Comments From A Mechanical Engineer

[goofyone]

I believe people are overlooking the fact that the Elio chassis is a fully boxed steel roll cage instead of the stamped steel unibody structure found in nearly all cars today. This type of structure is similar to a race cars chassis and is incredibly strong. This chassis also really shows its strength in side impact and rollover accidents especially with only one door opening which makes the complete chassis even stronger. I wouldn't expect any difference in side impacts using this chassis and a well designed door versus any other car on the road as we have to remember that the only thing protecting just about every other car on the road in a side impact is a well designed chassis, door, and door frame.

Until you see it in person you fail to realize the fact that this vehicle is 13.5 feet long which is about the same length as many compact four door hatchbacks on the road today and the Elio has similar, and in some cases longer, crumple zones.

There are also some interesting safety advantages to the fact that this is a very lightweight three wheel vehicle with narrow tires. Being lightweight the vehicle will tend to dissipate energy by being pushed more and this is actually helped by only having three relatively narrow tires which will provide reduced resistance to being pushed verses a normal four wheel car. There is also an interesting tendency for wheel three wheeled vehicles to spin or twirl away from many accidents, especially side impacts. Unlike a four wheel vehicle where the forces resisting movement are fairly balanced so the vehicle will tend to stay put and absorb more energy, on the Elio both the mass of the vehicle and the resistance to movement from the tires will be concentrated at the front so the vehicle will have a natural tendency to spin around its front end, like a spinning top.

I believe there are going to be a lot of shocked people out when Elio does pass those crash tests with flying colors as most people really do not understand what Elio has come up with in terms of occupant safety for minimum cost.

 

[Lil4X]

If I recall my physics classes, F=Ma, or force equals mass times acceleration (of course, back then biology was much easier . . . tree, rock, dinosaur). In the physics equation, we need to dissipate the force to protect the occupants of the vehicle, but with M being at a minimum, when multiplied by the acceleration at impact, the forces are going to be substantially reduced in a barrier or head-on crash. Then as goofy says, without a lot of inertia, the Elio will simply be spun away in anything but a head-on crash. If that roll cage is properly supported, it will go a long way to prevent intrusion by another object, and should protect the occupants in a rollover. While NOTHING is absolutely safe (people have been known to be killed in a TANK rollover), the Elio should be at least as safe as any conventional passenger car.

 

[AriLea]

The trouble with this video is that they cut in the middle of turns ... you don't get to see how the car actually handles throughout the turn,

I never wanted to point to strongly at that, but I did notice. Yes, I think because of the controversy about three wheeler roll-over, EM didn't want to feed the observation of even a normal amount of body roll into any visuals. Not feeding an unneeded controversy is understandable in my view.

I don't think they have much to worry about, a 6ft width at that wheelbase is pretty stable. I had that on my 'Taddy' in the 80's with a CG a bit farther backward. However, once people get a Elio, you can expect video showing some driving outside the envelope. People are people.

 

[AriLea]

Your friend is wrong. Lifting a wheel is a good idea? Since when is reducing traction by one third a good idea?

When conversation about lifting the inside tire on a Front wheel drive car in a turn, it isn't meant that you see a visible lift. Often what was meant is that the inside tire will unload i.e less weight on it, and that allows a loss of traction. This does limit the amount of power to the road.

That is not desirable for racing, but is considered a nice feature to keep the average driver from doing something uncontrolled.

All that changes when excessive horsepower is available, like at the racing level, making it a very unstable dynamic in FWD layout. In that situation the torque from traction can redirect momentum to toss the weight back and forth, sometimes in a harmonic that can drive the vehicle off the road uncontrollably. Hitting the brake can make the last flip worse, and at that point only full clutch is fast enough to break the cycle. This is reason 2 why there is very little racing with FWD.

Even a Elio with a turbo can't reach that level of dangerous power by about half, IMHO.

 

[Jim H]

Passenger vehicles on a racetrack.....unsafe?
I really don't know what people are worried about.

Pretty entertaining and it must be exciting to watch in person. Thanks for posting.

 

[AriLea]

I don't want to be one to be picky, but I thing you mean that EM is seeking a 5 star safety rating and not a crash rating. From the pictures, I don't think the Elio will survive any kind of actual crash very well.

Well to get technical, the vehicle survival wasn't the point. Occupant safety is the focus. Therefore, I perceive you were making a point of humor.

 

[AriLea]

If I was a gambler for things other than my Elio, I would be curious about the kind of odds that would be placed in Las Vegas on this topic. I personally feel the Elio's light weight will aid and abet it in being pushed away from crashes. The exception being if/when it is being hit from two sides at once or is hit against a solid object by another vehicle. Both situations would be very bad in almost any car but especially small cars. Of course that is my totally biased and not the least bit humble opinion. Z

Hmm, K, I was avoiding this point. It just gets a little detailed, where the actual conclusion of good enough, is ammm, close enough!
The Elio is light, yes that will reduce the damage to the actual vehicle, and therefore the crushing of the interior. But the occupant hitting the inside of the body is a real and nasty possibility. If the car gets deflected, the occupants may not, and could encounter the full impact with the Elio interior.

Anyway, those airbags are very good for that, so problem handled.!

 

[AriLea]

I would say pro level racing is the exception not the rule. Elio spec racing anyone?

I'll go.! I don't want to spend the money to race myself, But I'll go watch!

 

[AriLea]

Possibly egress out the back hatch? Should be a way to pop it from the inside just like every trunk in the last 25 years. Then again, it might be a tighter squeeze that I think...haven't seen the Elio in person [yet!].

1) Release the driver's seat belt.
2) Put feet at midlevel to the back of the driver's seat,
3) Release the driver's seat-back, and push.
4) Release the driver's door or roll down his window
5) Squirm out like a worm, no time for pride!

 

[NSTG8R]

1) Release the driver's seat belt.
2) Put feet at midlevel to the back of the driver's seat,
3) Release the driver's seat-back, and push.
4) Release the driver's door or roll down his window
5) Squirm out like a worm, no time for pride!

Too much work! I'm installing pyrotechnics in mine so I (or the backseater) can blow the top like a canopy.