Lil4X
Elio Addict
I've had variable experience with different vehicle shapes, and it's not all aerodynamics, it's often steering. My K-20 Suburbans at nearly three tons suspended on cart springs were a little squirrlier than I would have thought, while my lightweight minimalist minivan tracks pretty true in a crosswind gust. My RX's drove like they were on rails, although the body might roll a tiny bit thanks to their softer suspensions. Kinda scary the first time it happens, but although you tip a bit, your course never changes - the things run like they're on rails. Our family had a motorhome that used to heel like a sailboat in a gale, but after adding "steering stabilizers" (essentially a set of heavy centering springs) to the steering arms, it became much more docile.
It's that big slab side IMHO, that's the root of the problem. The smaller target your profile presents to a gust, the lesser the effect that crosswinds have. Weight, thus inertia, plays a role as well. It's been a few years since I last drove a typical sedan, but neither my Civic nor several Buick company cars were much affected by crosswinds. The Buicks would gently float toward the downwind side, as the body rolled a bit, but the Civic would maintain course - even if it felt like you had been sideswiped. Although you were not in any real danger, meeting an 18-wheeler at speed on a narrow 2-lane could induce a religious experience.
An Elio, it would seem, should be relatively stable, except for its light weight that's going to make it respond more aggressively to sudden changes in wind direction as the result of low inertia . . . a leaf responds more readily in a gale than a brick. Fortunately, by presenting a lower profile, I would think in most cases the response should be easily controllable. It's largely physics, but the "pucker factor" can be suppressed by engineering the steering geometry properly so that steering corrections are unnecessary. I'm sure that's been or is being addressed at EM. It's not enough to BE safe in a crosswind, you want to FEEL safe as well.
It's that big slab side IMHO, that's the root of the problem. The smaller target your profile presents to a gust, the lesser the effect that crosswinds have. Weight, thus inertia, plays a role as well. It's been a few years since I last drove a typical sedan, but neither my Civic nor several Buick company cars were much affected by crosswinds. The Buicks would gently float toward the downwind side, as the body rolled a bit, but the Civic would maintain course - even if it felt like you had been sideswiped. Although you were not in any real danger, meeting an 18-wheeler at speed on a narrow 2-lane could induce a religious experience.
An Elio, it would seem, should be relatively stable, except for its light weight that's going to make it respond more aggressively to sudden changes in wind direction as the result of low inertia . . . a leaf responds more readily in a gale than a brick. Fortunately, by presenting a lower profile, I would think in most cases the response should be easily controllable. It's largely physics, but the "pucker factor" can be suppressed by engineering the steering geometry properly so that steering corrections are unnecessary. I'm sure that's been or is being addressed at EM. It's not enough to BE safe in a crosswind, you want to FEEL safe as well.
on coming lane.
