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Engine / Transmission Testing?

Johnny Acree

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Just wondering.
Do you think that after the engine has completed dyno testing, it will be installed in a test mule. Maybe an old Geo that might be laying around. Then after that, add the transmission. That way they can get some real world data, incognito. That way if there was a problem, it would not be in the public eye. any failure of the drivetrain in the P5 would, could derail the hole thing.
 

Snick

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That'd be really smart way to test the driveline in a much heavier car, which might be one form of torture testing. But I'd rather hear they are testing the whole car including suspension, brakes, and driveline in the Elio.
 

Johnny Acree

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Snick,
Testing the whole car sounds good, but I think you get better data testing one component at a time. Also testing in private you are allowed to learn from failure but if you fail in public you are punished. I hope everything is being tested, tested, tested, before we see it in public.
Johnny
 

Lil4X

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I would think so. Every new model to my knowledge, both foreign and domestic, comes to the desert southwest for hot weather testing, for example, usually in an existing body or a disguised wrap. Real-world experience is vital, particularly to the powertrain, and there's as yet no substitute for it.

I fully agree, you need to test components individually before putting them together in a single package. It's that same old gremlin that jumps up to bite you when you build a radical prototype - with no real frame of reference, you don't know where to begin to search out problems. Subtleties show up by the hundreds, and they don't always play together nicely. With a little time and experience on the sub-assemblies, it's a lot easier to blend them into a single product.

Now testing a complete 3-wheeler on the down-low is going to be difficult, but I'm sure some provision can be made - perhaps as you suggest, in a Geo body shell. When that's well proven, then go to the trike layout.
 

RogWild

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How true; but FIRST they need a 'running' ENGINE, not just a caste 'engine block'. Then they said they need to BUILD and TEST "18 to 26 'E' series vehicles" (being built in Mich)..... BEFORE they can finalize the 'design', and even begin to hire workers, and re-tool the Shreveport Plant. I'm feeling a 'long and slow' process here.
 

Music Man

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How true; but FIRST they need a 'running' ENGINE, not just a caste 'engine block'. Then they said they need to BUILD and TEST "18 to 26 'E' series vehicles" (being built in Mich)..... BEFORE they can finalize the 'design', and even begin to hire workers, and re-tool the Shreveport Plant. I'm feeling a 'long and slow' process here.

Yes, but isn't the feeling great? Lord knows, you've been in the "waiting cycle" longer than some of us, so surely you have learned to live with it, huh? :p Yet another "old quote;" all things come to those who wait." Long ago, in this waiting game, I learned to assume the posture of the oyster: He is the ultimate, the MASTER of waiting, and yet he too survives.

The Elio's are coming RogWild. . . .they are coming! o_O
 

Ty

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How true; but FIRST they need a 'running' ENGINE, not just a caste 'engine block'. Then they said they need to BUILD and TEST "18 to 26 'E' series vehicles" (being built in Mich)..... BEFORE they can finalize the 'design', and even begin to hire workers, and re-tool the Shreveport Plant. I'm feeling a 'long and slow' process here.
You could look at the P4 as a test mule for pretty much everything except the final engaging and transmission... and that transmission, as far as we know, is already in production... That would leave the engine as the sole thing that needs real testing (sure, everything else does too but those things can be done sans car. The engine, supposedly, has been in static testing already. It'll have to be tested in the vehicle, of course, but that doesn't need to take too long. It's not like they are under the same level of scrutiny that Chevy would be with a new Camaro engine.
 

Ty

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Ty,
No, I think Elio is under more pressure to "get it right".
With GM, it would be one engine in one model.
With Elio, it's the engine, in the car, that is the company.
Yeah. That is true. What I meant was that if the Elio engaging isles a little rough or is a little harsh, it won't be too big of a deal because unlike Ford or Chevy who get compared so closely, the Elio stands alone. Think of a new Ford motor - it has to be better, smoother, better than the last one. The Elio is the first in their line so it won't be compared as harshly.
 

Kuda

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Yeah. That is true. What I meant was that if the Elio engaging isles a little rough or is a little harsh, it won't be too big of a deal because unlike Ford or Chevy who get compared so closely, the Elio stands alone. Think of a new Ford motor - it has to be better, smoother, better than the last one. The Elio is the first in their line so it won't be compared as harshly.

How about a cammy thumper to capture the biker contingent.................. Not! :D
upload_2014-6-12_6-16-42.jpeg
 
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