The Front Wheels Setup

[SandyCWV]

I think you need to think of the millions of people that want and/ or need to show up to work without helmet head.


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What Cali said! I have considered getting a motorcycle in the past, but don't want the helmet head... or bugs. At the time I wished for something like the Can-Am, but with an enclosed cab and then like magic, the Elio appeared! Now I just have to wait, but I can do that.

 

[Cali Chris]

Getting back to the original posts on the drivetrain

The original post had to do with the front wheel drive setup of the Elio.



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[Jim H]

What Cali said! I have considered getting a motorcycle in the past, but don't want the helmet head... or bugs. At the time I wished for something like the Can-Am, but with an enclosed cab and then like magic, the Elio appeared! Now I just have to wait, but I can do that.

That's why many of us are waiting for the Elio -no bugs, no weather, and still the joy of the open road

 

[H2odog]

The Elio is a car. The front doesn't know what is happening in the back. The Elio suspension is proprietary, not a doner, with cast aluminum A-arms and inboard inline shock/sprint assembly actuated by a strut to the suspension upright. This dramatically lowers the unsprung weight for better ride and handling. This configuration is only found on the most exotic custom cars.

All cars, whether FWD or not, have suspensions calibrated such that the inside wheel takes a shorter radius in a corner than the outer, otherwise the front end would scrub and simply plow off the road. Caster (upright tilted to the rear) of about 4-6º will tilt the wheel into the corner. Many high performance cars like my BMW will have negative camber (top of wheel tilted in towards car about 1.5-2º) to further insure that the tread does not lift its inside edge during hard cornering.

Tricycle arrangements with one wheel in the front are inherently unstable in corners, tending to want to continue in a straight line as the mass of the car is outside the contact patch during cornering. You will see lots of caster in their suspension setups to try to get traction to overcome this deficiency in design. If you want to see a bad design, look at the Reliant Robin,

perhaps the worst handling car of all times. It would simply roll over during a hard corner. Tricycle arrangements with two wheels in front have the same capability to deal with weight shift as a four wheel car.

Good info and fun video

 

[Ekh]

now as to helmets limiting sales of the EE. I will riddle you this Batman>>>" Would you wear a full helmet if you could double the mileage on your current vehicle?

Not if you're a woman with a fancy hair-do.

 

[duane johnson]

i have 2 ordered one at about 5000 and one at about 10000 i hope they can go with a already in production engine for reliability a new engine will have some growing pains for sure as will the whole unite petboys is a great thing for this co.

 

[KN16]

i have 2 ordered one at about 5000 and one at about 10000 i hope they can go with a already in production engine for reliability a new engine will have some growing pains for sure as will the whole unite petboys is a great thing for this co.

No they are working with another company to work out their own engine. I don't foresee any issues it's being kept simple with tried and true technology.

 

[H2odog]

I think part of the issue here is "Country of Origin". and maintaining the 90% American Goal.

 

[outsydthebox]

Not if you're a woman with a fancy hair-do.

My brother was always more concerned about his hair than any woman I ever knew!
But really, why is this even worth discussing (the helmet laws)? The Elio isn't for everyone. It's always been "us and them" & "them" can keep doing what they do, as long as they leave "us" alone.

 

[olddog1946]

Hey Autoxdriver,

Taking into account the width of the front wheels, and the distance left or right of center; one should be able to avoid all but unusually large potholes by letting one of the tires barely miss it on the outside edge of the pothole, while the rear tire misses it on the inside edge of the pothole. You can do it either side, and it should be at least a two foot buffer from the center of the car to the center of either tire. Hope it makes sense, but can"t draw a pic right now. It will just take practice. Most folks will try to center it like a car and get a bumpy surprise.

That might work if you live in the southern states, with small pot holes. Us folks in the northern half have some pot holes that will swallow a volkswagen bug.