Head To Head Comparison!

[Kuda]

Good to compare apples and oranges to determine which better meets your individual taste buds, beyond their shared three wheels platform.

How about kumquats?

 

[Rickb]

View attachment 11402

Houston... I think we have carpet.

But then, in all honesty, for $7,000 minus $750 in bonuses for everything that I'm getting...
I'll be putting my $50 hunk of close-napped carpet in my Elio with a smile on my face.

My personal ride requires carpeting. However, looking at the Solo's interior photo, it seems the Solo's ergo seat sits only inches off the floor. That may be the deal breaker for this old geezer's driving comfort and push me towards the SRK's easy ingress/egress and upright sitting position. The test drive will be the determining factor. Although the driver's position does look acceptable in this doorless Solo test sit photo.

 

[Rickb]

How about kumquats?

The tilting Toyota i-Road is my favorite all time city commuter concept. I would buy one in a heartbeat. It is described by test drivers as it feels like flying an X-wing Starfighter. Like they have ever flown an X-Wing. A narrow commuter vehicle that would park almost anywhere.

 

[WilliamH]

Actual Safety Ratings will be determined by testing. The general public won't feel any narrow vehicle seems particularly safe, unless it's the 5 star Elio claimed to be shooting for early on.

I wouldn't have to worry about a faulty airbag exploding in with the Solo's or SRK's carbon fiber cabin as it bounces off a heavier vehicle. In reality I worry.

I didn't say anything about "Safety Ratings".
Air Bags are only one of the features.
It also includes the brakes, crash testing, etc.
As far as the "Five Star", the way things have changed you can't get that now unless you have automatic braking.
Of course, I swear every time the shoulder harness starts applying pressure to my pacemaker.
(Sure wish they could have anchored it to the right instead of to the left (the seat belt, not my pacemaker).

 

[Rickb]

A safety rated vehicle certainly goes beyond airbags, but a greater number of stars helps to comfort the general populations assumptions regarding safe when looking at a smaller vehicle...........like the Narrow Tango Commuter Car. The general public looks at it and assumes it will roll over or is unsafe based on size.............only to find out it's NASCAR safe. That could turn out to be true of the Carbon fiber shell of the Solo. I heard Kroll state that it's like riding around in a crash helmet.

Nobody knows until a vehicle is officially crash tested. I do know the Elio, Solo, and SRK will be the safest motorcycles on the road, but is that safe enough for the average commuter's mentality so they plunk cash down and buy one?

 

[Elio Amazed]

Buds, I been out there in the wilds of the internet lately, and it's a more hostile world...
As far as these three wheelers go, then it was even a few short month ago...
And far more hostile than I would have ever imagined.

 

[Elio Amazed]

My personal ride requires carpeting. However, looking at the Solo's interior photo, it seems the Solo's ergo seat sits only inches off the floor. That may be the deal breaker for this old geezer's driving comfort and push me towards the SRK's easy ingress/egress and upright sitting position. The test drive will be the determining factor. Although the driver's position does look acceptable in this doorless Solo test sit photo.

View attachment 11404

So there IS a real door on the left! I suspected as much.

 

[Rickb]

So there IS a real door on the left! I suspected as much.

No shifter to get in the way.

 

[Elio Amazed]

It looked like the interior door panels were about the only thing not finished on the Solo at the time of the launch and the next day @ the auction.
So... I'm not sure whether these are the proud owners of Solo #1 or not, but a scenario would be...
that they're finishing the door panels as the owners wait.

Which, of course, provided the perfect photo opp. Someone check on who these people are please.

 

[Elio Amazed]

You know, I mentioned how much hostility I've seen aimed at the three wheelers lately.

Much of it was aimed at the Solo is in response to the vehicle's appearance.
When I first saw artists' renditions of it, I thought much the same. Someone cut the back end off.
I was too young to have paid attention, but what was the initial reaction to the VW's appearance in the US?
And what were the VW's sales figures in the US during the first few years that it was available here?