The Ever Falling Hp Of The Elio.... :(

[zelio]

Learning how to merge . . . .

I never see gaps that big between cars when I go to Portland. Bumper to bumper is a more accurate description and you have to be alert for a courteous driver who is willing to let you merge. Obviously, I only go to Portland when I have to (or to see the Elio). :-) Z

 

[Folks]

How about a PIPER CUB?

OK how much do you charge? Outsyd.

 

[carzes]

Agreed in general.

And those that have the power probably don't even use it when they should. My anecdotal evidence stems from when I used to commute to work with a 98 Hyundai Accent, I think it did 0-60 around 11 seconds. My daily on ramp would be a pretty severe uphill on ramp, the highway was only 2 lanes and general flow of traffic was about 70 mph and traffic density could be bad so that you would have to pick a spot to merge, and if you missed it you could be rear-ended or side-swiped by oncoming traffic. It was also around the bend so you couldn't see too far behind you to see what was coming, so to be safe I would always assume a car going 75 in the slow lane would be right around the bend.

So knowing all that I would floor the gas occasionally depending on how far behind the upcoming cars were while I was merging on. I would never get in trouble and always had enough pep to merge safely.

Except on occasion I would be caught behind cars with plenty of power and probably half the 0-60 time (VW GTI's, newer mustangs, etc...) and while attempting to merge going up the on ramp and I would almost rear end them as I saw my available window to merge close and I assumed the car in front would see the potential danger as well. However, these clueless drivers would lollygag and not check to see what the oncoming traffic was doing. I guess they avoid crashes because everyone else around them is watching out. I didn't want to count on other drivers seeing me and braking hard to let me in, but I guess others don't care so much and drive however they want irrespective of the situation around them.

Anyways, I've always felt that if you floored the gas on a low powered car you'll still have enough power.

I know there are some rather 'challenging' entrance ramps out there, but gearing up another generation of pocket rockets for sub 5 second take offs is NOT the answer. The future of transportation is not going to be continued cheap energy. PERIOD! Get used to it. Fuel will keep going up in price as we are forced to turn to more and more expensive sources. Electricity will not stay cheap, ethanol is not a cheaper solution, and french-fry grease will not be the new Texas oil gusher. The future will be less power, high efficiency, light weight, and 100+ mpg. The roads will have to change, our driving habits will have to change, and our priorities will have to change. So we might as well start getting used to it, beginning with petitioning to get the roads adapted for the future in which one would never dream of burning half a gallon of gas just to blast onto a freeway.
It may seem like I'm just making doom and gloom predictions, but feel free to apply a little research and do some math. We can transition into this future successfully, and the Elio is what that will look like. That is why i am a fan.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Just a for_what_its_worth bit of information: a loaded Boeing 777 does 0-60 in 10 sec during take off roll.

About 15-20 seconds from a dead stop

How about a PIPER CUB?

Depending on the cub 4-15 seconds.

Flew one that stalled at 25-28 kts. Good times.

 

[wheaters]

Just drove my 993 cc engined Suzuki Swift to and from work, a 90 mile round trip. almost all of it on one of the busiest stretches of any motorway here in UK. Although this car has only 52 bhp and probably weighs almost twice what an Elio will, I had absolutely no difficulty getting up to speed, keeping up with the traffic or merging on or off. The car will easily do 90 mph and cruises very easily at 70 mph. I even overtook a few BMWs...

The Elio will be quicker.

How fast do you need to go?

 

[Elio Amazed]

Just drove my 993 cc engined Suzuki Swift to and from work, a 90 mile round trip. almost all of it on one of the busiest stretches of any motorway here in UK. Although this car has only 52 bhp and probably weighs almost twice what an Elio will, I had absolutely no difficulty getting up to speed, keeping up with the traffic or merging on or off. The car will easily do 90 mph and cruises very easily at 70 mph. I even overtook a few BMWs...

The Elio will be quicker.

How fast do you need to go?

The swift is the same car as the chevy metro 1.0L hatchback. The metro is 1890 lb. curb weight. 640 lb. heavier than the projected weight of the Elio. When you only weight 1250 lb. to begin with, 640 lb. is a lot of weight.

I agree. In The lower gears, my metro 5-spd was peppy. Almost like a little sports car. I had no problem getting it up to speed. It did have trouble maintaining 72mph up moderate to steep hills on the interstate though. I would have to drop to 4th and on steeper grades it would decelerate to 55mph. If the metro could have shed 640 lb. I suspect it would have been a rocket and I wouldn't have had that problem at all.

 

[Snick]

The swift is the same car as the chevy metro 1.0L hatchback. The metro is 1890 lb. curb weight. 640 lb. heavier than the projected weight of the Elio. When you only weight 1250 lb. to begin with, 640 lb. is a lot of weight.

I agree. In The lower gears, my metro 5-spd was peppy. Almost like a little sports car. I had no problem getting it up to speed. It did have trouble maintaining 72mph up moderate to steep hills on the interstate though. I would have to drop to 4th and on steeper grades it would decelerate to 55mph. If the metro could have shed 640 lb. I suspect it would have been a rocket and I wouldn't have had that problem at all.

You mean shed 650 lbs and half its frontal area.

 

[Ty]

Learning how to merge . . . .

That's funny... They never once said to use your turn signals... not even for a lane change... How would someone in your blind spot know your intention to move over?

 

[zelio]

That's funny... They never once said to use your turn signals... not even for a lane change... How would someone in your blind spot know your intention to move over?

You're right. I didn't notice that. LOL BTW does the Elio have turn signals? I know motorcycles use hand signals - or I guess I should say I think they do but I would think part of the 5 star safety rating would require turn signals. :-) Z

 

[Ty]

You're right. I didn't notice that. LOL BTW does the Elio have turn signals? I know motorcycles use hand signals - or I guess I should say I think they do but I would think part of the 5 star safety rating would require turn signals. Z

LOL... Most motorcycles have turn signals... Now, whether or not people use them is a different story. I use mine both on my bike and in my truck.