Winter Driving

[Ray O]

I noticed that the Elio prototype has different tires for the front and back. I would think that in would be an advantage to make the the same. Re-stacking would be simpler and pet boys could have less inventory. The reason is that it would be good for people in snow country who may want winter tires to change over for winter driving. I have a 2 wheel drive Toyota Tocoma, last year I put winter tires on the truck and did well with the snow. I have read report on how winter tires help you stop in shorter distances and better control on curves. With front wheel drive and winter tires this could be on benefit for may Elio owners. Extra Wheels mounted with winter tires could also be an option. with Tires all the same size inventor would be simpler.

 

[Gas-Powered Awesome]

I think everything you say is correct, but likely Pep Boys already carries inventory in both the front and rear sizes. And they sell tires in volumes that dwarf even Paul's wildest dreams of 250,000 Elio's a year. So Elio having the same size all the way around would have no measurable advantage for Pep boys.

Likely there wouldn't be that much advantage for us either. The rear wheel isn't working as hard as the fronts, but it is carrying more weight. Outside the need for all three tires to have low rolling resistance, the advantage of staggered sizes is Elio gets to optimize the front tires for steering, aerodynamics, and traction, and the rear tire for load handling and ride comfort. Making all three the same would mean compromising some of those criteria for the limited benefits it would bring.

 

[Sethodine]

Alternately, you could just swap out the fronts for Mattracks. Rumor has it that there is a size of Mattracks that will fit onto Elio's front wheel hubs perfectly. The only issue I see is the need for fenders, so you're not throwing mud and rocks back at the cabin whenever you turn.

 

[Gas-Powered Awesome]

I'm not sure 60 HP is enough to even turn a 1900-pound set of Mattracks.

 

[Coss]

I'm not sure 60 HP is enough to even turn a 1900-pound set of Mattracks.

Should be, just not very fast, or uphill, or through mud, or ............

 

[Sethodine]

Well if a pair of them weigh more than the Elio itself, I don't think turning them without power steering is going to be an option. Perhaps they have a lighter-weight model?

 

[Ty]

W

I think everything you say is correct, but likely Pep Boys already carries inventory in both the front and rear sizes. And they sell tires in volumes that dwarf even Paul's wildest dreams of 250,000 Elio's a year. So Elio having the same size all the way around would have no measurable advantage for Pep boys.

Likely there wouldn't be that much advantage for us either. The rear wheel isn't working as hard as the fronts, but it is carrying more weight. Outside the need for all three tires to have low rolling resistance, the advantage of staggered sizes is Elio gets to optimize the front tires for steering, aerodynamics, and traction, and the rear tire for load handling and ride comfort. Making all three the same would mean compromising some of those criteria for the limited benefits it would bring.

Well said.