Front Wheel Track

[fpelsdca]

Ammm, check this vid out, then let's talk about it? (!amazing)
keep in mind, the Elio has a much wider wheel track. Harder to get up, but easier to balance.. amm, K, I'd let him win and not try. Snuff said,, just look.

And without a ramp also. I had to go directly to Youtube to watch it. Put this in the Youtube search box: best messerschmitt video ever

 

[Dustoff]

Ammm, check this vid out, then let's talk about it? (!amazing)
keep in mind, the Elio has a much wider wheel track. Harder to get up, but easier to balance.. amm, K, I'd let him win and not try. Snuff said,, just look.

That was COOL.

 

[Ekh]

Ammm, check this vid out, then let's talk about it? (!amazing)
keep in mind, the Elio has a much wider wheel track. Harder to get up, but easier to balance.. amm, K, I'd let him win and not try. Snuff said,, just look.

The movie link didn't play, but here's one showing the 3-wheel Messerschmidt in action ... a familiar look but NOT safety-conscious!

 

[Folks]

Why would anyone in their right mind want to do that to any car, much less the 3-wheel Elio??? The stress on the drive train must be out of this world.

That was never the question. A sudden oncoming car in your lane could potentially put you up on 2 wheels if but for a second. Either that or we'd be reading about your head on in News. I will make that choice every time to prevent a headon. Wouldn't you? And please tell me what the you were talking about? WAZUPWIDAT? hum? To further prevent confusion it should be noted that this thread was in answer to the question, Why does the Elio have such wide wheel tract? And for the record: The Elio should have a much higher aversion to going up on 2 because of the wide wheel stance plus the low and correctly place center of gravity.

 

[ehwatt]

The pull rod design itself would not relate to what we call 'suspension geometry'. The pull rod could affect geometry relating to spring rate compression(but can be designed not to), and that could get involved with roll over if the 'progressive-rate' were too soft. This is normally not as important to rollover as the actual tract width and placement of the CG within the triangle formed by the tire contact to the road. Also a minor effect is the tire pressure/loading. In both cases of softness, the ride would get sort of spungy in a turn where the body leans over, and so then the CG has moved to the outside too. A wider front-end would add to counter that effect.

As you likely remember from the CabinScooters group, truly, the height of the Center of gravity (CG) and it's forward position is the largest factor affecting the choice of width needed to have a desired resistance to rollover. In effect the width chosen is a tradeoff with [fitting on the road and aerodrag] vs [rollover safety]. Their engineering decision would have been based on that and the idea that a 6ft is not too hard to live with. Understand that the narrow rear end is still narrow and allows more freedom in turn than a four wheeler with a square shadow. Avoiding obstacles will be very easy with the Elio.

As an example, the 'indy cycle' reverse trikes often increases lateral stiffness via a solid linkage between left and right, greatly reducing that roll-over softness. This comes at the cost of allowing more bump induced body roll, and therefore less comfort, and added body shake. That vehicle has such low momentum, and that type of driver has low requirement for comfort, therefore that owner base doesn't usually mind those attributes. If you had your kid in back, you likely would. There are other tradeoffs as well. They have a far back position for their CG, so up to a 7ft width is highly desirable. More than that and it's too wide for easy driving. The Aptera also had a very wide width, or something near to that(but not the solid linkage).

I thought it was to get some of the suspension bits out of the airstream and reduce drag. while I'm here, does any body know the steering ratio, or turns lock-to-lock? A video made it look like it has fairly slow steering, Manual, of course

 

[zelio]

I thought it was to get some of the suspension bits out of the airstream and reduce drag. while I'm here, does any body know the steering ratio, or turns lock-to-lock? A video made it look like it has fairly slow steering, Manual, of course

Try not to put too much significance to the visual appearance of the Elio on the road. Remember it is a hand built prototype using bits and pieces of other vehicles cobbled together. We really won't know what it will drive like until they have a production prototype for us to see and drive. I fully expect it to be much smoother than what we see in the prototype. But then that is my, as always, very biased and definitely not the least bit humble, opinion. :-) Z

 

[Ty]

I'm not sure what you mean by wheel track but I believe Elio Motors says the front wheels are the same distance apart as those in a Ford Taurus. Is that the same as the wheel track? Stability is definitely a major reason. If you look at some of the videos on the Similar Vehicles forum (or something like that name) you will lots of roll overs by 3 wheeled vehicles with poor stability. Thanks to Paul Elio's desire for a 5 Star safety rating equivalent, we have a vehicle with true stability. Z

Yes, Z, wheeler track refers to the distance from the center of the left tire to the center of the right tire. If you were to build twin tight ropes, the track is what you'd need to measure to get them the right distance apart. Well, almost all cars are the same for the front track and the rear track. The Eli? It would have a rear track of 0".

 

[Snick]

Yes, Z, wheeler track refers to the distance from the center of the left tire to the center of the right tire. If you were to build twin tight ropes, the track is what you'd need to measure to get them the right distance apart. Well, almost all cars are the same for the front track and the rear track. The Eli? It would have a rear track of 0".

There's no rear tire? An infinitesimally thin rear tire?

 

[Ty]

There's no rear tire? An infinitesimally thin rear tire?

The distance between the center of the left rear tire and the center of the right rear tire (since they are the same tire) IS zero.

 

[aknaten]

The Elio is front wheel drive. The Wheelies happen when Rear wheel drive torgue pulls the front off the ground. It will never happen in the Elio.

OK, no wheelies going forward. But what about in reverse? With 70 percent of the weight on the front, it should be easy to pull the rear off the ground and with the steering in front, you could guide it around. I see a great future for the Elio in the circus.