Motor Running Time For Long Drives?

[skygazer6033]

Running doesn't damage engines. Starting and stopping is what damages engines particularly short trips. I once worked with a couple of guys who owned little Russian aerobatic airplanes (Sukhoi Su26 or 29 IIRC) with M14P 9 cylinder radial engines. I was told that in Russia these engines are used on generators, air compressors, water pumps etc. and running on LP gas have been running continuously for 20 years. I'm sure IAV and Elio can better the Russians workmanship.

 

[Smitty901]

The problem with a new engine may not be in the over all design. Little gremlins get you. Victory spent a lot of time on their new 111 engine it had a weak link. It happens. They are not the only one, bearing and many parts often do not work as planned so except a minor glitch here and there.

 

[JEBar]

I think the real question should be is can yer butt handle 10+hrs of windshield time. I doubt they'll be really comfortable for long trips. Maybe have to start an Elio Iron Butt Club.

while barring completely unforeseen circumstances, I can't see me spending anywhere near 10 hours in a single day behind the wheel of an Elio (or any other vehicle for that matter ) .... I used to do more than twice that in a day and didn't think anything of it ..... however, those days are long gone .... one nice thing about not being tall is, if needed I can have the seats redone with plenty of extra padding ..

Jim

 

[skygazer6033]

I have a 85 Yamaha Venture Royale I bought on Ebay. I flew to Newark, NJ on Wednesday morning and got back to north Houston about 2300 on Thursday. Just over 1700 miles only stopping for gas(and coffee). A long, long day but an unforgettable adventure.

 

[zelio]

I have a 85 Yamaha Venture Royale I bought on Ebay. I flew to Newark, NJ on Wednesday morning and got back to north Houston about 2300 on Thursday. Just over 1700 miles only stopping for gas(and coffee). A long, long day but an unforgettable adventure.

Yikes! You must have had one bad case of TB (tired butt) by the time you got home. :-) Z

 

[skygazer6033]

Actually the big Yamaha is so comfortable I would forget I was on a 2 wheeler (after about 15 hours in the saddle) and try to straddle road debris(an Elio like syndrome).

 

[trock59]

we owned a Chevy Sprint that came with a 3 cylinder, 1 liter motor .... it ran smoothly, was able to maintain interstate speed with no problems while delivering 50+ mpg .... at 75,000 miles the motor was done .... that is the only 3 cylinder engine I have used and sure hope that the motor Elio Motors will produce will offer much higher longevity

Jim

An engine should last more than 75k these days but what was the original cost of the Sprint and how much was a new engine? With an Elio at $6800 that's about what a dealership would charge just to swap one out- A replacement engine for the Elio would be $1000? $1200? Two strong guys can do it in no time

 

[RKing]

I typically ride/drive until I need gas then back on the road til the next gas stop. May reconsider that in the Elio 200 miles on the BMW about 3 hours OK, 360 in the Yucon, about 5 to 6 ,OK for me but SWMBO overrides and we make a half tank stop. I don't expect any comfort issues in the Elio but my attention to driving begins to suffer after 6 straight hours and the Elio should only need about 5 gallons by then. The only issue I have ever had was in a Fiero(84), after every trip to Fl it needed a new TPS , got cooked due to the poor airflow around the engine on those extended interstate runs. Ultimately cooked the wire harness bundle at the firewall. 13 TPSs in the years we had it!

 

[JEBar]

An engine should last more than 75k these days but what was the original cost of the Sprint and how much was a new engine? With an Elio at $6800 that's about what a dealership would charge just to swap one out- A replacement engine for the Elio would be $1000? $1200? Two strong guys can do it in no time

absolutely, engines today last much longer than they did a few years back .... if you go to a used car lot, its hard to find one with less than 100,000 miles .... when I buy a vehicle to keep, I'm prone to keep them for many years/miles .... the last pickup I bought to keep was a '78 Jeep J10 which I kept 24 years and in which I rebuilt the motor twice .... last week I sold a '92 Buick Park Avenue that we've had since '95 .... I'm still driving a '00 Park Avenue and hope to do so for many more years .... we also have an '02 Tahoe with 150,000+ miles, an '05 Trailblazer with 120,000+ miles, an '07 Sportchassis with 110,000+ miles .... my "new" truck is an '11 Silverado with 80,000+ miles .... we take good care of our vehicles and expect them to provide good service for many, many years .... my hope is an Elio will prove to deliver 200,000 miles of service, if so, it will suit us just fine

Jim

 

[RKing]

The Elio engine is very understressed. 100 HP/liter is not at all uncommon now and they last well if maintained. Triples are great due to the power delivery, torquey and smooth without need of balance shafts . The spray bore technology has been well proven in the industry over 2 decades. The engine is simple and robust ,using well proven technology .The engine is being designed by a company with a proven track record and far from their first effort. It is being designed to propel the Elio to 100 MPH while delivering 84MPG at 65 MPH, in short it is not a compromize in any way. Comes from someone with a liking for triples, BMWK75, tractor is a triple, and my boat motor was a triple. All preform very well and the most enjoyable new bike I have been on is a Trimuph triple... Well I may be a triple freak.
I put 200.000 miles or more on most all my vehicles and consider that a minimum for the powertrain, fully expect the Elio to exceed my expectations. I generally get rid of a vehicle when it starts to have electrical issues due to the difficulty of resolving them while the powertrain has 200 to 250K on it. Thats why I have quit buying new cars and love the Elio concept, I don't have to pay for stuff I don't want that will fail before I'm done with the car.