100 Preproduction Elio's To Be Built In December!!

[pistonboy]

For those of you who were wondering, I checked. The E-Series cars are of course being developed as per schedule. The fleet cars are for commercial users, and there will be at least two Fleet operators involved in the first 100 test. I was told that the 100 fleet vehicles would be exposed to very severe service conditions. They will not be swooping along the interstate for the most part.

Also, there are no plans to change the design of the car to increase storage space. The production car will have exactly the same amount as the P5.

I am surprised a company would take the legal risk. In case of an accident, a lawyer would argue these are not fully developed vehicles because they are "preproduction", not production vehicles. A lawyer would also argue that Roush's continued involvement is another indication the development is not complete.

If they are willing to take the legal risk, I strongly suspect they are not in California.

 

[floydv]

I am surprised a company would take the legal risk. In case of an accident, a lawyer would argue these are not fully developed vehicles because they are "preproduction", not production vehicles. A lawyer would also argue that Roush's continued involvement is another indication the development is not complete.

If they are willing to take the legal risk, I strongly suspect they are not in California.

Unless the fleet operator is replacing its fleet of motorcycles or utility trikes.

 

[pistonboy]

I AM one of those who are wondering!

If they are indeed going to be used for "severe service conditions", is it safe to assume then that the suspension is 99% there, along with engine/trans combos, interior dimensions (shift levers, steering wheel position, et al) and all that? I presume, like life in the manufacturing world, that last 1% is a bitch, and Rousch is on board to smooth out the last final details.

The idea of making these into "race" vehicles (because, you know, Rousch) is humorous to say the least. We must crawl before we walk, then run, then do whatever other athletic maneuvers we can improve on because we did the prior events.

I am so looking forward to the 100 doing real world conditions to make OUR Elio's that much better!

Oh, don't look at the Jalopnik website either. Unless ye are a naysayer. Then knock yourself out!

The idea of racing is not at all strange. The biggest problem in racing is cost. It is very expensive. Racing classes can be made for anything including stock or near stock elios. I firmly believe if the elio makes it into production, which I believe it will, there will be a lot of racing with the elio.

 

[RUCRAYZE]

To be considered-
Back in the day, I used to enter, with my Sunbeam Alpine, Gymkhana events- they were fun, no expensive modifications necessary, and as "safe" an experience as "racing" would allow. Seems the E would be a perfect candidate for this kind of event.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

The idea of racing is not at all strange. The biggest problem in racing is cost. It is very expensive. Racing classes can be made for anything including stock or near stock elios. I firmly believe if the elio makes it into production, which I believe it will, there will be a lot of racing with the elio.

Not all racing is expensive.

https://www.24hoursoflemons.com/

 

[Ekh]

Excellent. Where did you get this information?

No .comment

 

[KD]

I can't imagine the larger trunk would increase gas mileage all that much. Air is still moving around the vehicle, but I'm no engineer either.

I believe the "aero" dynamics of this exact same theory was quashed by other notable members some time ago. There was some good points made as to why this doesn't work for fuel saving (per Paul Elio's intent) but would actually make it worse.

I do agree it is more asthetically appealing, but this is about getting to 84 mpg...

 

[KD]

Not all racing is expensive.

https://www.24hoursoflemons.com/

SWEET! (Yup, I said it...)

 

[Ty]

I respectfully disagree Ty. I believe these vehicles should be scattered around the country in order to get the most divergent sampling of environments and conditions possible. High temperatures and low, high and low altitudes, high speed cruising to dodging pot holes. A good sampling of everything a consumer might encounter. If all the vehicles are near the engineering site it would be handy but you really wouldn't get a good feel for problems that might be encountered in other locations.

No problem. I'm not always right and sometimes I may feel there is a better way but that doesn't mean anyone listens or that it is even a better way. My kids never think I know a better way... they ALWAYS know the best way. That may be true but spreading them out and trying to do engineering research would be very expensive. Maybe they will. I think you'll see the vehicles going to some kind of delivery service and they'll get feedback regularly. At this point, I think they'll just be tweaking suspension and engine mounts. There won't be any huge changes. But, that's my 2 cents.

 

[pistonboy]

For those of you who were wondering, I checked. The E-Series cars are of course being developed as per schedule. The fleet cars are for commercial users, and there will be at least two Fleet operators involved in the first 100 test. I was told that the 100 fleet vehicles would be exposed to very severe service conditions. They will not be swooping along the interstate for the most part.

Also, there are no plans to change the design of the car to increase storage space. The production car will have exactly the same amount as the P5.

Excellent. Where did you get this information?

No .comment

No comment, huh?

I'm going back to my theory of racing.