Terra Craft Motors

Mike W said:

The styling is way cool! But I do have some thoughts on design, is it a one or two seater? It must be a two seater or you would have to be a very large Orangutan to reach the steering wheel, much less the brakes/gas in the present configuration. The second thought is that while the retracting glass roof is about one of the sexiest features I've seen in any car (or its animated version) I think the idea would lose it appeal pretty quickly in a storm that would include precipitation of some sort. Ok, it looks like it's only an animated concept vehicle so it's ok to have all this coolness but it's going to be more real and less sexy if it ever hits the pavement. Unless you can find some giant Orangutans to drive it that won't mind getting wet from time to time trying to get into it quickly in a storm and can reach all the controls from way in the back 40.

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There is also a fairly big problem with heat and sun glare with bubble tops. Extra tint-liner near the top is one way to mitigate that.
Jets don't mind because they take care of that with the pilot's helmet-visor and jumpsuit.
Keep in mind TC is also a tilter. Sports and fun is high on it's list and the cost will match that. Once the Elio is on the street, many more people will be open to the whole category of reverse trikes and tilting trikes will definitely benefit from better public acceptance. However, I'm not sure if the Autocycle designation will apply to them in every state.

One final problem, it's rear wheel drive in a sport package. And what do you do with a powerful sportscar? They either smoke tires a lot or (Once they reach tilt limits) they roll over easy, no choice, one or the other or a little of both(depending on engineering). Smoking tires in a tilter is never a good idea. On a regular motorcycle you can back your self up with a foot on the ground.

Popping a wheelie on a reverse tike, (worse on tilters) is an instant rollover, easily deadly.
Being front wheel drive, Elio Can't pop wheelies.

Gosh, one more issue about Tilters as reverse trikes, you would never make them Front wheel drive. There are torsion effects that can at times make them unstable. Especially on gravel or slippery conditions or when sporting around at high acceleration!

I didn't realize it tilted. Well, they have a bit to work out to make it buyable for people interested in that vehicle. That's the thing with concept cars, all the bells and whistles are piled on it to reach the max of what it might be able to do and then pare things down to where it's still cool but safe, practical and somewhat affordable.

Mike W said:

The styling is way cool! But I do have some thoughts on design, is it a one or two seater? It must be a two seater or you would have to be a very large Orangutan to reach the steering wheel, much less the brakes/gas in the present configuration. The second thought is that while the retracting glass roof is about one of the sexiest features I've seen in any car (or its animated version) I think the idea would lose it appeal pretty quickly in a storm that would include precipitation of some sort. Ok, it looks like it's only an animated concept vehicle so it's ok to have all this coolness but it's going to be more real and less sexy if it ever hits the pavement. Unless you can find some giant Orangutans to drive it that won't mind getting wet from time to time trying to get into it quickly in a storm and can reach all the controls from way in the back 40.

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Funny you should mention it - no problem reaching the steering wheel!

IT LOOKS LIKE THE LARGE ROOF SECTION WILL INTERFERE WITH THE REAR WHEEL WHEN IT GOES DOWN .
CLEARLY IT IS NOT FRONT WHEEL DRIVE AND THERE IS NO ROOM FOR A MOTOR IN THE REAR WITH THE SLIDING CANOPY .

SO WE HAVE FRONT ENGINE / REAR WHEEL DRIVE MOST LIKELY WITH A DRIVESHAFT LIKE A MORGAN .
THE DETAILS OF THE FRONT SUSPENSION ARE VAGUE WHERE THEY SIMPLY END AT THE FENDER .
SEEMS MORE LIKE A CONCEPT THAN A REAL CAR .

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE ELIO PRODUCE SOME SLICK SALES VIDEOS LIKE THIS !

I really like the idea of a performance version - not necessarily a pavement-ripper, but maybe a 100 - 120 hp NA engine driving through a sequential box to a FWD configuration. The real problem with this kind of energy begin grafted onto the basic Elio platform is that light weight and simplicity goes away rather quickly. Front suspension, transmission, clutch, and half-shafts are going to have to be beefed up a good deal to handle the increased weight and thrust . . . then there's the question of larger brakes to supply a little "whoa" to all that "go". This could snowball out of control very quickly, particularly with larger powerplants - and could require a complete redesign.

Not that that's a bad thing, EM I'm sure will eventually offer another model or two after a first success. If you think about it, there is a proven niche market for sporty roadsters along the lines of the Honda S2000 and the Mazda Miata that have kinda priced themselves out of the youth market that should be their natural devotees. Think '64 Mustang here, something based on a successful production car, but in fancier clothes - and a little uptick in performance without going over the top.

Very cool design . Once the Elio is released , we will see variants like this coming from the customizer community . I already want the fenders and rear diffuser on my Elio

Lil4X said:

I really like the idea of a performance version - not necessarily a pavement-ripper, but maybe a 100 - 120 hp NA engine driving through a sequential box to a FWD configuration. The real problem with this kind of energy begin grafted onto the basic Elio platform is that light weight and simplicity goes away rather quickly. Front suspension, transmission, clutch, and half-shafts are going to have to be beefed up a good deal to handle the increased weight and thrust . . . then there's the question of larger brakes to supply a little "whoa" to all that "go". This could snowball out of control very quickly, particularly with larger powerplants - and could require a complete redesign.

Not that that's a bad thing, EM I'm sure will eventually offer another model or two after a first success. If you think about it, there is a proven niche market for sporty roadsters along the lines of the Honda S2000 and the Mazda Miata that have kinda priced themselves out of the youth market that should be their natural devotees. Think '64 Mustang here, something based on a successful production car, but in fancier clothes - and a little uptick in performance without going over the top.

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Exactly. I think there is quite a bit of 'envelope' left in the 2F1R-FWD platform above the Elio specs. There is a 'soft' threshold in FWD cars such that over that amount of power (P/Weight) you get issues. That's why they don't race them. But with a Trike, you have a 60% higher threshold. So yes, this is a way to have a very nice sport vehicle and still be FWD. Then of course, you could add All Wheel drive, in hybrid or limited slip drive.

Being a three wheeler though, a very low CG is imperative. You have to be willing to sit low in the bath-tub. Even my Atlantric is a bit higher than I would want for true sport. But for the manufacturers, even with a few sporty things like the BlackJack and the T-Rex out there, it's a wide open field with few competitors of any memorable style. And certainly few who figured out that you can get more out of FWD.

And I would want to remind EM (given the chance), while one car gets them in the door to take a look, the other cars sells. So it's good to have two to four different categories. People come to look at one, but then the character of the other hooks them. Wouldn't you rather buy the white one (or blue one) below for $25K-$50k with a Turbo-Elio engine rather than a Kia 4 wheel equivalent for say $70k - $110k? I'll take one of the two at the bottom shown here below.

Agreed! If EM could come up with a sporty product a year or two after the initial flush of the Elio begins to subside - say somewhere in the $16K - $18K range, they'd sell them as fast as they could paint them. Take a page from the history of the Shelby Mustangs and the Yenko Camaros. A little tuner work on a strong, basic platform, but nothing excessive. Anything relatively inexpensive but still subsonic would be acceptable.

Lil4X said:

Agreed! If EM could come up with a sporty product a year or two after the initial flush of the Elio begins to subside - say somewhere in the $16K - $18K range, they'd sell them as fast as they could paint them. Take a page from the history of the Shelby Mustangs and the Yenko Camaros. A little tuner work on a strong, basic platform, but nothing excessive. Anything relatively inexpensive but still subsonic would be acceptable.

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Yeppers, I'm totally with ya bro! I'd say put the turbo version in each of these.

Just as with Shelby, Yanko and Callaway, a sport version could be done by an outside company so it releases EM from the liability of a modified car.
The outside company can sign some kind of agreement that they are the "Choice Factory Performance Group".
Could you imaging a 380hp Elio?