Front Wheel Track

[Johnny Acree]

Why is the front wheel track so wide?
It's wider than any other car I've been able to find spec on.

 

[outsydthebox]

Why is the front wheel track so wide?
It's wider than any other car I've been able to find spec on.

Any other "car" has 4 wheels. They have designed it to be very stable.

 

[zelio]

Why is the front wheel track so wide?
It's wider than any other car I've been able to find spec on.

I'm not sure what you mean by wheel track but I believe Elio Motors says the front wheels are the same distance apart as those in a Ford Taurus. Is that the same as the wheel track? Stability is definitely a major reason. If you look at some of the videos on the Similar Vehicles forum (or something like that name) you will see lots of roll overs by 3 wheeled vehicles with poor stability. Thanks to Paul Elio's desire for a 5 Star safety rating equivalent, we have a vehicle with true stability. Z

 

[Jeff Porter]

Why is the front wheel track so wide?
It's wider than any other car I've been able to find spec on.

Hi Johnny, not sure I follow you, help me understand... eliomotors.com in the Specs page, shows the front wheel track, center rim to center rim, to be 66.8".

I'll just pull some cars out of the air and google on their specs:

2015 Ford Taurus - 65.3"
2015 Toyota Camry - 62.4"
2015 Chevy Impala - 62.2"
2014 Chevy Camaro - 63.7"

So I agree, the Elio appears to have a widest front wheel track. Seems to make sense, that the wider a 3 wheeler would be, the better the stability. It's funny, I've read many many FB posts and no one has said "wow, that front end looks really wide!" lol

In fact, the wider front end probably helps in making the cabin look thinner than it is.

 

[Johnny Acree]

Boy that new taurus is wide! This morning, when I was lookin around for something as wide, the widest I found was a GMC SUV at 62.9.

 

[outsydthebox]

The wider track may also improve the aerodynamics, since the Elio is basically, 3 "bodies" moving thru the air side by side.

 

[2.ooohhh]

The more cars I looked up the more curious I became. . .

No surprise that the tow rigs were the widest of the bunch but some of the others are quite surprising. I would have never guessed the leaf's track width was wider than a vintage ranchero! Width wise they feel like night and day from the driver's seat.


2012 f550 - 74.8
2008 f350 - 68.3
2009 F430 - 65.7"
2013 Tesla Model S - 65.4"
2005 Carrera GT - 63.5"
1995 FJ80 - 62.8"
2013 Leaf - 60.6"
1979 Ranchero GT - 60.5"
2002 A4 - 60.2"
1985 Corvette - 59.6"
1976 512BB - 59.1"
2002 996t - 57.7"
1977 Silver Shadow II - 57.5"
1988 M5 - 56.3"
1988 M3 - 56.1"
1971 Westfalia Bus - 54.8"


Neat

 

[JF]

Probably has to do with the center of gravity and weight distribution of the vehicle.

 

[goofyone]

The track width is as wide as Elio Motors could get away with to ensure maximum stability for this three wheeled vehicle. Keep in mind this vehicle is designed to include narrow front tires and tight fenders thus ensuring that even though it has a wider than average track its overall width should fall in line with other vehicles on the road.

 

[Folks]

Not a pretty sight. That is to say that a 4 wheeled vehicle being made to tip up on 2 wheels still steers true right or left readily. Tipping up on one wheel with a 3 (up front) wheel geometry automatically induces an unwanted and unexpected turning of the vehicle toward tipped wheel. Sure one can compensate for turning tendency but only with well trained lightning reflexes. The lesson to learn; design for a low center of gravity and the widest designable wheel base to keep both the front wheels down and working at all times. " No Tipping please."