Should Elio Offer An Ecu Tuned For Higher Hp?

[Marv Cohen]

I would keep mine stock as jtmarten says .We got some high speed limits here but 55HP and top speed of 107 is enough for me. Hopefully it will qualify for motorcycle plates and about $70 /yr basic motorcycle insurance for liability and towing. Probably you should insure it for fire ,theft and collision and a $6800 motorcycle add 2 or3hundred dollars for replacement insurance should be way cheaper than a SUV or car. I got my motorcycle renewal from Progressive and I was $73/yr last year but no claims so the bill is $70 and they asked whether I would want a 3 or 4 payment plan. Not only a gas saver but a insurance $ saver.

 

[goofyone]

From what I gather, the IAV will be a "detuned" 3 cylinder engine bringing the horses to 55 and potentially meeting the 84 mpg goal. That means it can be "retuned" to increases the horses.

I read that also and it is exactly what I am counting on. There are many engines out there for which enterprising aftermarket companies have developed easy to use controllers that reprogram the cars ECU for more power very easily. I have a diesel pickup truck with a touchscreen Bullydog tuner that allows me to change my engine parameters in real time in various ways such as generating more power for pulling my trailers or for maximum fuel efficiency when i am just putting around town unloaded. The great thing about the tuner is that since I optimize the power level I need for various applications I actually get better fuel economy while I tow, without sacrificing performance, than I did with the stock settings and this saves my business money.

I want someone to make a controllable tuner for my Elio, similar to what I have on my truck, so I can easily dial in more power or just select maximum fuel efficiency and enjoy the ride.

 

[2.ooohhh]

I want Elio to focus solely on getting the car to market and hitting their 3 stated goals in doing so.
Under $7k, Great Crash rating, 84 mpg (or better).

If after driving them customers want them faster I'm sure that the aftermarket will be happy to oblige them.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

With them taking questions today on their wordpress site, I asked them about an eco/sport mode as a factory option or only in aftermarket.

 

[Ty]

A sport mode isn't a bad idea. Sure, mileage would take a hit and the environmentalist would boo hoo you. But, it would be better to let people get their power kicks with a nible Elio at 50MPG vs. a Mustang that pulls 15MPG when flogged. Now, I'm not saying an Elio would keep up with the Mustang but fun isn't all about speed. It does require some relative quickness to it's size... Driving 60 in my F350 isn't as much fun as driving 30 in a gocart...

 

[3 Card]

I understand the desire to keep it simple and get it out the door soon.

I want to see Elio succeed.

In my humble opinion, offering a higher HP option makes good business sense because it expands the potential customer base. Many cars have options for different engines with varying levels of hp/mpg while retaining the same safety, brakes, and tires. For example, you could get a 2001 Passat with 150hp or 200hp engines, but the same safety, brakes and probably the same tires. I've read elsewhere that many current motorcycles provide multiple Engine Control Unit (ECU) mapping options like economy, standard and sport. So, this could be achieved with minimal effort by Elio.

The most recent Elio blog says "The current spec for the horsepower is 55. We do have the ability, however, to move that number either up (over 60hp) or down to achieve our goal of 84 mpg highway." The idea is a version of the ECU programming tuned to stay within the capabilities of the IAV engine and provide a few more HP. For example going from 55hp to 65-70hp.

You could probably drop a souped up 4 cylinder motor in it and still get 50 to 60 mpg... Personally I wonder why they are hell bent on making 3 cylinder motors so small..? A v6 averages about 3.6 ltr.. So 1.8 ltr would be half that and 2x's the size of the Elio motor..

 

[Coda1]

You could probably drop a souped up 4 cylinder motor in it and still get 50 to 60 mpg... Personally I wonder why they are hell bent on making 3 cylinder motors so small..? A v6 averages about 3.6 ltr.. So 1.8 ltr would be half that and 2x's the size of the Elio motor..

Unless it is in a pickup or large SUV a 3.6 liter motor is oversize. Yet a lot of people buy them and then complain about how much they spend on gas. If you are building an economical vehicle with great gas mileage a small motor is mandatory.

It would be great if they had a button you could push to put it into a high power mode for thing like trailer towing or passing.

 

[3 Card]

I would keep mine stock as jtmarten says .We got some high speed limits here but 55HP and top speed of 107 is enough for me. Hopefully it will qualify for motorcycle plates and about $70 /yr basic motorcycle insurance for liability and towing. Probably you should insure it for fire ,theft and collision and a $6800 motorcycle add 2 or3hundred dollars for replacement insurance should be way cheaper than a SUV or car. I got my motorcycle renewal from Progressive and I was $73/yr last year but no claims so the bill is $70 and they asked whether I would want a 3 or 4 payment plan. Not only a gas saver but a insurance $ saver.

The point I've been argueing with people who want it titled as a car or even worse something in between like a autocycle, or bitch about spending a few bucks for a mc endorsement.. $600 to $1000 bucks a year savings on insurance should be enough of a reason to let the damn dog sleep..

 

[3 Card]

Unless it is in a pickup or large SUV a 3.6 liter motor is oversize. Yet a lot of people buy them and then complain about how much they spend on gas. If you are building an economical vehicle with great gas mileage a small motor is mandatory.

It would be great if they had a button you could push to put it into a high power mode for thing like trailer towing or passing.

I ment to say a larger cc 3 cylinder motor like a 1.8 ltr 3 banger pounding out about 90 hp

 

[raybonz]

I think 70HP and a little more torque would make this car pretty peppy and still get decent economy especially if they incorporate a sport\economy mode with paddle shifters with the AMT if this is doable..

Ray