people like that configuration? Because people many live in areas with very narrow roads where a four wheeled vehicle often isn't as practical, think turning radius and width. Three wheelers (with one wheel in front) are used in many parts of Europe and Asia.

If you have enough skill to drive, they don't roll over that easy. Otherwise why would people in Europe use Piaggios, as municipal trucks, regular trucks or in hilly regions? I myself crashed motorcycles too many times to count as a young adult, does that mean people should not ride motorcycles? No, just means that unless you don't mind crashing, stay on regular roads, don't test the limits of your ride and don't be like me.

O.k., an Elio makes much more sense safety wise, but two wheels in the back and one in front is great too. I like both. Check this out:

 

[Lil4X]

Why would you only want 1 wheel in the front?

It increases the ease with which you can perform barrel rolls on downhill corners?

 

[DAVID BROWER]

EVERYTHING I HAVE HEARD ABOUT THEM HAS BEEN BAD .

EXCEPT FOR THE LACK OF LORD HAVE MERCY ELGIN GAUGES

 

[DAVID BROWER]

THE ONLY WAY TO BUILD A THREE WHEEL TRUCK IS WITH ONE IN THE FRONT .

YOU NEED THE TWO WHEELS IN BACK BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE THE LOAD IS .
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ENGINEERING REQUIREMENTS THAN A 3 WHEEL CAR .

 

[carzes]

A friend on another forum rides a Harley, and has for years, but he wanted to be able to ride with his wife, who had never mastered a stickshift - and he wisely decided a big hog wasn't the vehicle to learn on. A small Chinese scooter became available at a local garage sale, so he bought it for his wife, but discovered for just tooling around the neighborhood it was kinda fun.

OK, so he bought another one for his wife (they were dirt cheap, only a few hundred dollars). They rode just around the subdivision together for a few weeks before the engine on his scoot locked up. When he tore it down he discovered there were no replaceable parts in it - it was a Dixie Cup . . . it was designed to be used and thrown away. A replacement engine out of China was only a couple hundred bucks, but he found another scooter locally for about the same price, so he bought it for parts. A year later all three were junk. While they were fun while they lasted, he can't imagine how in the world they would have survived on the roads in China.

Then he had a revelation: they don't. They're all sold HERE.

I think that is a very noteworthy and potentially worrisome observation. The Chinese crap that is sold to us here in the US and Europe, etc, for all I can tell, is the export garbage they build for selling to suckers! From what I have come to understand, the chinese people themselves would NEVER tolerate the kind of garbage we keep buying from them. Why should they make it good? We'll buy it either way. Chinese companies can and do produce top shelf products. We just never see them. Oh wait.... Aren't apple products made in China? Amazing what high standards and some process oversight can change.
No worries though, all the top companies of the WORLD are in a virtual stampede to get all their advanced training, process technology, high tech equipment, and proprietary secrets to China as fast as they can. That'll make it all better. Right?

 

[carzes]

Just by-the-by, I thought I might raise a couple questions I hadn't noticed an answer for. One is: what kind of cruising speed can this thing manage, while getting 70 mpg? Yes, they use these types of vehicles in other countries, but I've never seen one go over about 45 mph. Two: did anyone else note the 89 octane requirement? That's not your bland ol' 87 octane regular. Three: Has anyone actually managed to license one of these things on US roads yet? And if so, as what? Car, motorcycle, autocycle, or science project? How about the helmet laws we've all been so worked up over?
Four: Last but not least, speaking as someone who is willing to sacrifice virtually any level of asthetics for cheapness and efficiency, has anyone else notice it's PUG-FUGLY?!?! It looks like a Reneault and a Fiat had a deformed offspring that has to limp around on three wheels. There are style categories that give almost every vehicle a place to shine. There's vintage/antique style, hipster-cool, hippie retro, geek-sheek, power-modders, 'old muscle', save-the-planet eco-mobile, land luxo-yacht, performance sophistication, rat-rod, and even holy-smokes FAST with holy-smokes $$$$$.....to mention just a few. But this vehicle fits NONE of them in a way you can pull it off with dignity in tact. It's going to be a tough sell. Even I can't see being cheap enough to drive THAT, which must be some new sort of record. I don't see it being worth $8000 either, unless it's got a drivetrain that just never dies, which I have some doubts about.

 

['lio]

I think that is a very noteworthy and potentially worrisome observation. The Chinese crap that is sold to us here in the US and Europe, etc, for all I can tell, is the export garbage they build for selling to suckers! From what I have come to understand, the chinese people themselves would NEVER tolerate the kind of garbage we keep buying from them. Why should they make it good? We'll buy it either way. Chinese companies can and do produce top shelf products. We just never see them. Oh wait.... Aren't apple products made in China? Amazing what high standards and some process oversight can change.
No worries though, all the top companies of the WORLD are in a virtual stampede to get all their advanced training, process technology, high tech equipment, and proprietary secrets to China as fast as they can. That'll make it all better. Right?

Apple products made in China? Sure, like the iPhone, right? The components are mostly made in Japan and Germany and only assembled in China. Btw: that's where most of the profits go as well.

China though produces quality goods, but of course not at the ultra low cost price level. Chinese companies produce goods just as good as the ones from other companies. You can't compare something that's made to sell for a few hundred bucks to a more expensive vehicle. Why would anyone expect a Chinese made scooter (or three wheeled car), costing close to nothing, to be of the same build quality as an Italian made Vespa? It's just as unreasonable as wanting an economy Ford to last as long and handle as well as a luxury Mercedes.

Quality three wheelers made by Piaggio sell in Europe for half of what an Elio is projected to cost (I am not that familiar with the Chinese counterparts). Not that the comparison is fair to the much superior Elio, but it shows why the one front wheel vehicles are so popular. Insurance costs in Europe are about $50 a year with about 600 lbs payload. All convincing arguments for some of the one-front-wheel three-wheelers. It goes to reason that the Chinese cars sell because of similar economics. If the cars would be that bad, the companies hardly could stay in business for long and crank out vehicles in high numbers.

 

[Folks]

I'm thinking either the Chinese language doesn't translate or the Regime doesn't understand our 5 star safety ratings for vehicles. First of all they fail to keep records of death or injuries. Worse yet, they tend to jail or execute those who try. Perhaps we can recalibrate the 5 star system to accommodate the 45 million deaths directly attributable their present regime and old Chairman Mao himself. That single 4 year period kind of skews the chart a little. Especially in that short a period( 1957-1961). Anyone got any Idea about what the total record for Mao was? Maybe we could bury that part of their history. Oh maybe that's how the Chinese got the reputation of burying their mistakes. But that's just me.

Oh and I was also noticing that none of their Vehicles have that crush zone front end like the Elio either.

 

[Hotscoots]

When I was a teen back in the stone ages , most people considered Japanese cars to be junk . The scenario played out again the late '80s when S Korea entered the US car market . Say what you will about Chinese cars , they will dominate our roads in my lifetime .

 

[WilliamH]

When I was a teen back in the stone ages , most people considered Japanese cars to be junk . The scenario played out again the late '80s when S Korea entered the US car market . Say what you will about Chinese cars , they will dominate our roads in my lifetime .

It's a possibility. Which is a good reason to hope Sen. Vitter's Autocycle Safety Act gets through Congress. It makes sure the safety rules are there before garbage gets imported.