My Elio Alternate Project Is Underway.

[Mark BEX]

How will you handle the e-brake?

I can't foresee any problems putting it roughly where they commonly go.

pedal for the emergency brake.

Not on your life, I hate foot e-brakes.

 

[Mark BEX]

I'm going to bore you with the seats again, 3rd and final 'production worthy' seat podiums finished today.

They are so important to get right, as their positioning determines the final length of the car, by way of the fuel tank position, that determines the rear wheel location.

You can see in the CAD drawing there is multiple locating holes for the seats, that has the front seat straight with the centerline of the car, and the pax seat at 3 degrees inline with the car's taper, you can it see in the picture, and it works out well.

 

[Hog]

I like the lever handle idea, I have actually had to drive an S10 about 10 miles to get it home using the lever as a brake as my brake line had blown out, worked perfectly, although not sure a ratcheting handle would work well for that as it requires a "pull up" to release, I forgot my Fiero had that. Sadly the Fiero lived up to its name that winter, so I wasnt able to drive it more than a year, great car though, one of my favorites.

 

[Mel]

I like the lever handle idea, I have actually had to drive an S10 about 10 miles to get it home using the lever as a brake as my brake line had blown out, worked perfectly, although not sure a ratcheting handle would work well for that as it requires a "pull up" to release, I forgot my Fiero had that. Sadly the Fiero lived up to its name that winter, so I wasnt able to drive it more than a year, great car though, one of my favorites.

The ratcheting handle will work fine under these circumstances if you hold the button down.
The Fiero was great as long as you understood what you were buying. Too many people thought they were buying a Corvette cheap.

 

[ClubJoe]

I had about 8 Volvo P1800 S, E and ES plus an 85 Fiero and all had the lever on the door side. It did just pull up to seat height and worked great.

ClubJoe
Sunny Brandon Florida

 

[Mark BEX]

Good news day.
Very happy with the fact that the staggered seats are going to allow the shortening of the wheelbase and likely the whole car, by at least 150mm/6", this is beneficial in every way, especially turning circle, that's obvious, and stability, as the shorter wheelbase allows a lower car (ever seen a limo grounded ..).

I finally got the runners to where I like them, offset and running length, lightly welded them into place, which determines where the fuel tank will go, which determines where the rear wheel goes behind it.

This has also allowed me to realise that for 95% of passengers getting in and, the driver will likely be able to stay in their seat, and just pull themselves up to the steering wheel for a moment while the pax gets in and out.

Note again that this isn't the floor, nothing like the production floor will be, this is all mocked up so I can understand all the lengths and fitments, then make the production floor.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

"as the shorter wheelbase allows a lower car" What is the current clearance and what will it be lowered to? My car has a 6" clearance and a 55" (between front tires) wheelbase, I scraped the bottom of the car last year while turning from a road onto dirt for parking beside the road. I realize that the center wheel will considerably lessen the problem for most of the car, but what about at the front?

 

[Mark BEX]

"as the shorter wheelbase allows a lower car" What is the current clearance and what will it be lowered to? My car has a 6" clearance and a 55" (between front tires) wheelbase,

Firstly, the lateral distance between the center of the paired wheels is called the 'track'. Of course I only have one set of paired wheels, and the track is approximately 59"

"Wheelbase" is the longitudinal distance from the center of the front wheels to the center of the rear wheels. My wheelbase was over 110", same as the Elio, but should be shorter than 105" now.

It's about 6" clearance at the moment, I would like to get closer to 5", as any lowering lowers the center of gravity, aka: CoG, and I intentionally designed with a flat bottom so I could go lower than normal as there's no exhaust to squash, and aerodynamics are improved as well for better fuel economy. You might scrape the bottom occasionally, without consequence, but the benefits are worth it.

 

[Sonoran Sam]

there's no exhaust to squash,

Are we getting headers (like a NHRA Funny Car)??

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

"which determines where the fuel tank will go" What size will the fuel tank be? I had a 8 gallon tank in my 2015 Ford Fiesta and a 25 gallon tank in my current 2003 Cadillac DeVille. Going the same routes, I only have to fuel the Cadillac once vs having to fuel the Ford three times for the same distance despite the Fiesta having nearly twice the MPG. I'm hoping for a larger rather than a smaller fuel tank. I don't know how many highway MPG this vehicle will get (and probably too soon for you to know either) but I would prefer that once you have an idea that you would aim for a fuel tank big enough to get 700 miles which is a full day drive without having to stop and refuel multiple times.