Morphic Studies

[AriLea]

I believe we can modify that front end for an FWD ICE and convince EM to build it as their premium model in a few years after this first one is successful.

Go, Dusty,Josh, (others as appropriate)
The first one of us who wins the lotto, lets agree we start the unofficial Elio Concepts Agency, and make prototypes for EM. :-) k, I like dreaming.

 

[AriLea]

So apparently in 2000 Chevy was considering a tandem seat 4 wheel car, probably in reaction to the 1Liter prototype. And such concept art rarely makes it into a final product, unless there is a lot of juicy profit involved. No wonder the system is broken.

Of course, I just had to re-vision that to 3 wheels.

Why do I care? Seriously, there will be a Elio2 or a sport Elio at some point. Every profitable company has a few of those. And once EM is a successful brand, they should consider it for a Turbo version of their engine.

 

[BigWarpGuy]

I think your version of the 2000 Chevy vehicle is really nice. It looks like it could be made and be a viable alternative to the Elio.

 

[AriLea]

This Delahaye reload deserved to be added to the collection. At the angle of view shown, there is little difference you can see in a sociable (top) versus a inline 1.5 seating (bottom) ( .5 = rumble seat with flip lid ).

 

[Johnny Acree]

So apparently in 2000 Chevy was considering a tandem seat 4 wheel car, probably in reaction to the 1Liter prototype. And such concept art rarely makes it into a final product, unless there is a lot of juicy profit involved. No wonder the system is broken.

Of course, I just had to re-vision that to 3 wheels.
View attachment 2829
Why do I care? Seriously, there will be a Elio2 or a sport Elio at some point. Every profitable company has a few of those. And once EM is a successful brand, they should consider it for a Turbo version of their engine.

Lately, I've been wondering about the outriggers and aero.
It just looks like there will be a lot of drag with the wheels and suspension stickin out in the air stream.
I think this 2000 Chevy might have better aero than the Elio.

What do you think?

 

[Bert]

Lately, I've been wondering about the outriggers and aero.
It just looks like there will be a lot of drag with the wheels and suspension stickin out in the air stream.
I think this 2000 Chevy might have better aero than the Elio.

What do you think?

Well, the fact remains, the smaller "mass" you're trying to move through the air, the less "force" needed to accomplish it. Open suspensions may look out of place and not arodynamic to many, but the multiple smaller "masses" in the air flow, is much easier to "push" through the air than solid mass.

Swinging a bat, you really don't feel the resistance of the air. Try swinging a pizza box, wide side to the swing, and you do feel that resistance.

Same thing with airplane wings. "Edge" on towards the airflow is relatively easy, but changing the pitch of those wings pushes harder against the wind resistance and causes the plane to lift off when the forward mass is diverted by the air resistance.

Outboard fenders causes much less displacement than fenders attached to the main body of a vehicle, due to less "broad" mass (smaller forward surface), as well as more and quicker routes for the air to flow around them.

 

[Ty]

And here some variables in small format images. Does anyone happen to know what the original vehicle is?
View attachment 1650 View attachment 1651 View attachment 1652 View attachment 1653 View attachment 1654

So continuing on , let's take a look at some heavy metal. Just like racing, it's a big area from the point of view of style and personna. It may not seem to apply to elite-efficiency, but this does give some ideas that can be re-purposed to it. For my part, I want as many people to buy an Elio as possible. So I'm glad for the skills EM has to apply automotive art in this area. I saw laying around thier design offices plenty of 'heavy metal' artwork. From my own collection of 'Morphics', this is set 1 of 2?, I can only attach 10 images. These are the names as found on the web;
Venturi Fetish
View attachment 1687
Forgot what this was
View attachment 1688
Oldsmobile Aerotech
View attachment 1689
Porsche Cayman
View attachment 1690
Aston Martin LeMans Prototype
View attachment 1691
Not sure about this one.
View attachment 1692
Autonomy Concept
View attachment 1693
Chevy Camaro? as a corvett look-a-like?
View attachment 1694
Kia Sidewinder
View attachment 1695
Peugeot Quasar
View attachment 1696

I like the Kia Sidewinder. Most of the models have a severe looking taper to the rear as viewed from the top. It's a little off putting in some models but totally wrong in others. The Kia you did seems to hide the awkward rear wheel with tasteful scoops. I wonder if the Elio with a similar scoop set up to make it appear wider without totally killing the aerodynamics would look good.

 

[Ty]

So apparently in 2000 Chevy was considering a tandem seat 4 wheel car, probably in reaction to the 1Liter prototype. And such concept art rarely makes it into a final product, unless there is a lot of juicy profit involved. No wonder the system is broken.

Of course, I just had to re-vision that to 3 wheels.
View attachment 2829
Why do I care? Seriously, there will be a Elio2 or a sport Elio at some point. Every profitable company has a few of those. And once EM is a successful brand, they should consider it for a Turbo version of their engine.

The odd panel that usually covers the rear wheel is an awkward looking thing in most models but the 2000 Chevy here and one other one with some kind of scoops back there hide the fact that it's a three wheeler fairly well. I like this 2000 Chevy the best.

 

[RUCRAYZE]

This Delahaye reload deserved to be added to the collection. At the angle of view shown, there is little difference you can see in a sociable (top) versus a inline 1.5 seating (bottom) ( .5 = rumble seat with flip lid ).
View attachment 5396

You are VERY gifted, Thanks for sharing

 

[AriLea]

Lately, I've been wondering about the outriggers and aero.
It just looks like there will be a lot of drag with the wheels and suspension stickin out in the air stream.
I think this 2000 Chevy might have better aero than the Elio.

What do you think?

I'll read everyone else's input before I totally decide on a guestimate. Only a true test can confirm anything, be it wind tunnel or roll-down test.
There are some challenges in the 2000 created because of style preferences. i.e, good areo doesn't always look the best, so they made concessions. Yes, true the outriggers are inherently nasty, yet they have reduced cross-section, but can be improved above the Elio current form. In their case they don't want the extra expense since they can make 84mpg with their current mix. I'd propose flexible covers and a strap-on sleave for the a-arms. Maybe a tail extension. Some of that would be ugly, some charming. All would be added expense and a little more weight.

So on the 2000 Chev (not the actual name), the trailing forms round too much, creating a 'bluff' airflow. Sailers call that 'lufting' on the sails, so I'm guessing that's the source of the term 'bluff form'. (or is it about the profile of a bluff at the far side of a hill?) It should be extended to more of a raindrop tail, both after the body and after the front fenders.
Too, I'd enclose the open wells, and drop the spoiler off. Again all of that would displace the styling, but could be accomidated. And I'll bet they didn't envision an underbelly. Just controlling the volume of ground air is likely all they considered (the cheaper/lighter choice).

So which is better as it sits? ummm, don't know. Probably Elio since they actually did some aerodynamic flow simulations, but not by much.