Doughnuts?

[Jay3wheel]

in thinking about it, having the potential to flip when turned while backing at a good clip does make sense .... historically trikes with a single front tire are unstable making turns at higher speeds .... I can see the reverse being true as well

Jim

Google up the 'robin' a 3 wheeler car sold in GB, I watched a segment on this thing any 90 degree turn over 10 mph and over you go.
The good part was it only took two people to flip it back up and off you go.
I'm surprised a good gust of wind wouldn't dump it.

 

[jlhog]

I just watched that video. The think looks like it would tip over with an overweight person climbing into it.

 

[Jay3wheel]

I just watched that video. The think looks like it would tip over with an overweight person climbing into it.

gravity is as gravity does... kudos to Forest...

 

[Mrtoycrazy]

Have you seen this.

 

[Jay3wheel]

Have you seen this.

That is the one I saw, you can only watch so much as it just keeps happening.
It is like a car crash in the Blues Brothers movie.
The best part is for me when he just yells to passersby to roll him back and they aren't excited to see this, they just dump him back and wave bye bye.

 

[skygazer6033]

I see no reason the Elio should anymore unstable at high speed in reverse as any other FWD car. At speed when you turn centrifugal force moves the CG in the same direction as the turn. This will make the steering want to wind up all the way to full lock. Without the damping effect of power steering it could take the steering wheel right out of your hands. Could make high speed reverse turns exhilarating to say the least. Anyway why would you want to drive over 35 MPH backward in a vehicle with no rear window?

 

[zelio]

That is the one I saw, you can only watch so much as it just keeps happening.
It is like a car crash in the Blues Brothers movie.
The best part is for me when he just yells to passersby to roll him back and they aren't excited to see this, they just dump him back and wave bye bye.

Either wheaters or Elvis Payne said the drivers of those Robins intentionally exaggerated their driving movements to make sure they rolled over. :-) Z

 

[Jay3wheel]

Either wheaters or Elvis Payne said the drivers of those Robins intentionally exaggerated their driving movements to make sure they rolled over. Z

I'm not at all surprised, if the whole thing was completely staged. Nor do I really card, because I'm sure there were plenty of actual roll overs, every Saturday night.

 

[wheaters]

Either wheaters or Elvis Payne said the drivers of those Robins intentionally exaggerated their driving movements to make sure they rolled over. Z

It was me. Was it staged? Of course it was. Some of my friends appeared in the Top Gear programme that clip was made for. They were asked to be there, as members of the Reliant owners Club.

The TV company mechanics ballasted the car and even fitted a larger wheel on one side of the rear axle to unsettle it. They also fitted a roll cage and replaced the fuel tank with a small fuel cell. Clarkson was exaggerating his inputs to make it roll and I think he always rolled it onto the same side.

The people who "just happened to be walking by" were all minor celebrities, btw.

Many hundreds of thousands of those cars were made. If people drove them sensibly they were safe enough. The problem comes when the driver brakes hard and tries to swerve. As Scotty in Star Trek said, "Ye canna change the laws of physics, Jim".

I'd think the Elio should be stable enough in reverse, provided the driver didn't do something very silly, bearing in mind that the engine is located between the two wheeled axle, rather than over the single wheel, which is a more stable configuration than the Reliant three wheelers have.

The chap with no front teeth in that video is Steve White. He is a very nice chap who has suffered major personal health issues over the last few years. If that wasn't enough, his father was tragically killed last year in a freak accident; a tree fell on his mobility scooter in their local park. Some people have no luck.

 

[RKing]

My Elio will be the 2nd FWD car I have ever owned, and I'm 55 years old. Never liked the way they handled. Now, with 3 wheels, I prefer FWD. Donuts are still a grin