Elio Racing

[Rob Croson]

Bo and Luke, the Dukes of Hazard, probably shouldn't drive an Elio ...

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

 

[Coss]

Bond, James Bond .......

 

[charchri4]

disagree .... an Elio could run any road course .... while it wouldn't be able to do so at speeds common to other four wheel racers, in an Ellio racing circuit it would be competing against other Elios .... in keeping with the economical transportation concept, a circuit structured so that participants could drive their trikes to the track, race them, and then drive them back home .... NASCAR got off to a good start following that concept

Of course it can run any road course but it doesn't make any difference It they run against other Eilios or F1 cars. There is no way ANY vehicle can take substantial lateral G forces with nothing to stabilize half the car. It doesn't matter what it weighs, where the center of gravity is or how fast you are going. You simply can not leave half of the mass of the vehicle with no lateral support and expect it to tolerate lateral forces.

 

[TCBronson]

Wider rear tire or for that matter wider tires all around would help improve lateral support to a limit.

 

[charchri4]

Only to the extent it would widen the base of the triangle between the center of gravity and the ground at the outside of the contact patch which would probably be too little to measure. If any of you guys had ever trail braked into a .80 g corner at speed you would never consider trying it with an 3 wheeler.

 

[TCBronson]

Every race vehicle has there limits based on CG. Front wheel drive vs rear drive vehicles are raced differently based on the configuration of the drive wheels. So any racing to be done by an Elio will have there own unique characteristics to over come . They will be raced with in there limits or we will see a lot of exciting wrecks!

 

[W. WIllie]

Probably the first racers will be in the "Autocross" races.
Safe, not that fast, lots of turning, and not much competition.

 

[outsydthebox]

Of course it can run any road course but it doesn't make any difference It they run against other Eilios or F1 cars. There is no way ANY vehicle can take substantial lateral G forces with nothing to stabilize half the car. It doesn't matter what it weighs, where the center of gravity is or how fast you are going. You simply can not leave half of the mass of the vehicle with no lateral support and expect it to tolerate lateral forces.

I will show my ignorance by disagreeing (in principal) with "parts" of your statement. Remember, Em has not just "removed one wheel" they have also "removed half of the mass" at the rear. Center of gravity & weight are absolutely critical to handling. Yes, three wheels will present its own challenges. No vehicle does "everything" great. But, I have no doubt there will be more than 1 future owner who "tries" to make it just a little bit better!
Here is a link to a very good article on the subject: Please read "inherently responsive design"
http://www.rqriley.com/3-wheel.htm

Oh and, lest we forget the "original intent" of the Elio...1....2....3...4.

 

[WilliamH]

Only to the extent it would widen the base of the triangle between the center of gravity and the ground at the outside of the contact patch which would probably be too little to measure. If any of you guys had ever trail braked into a .80 g corner at speed you would never consider trying it with an 3 wheeler.

Not fer nothing, but the Elio theoreticals indicate a .84 skid pad rating for the Elio.

 

[bunchathrees]

Clearly, Jeremy Clarkson's modification of the Reliant Robin is the one true solution to this roll-over problem.