The Elio Engine

[Sr.MailMan]

Don't forget " traction control " on the Elio.

 

[Rickb]

There is a sway bar on the P4, no reason to believe there won't be one on the P5 and up.
The sway bars keep the vehicle more level by limiting the amount of weight transfer in the corners. It does this by transfering a portion of more down force, or up force for that matter, to the opposite wheel.
You wouldn't have to drive far in any vehicle that has no sway bar, in order to appreciate what it does!

The P5 will set the bar.

 

[Ian442]

Regarding CG (Center of Gravity)...
Back in the early 60's the British and French were busy working on the Concorde, the first commercial SST (Super Sonic Transport). Khrushchev gave orders that the USSR was to beat the Capitalists, and so the KGB began a very intense period of industrial espionage. The story I heard is that the pressure was so great, they got sloppy, and the British and French security services learned about it.

Rather than arresting the spies, they did one better. They drew up a set of engineering diagrams that were just like the original EXCEPT ... the CG was positioned about 3 meters behind where it would be on the actual production plane. This would not have affected any of the flight characteristics, except when it slowed down to come in for a landing. Then it would be as unstable as Ivan the Terrible. The spies were then allowed to find and copy these bogus plans.

Fast forward a few years ... the Concordsky (as it was nicknamed, can't remember the official designation), looking remarkably like the Concorde, made its official debut two weeks before the Concord. Go, USSR. Khrushchev (and the USSR) basked in the glory until the Paris Air Show that year, when the entire world would get to see the greatness of the Soviet Union. The plane crashed in Paris coming in for a landing just before the show started.

After that (and a number of other near-crashes internationally), the plane was used solely for travel within the USSR, and later was converted to be used only for cargo, before it was quietly mothballed.

That made me crack right up. I picture the Brits and French chuckling like naughty school kids planting that stuff

 

[Ty]

Yup. Or, the idler link bushings on each end are wore out.
A LOT of the older cars didn't have them, as high speeds were limited to short sections of safe highways. Higher horsepower and NASCAR changed how Americans drove and used their cars.
Before I forget, the "pull rod" on the Elio also assists a LOT when cornering. The action of it pulling down at the TOP of the spindle assembly of the outside tire when cornering, keeps that tire more upright and stable. The addition of the sway bar should make the Elio a very reliable ride in the corners.
The only thing I wonder about, and only time will tell, is the outside edges of the rear tire tread will round off a bit quicker than on a 4 wheel automobile. I wonder if this will/may cause any traction issues, especially in inclimate weather?

I think that you'll find that at 1,200 pounds, the Elio will not put much wear and tear on it's tires. I do wonder how slide happy that back tire will be if cornering aggressively. It seems that rather than the Elio flipping, that rear tire would break free before enough lateral force was generated. You'll end up spinning around before flipping over.

 

[Coss]

I think that you'll find that at 1,200 pounds, the Elio will not put much wear and tear on it's tires. I do wonder how slide happy that back tire will be if cornering aggressively. It seems that rather than the Elio flipping, that rear tire would break free before enough lateral force was generated. You'll end up spinning around before flipping over.

How hard can you apply the emergence brake?
They have said the E-brake will only brake the rear wheel; so take out the click stops and go have fun.

 

[ehwatt]

I think that you'll find that at 1,200 pounds, the Elio will not put much wear and tear on it's tires. I do wonder how slide happy that back tire will be if cornering aggressively. It seems that rather than the Elio flipping, that rear tire would break free before enough lateral force was generated. You'll end up spinning around before flipping over.

I bet the same applies to the brakes too. We should be able to play with the F/R traction and have whatever flavor of handling that suits. Cannot wait to get that little rascal to Putnam Park (Indiana).

 

[Kuda]

I bet the same applies to the brakes too. We should be able to play with the F/R traction and have whatever flavor of handling that suits. Cannot wait to get that little rascal to Putnam Park (Indiana).

 

[John-b-gone]

OK after just reading all 1745 posts have a few questions 1. Does the new motor (need a name here, how about E55?) have a chain or fiber timing belt? I remember hearing/reading that P.E. wanted a chain timing belt and could this be one of the reason he went with the new E55? 2. Can a person/shop under the guise of ether rebuild or mod, respray the plasma on the cylinder walls and come out with a somewhat "new" motor? My parents were the not so proud owners of the Vega, need I say more. Keep up the good work I'm off to check out other threads on this site. thanks john

 

[Coss]

Hello and john-b-gone glad you decide to join our group of knowledgeable and patient people.

Good work on the research; I don't think there has ever been a discussion for the name of the motor; or at least none that I can recall since I started my involvement here. Good time to start a new thread on that topic.
Question 2 is another item that has never come up in either the ability to do the recoat after the original build of the motor; great topic to include in that same thread.

Most of the time the search function is a great tool to search this site, have you tried that yet? If not, you have probably got a couple of people looking into right now.
You'll find a depth of knowledge from the cross section of members we have that come from all age groups and walks of life.
A couple of strange ones too; but they're not dangerous, just amusing and entertaining at times.

So pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable and I'm sure someone will chine in with better answers than I've provided for your questions.

 

[JEBar]

the last info I saw indicated a timing chain .... I haven't seen any info on steps necessary when rebuilding, that would be a good question to ask the tour folks