Wheel Fenders, Fairings, Skirts, Covers

[Truett Collins]

The Elio should never be driven with the wheel covers or fenders. Doing so would be a safety hazard to everyone.

How, or did you forget to insert the word OFF.....or WITHOUT

 

[wayne kemp]

How, or did you forget to insert the word OFF.....or WITHOUT

Heck Truett, I wanted to here how with the covers or fenders. LOL

 

[Smitty901]

After seeing what riders will do to a Harley I predict.
Bobbed fenders
some exhaust mods
Paint,pin striping
Few lights added
Someone will cut the top off
Someone will try to slam it
Someone else will in time drop another engine in
I see spoke wheels on the front
Heck how long before some indy shop makes a bolt on body replacement
Turbo kit
add you visions here you will most likely be right.

 

[Larryrc1]

I don't like the covered wheel fenders, either. Wheels MAKE a vehicle. Covering them up hides the beauty of a wheel assembly and IMO, the minimal MPG gain is not worth it.
My Elio will have open fenders. I'm not very warm to the look of the rear, either, mostly because that wheel is completely covered; I'd like to see a partial cover, so some of the wheel would be visible.

Remember the 1st gen Honda Insight? It was goofy looking, IMO, because of the covered rear wheels. Back in the 60s, some cars had fender 'skirts', that covered about half of the rear wheels, which somewhat added to the 'look'.

I'm not whining, just giving my thoughts. High MPG #ers are the goal of Elio, I understand, but at what point does aerodynamics overtake attractive styling?

Attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder,whether it is art,homes, women,men and yes even cars.You go to a bike or car show,how many cars or bikes look identical. Elio needs to make these fenders(wheel skirts) removable for the consumer and I'm pretty sure they did. With fender skirts you were able to remove them to change tires(had them on a 58 impala)or service the brake area. How many people didn't like the two tone effect of the Element by Honda when they first came out . Now ,Honda must have heard the public and now you can get the car with a solid color.How about we all wait and see the final production and go from there. I know the Elio gods are listening.

 

[Larryrc1]

After seeing what riders will do to a Harley I predict.
Bobbed fenders
some exhaust mods
Paint,pin striping
Few lights added
Someone will cut the top off
Someone will try to slam it
Someone else will in time drop another engine in
I see spoke wheels on the front
Heck how long before some indy shop makes a bolt on body replacement
Turbo kit
add you visions here you will most likely be right.

I'll take all of the above. I'm trying to learn how to photo shop so I can experiment with look of my new rde and hopefully by the time I get to pick it up I'll have a pretty good idea on what I'm going to do.

 

[Rickb]

I could see that happening. Maybe the leather ones off my EVO fatboy with the quick release.

I like the idea of quick release leather saddlebags with a stamped Elio Logo, however, may get to much road spray from the front tires. Hard cases with soft liners would be more practical.

 

[ElioDigger]

 

[CPO Sharky]

I hate the new fenders, they look like over kill, this is not what I paid $1,000 for, this takes the stream line look away from the Elio makes it to bulky, if dirt gets on my roof I can just add mud flaps or I can wash it off!! when I pick my Elio up it had better have the fenders on it that I have paid for!!! where I can still see my tires. I want the solid color not a to tone ether I went all in for the lime green and I do not want any thing else!!! come on Elion motors get real stop messing up a great car, you are going from great to crappy, stop changing this car the lights are awesome but you do not need to change anything else. if we want to change our cars just give us the option to do so, THANK YOU........... foxeys_fox

Yeah, I have real mixed feelings about the fenders. I'm guessing they'lll be an option. I also liked the old headlights better. The new lights make the car look just like my Craftsman lawn tractor. I know they are better for aerodynamics and all, so Im okay with that. I may go with the old style fenders just because they look much better and that little bit of mileage won't matter to me at all. Would be nice to have both sets tho.for long trips and winter.

 

[Larryrc1]

I like the idea of quick release leather saddlebags with a stamped Elio Logo, however, may get to much road spray from the from the front tires. Hard cases with soft liners would be more practical.

I totally agree,I bought some hard bags from Corbin that I put on my Honda Valkyrie and fit well and accented the lines of the bike. Considering getting a second set and putting them near the rear wheel.

 

[goofyone]

Yeah, I have real mixed feelings about the fenders. I'm guessing they'lll be an option. I also liked the old headlights better. The new lights make the car look just like my Craftsman lawn tractor. I know they are better for aerodynamics and all, so Im okay with that. I may go with the old style fenders just because they look much better and that little bit of mileage won't matter to me at all. Would be nice to have both sets tho.for long trips and winter.

It will be easy to have more than one set of wheel fenders as EM has already told us that the open fenders would be an option and the fenders will be available in their catalog for future ordering. I expect this to be the most common body mod on the Elio as it will be relatively inexpensive and very easy for anyone to do. Also just about everyone who opts for some upgraded wheels will want to show them off under various styles of custom fender.

As you mentioned EM had to integrate the headlights for better aerodynamics however once sales really get moving it would not surprise me at all if body kits start becoming available as it is not supposed to be very hard to change the body panels. I can very easily see P3 and P2 style front ends as it would only require a new hood and front fender panels with a headlight housing, new headlights, and some extensions for the wiring. I believe we will eventually even see more extensive body modifications kits which attempt to change the entire look of the vehicle.