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Wishful Thinking...

Trusting

Trusting

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I'm the type who is never satisfied with anything. Seems that every item I buy, I look it over and see something I feel could have been better. My wife is always teasing me because I'm always out in my workshop modifying some gizmo I just bought.

I'm sure the German designed engine planned for the cars will be good. After all, who's better at engineering than the Germans (It's human relations where they seem to have problems). Anyway, this is what I wish Elio had done. In a nutshell; make a deal with BMW to use their Boxer twin motorcycle engine. I've owned 2 BMW bikes and the engines were great, smooth, reliable, quiet and dependable. I can remember going on trips across the western U.S. on the Interstates, with little traffic, at least a mile visibility ahead, radar detector on, and cruse control setting on 100.... The engine sounded like a sewing machine at that speed. I could cruse like this for hours and it didn't bother the Boxer a bit. In tens of thousands of miles I never had a problem. I suspect the cost of the Boxers might be the problem.

Oh well, we can't have everything...
 
Ty

Ty

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Trusting said:
I'm the type who is never satisfied with anything. Seems that every item I buy, I look it over and see something I feel could have been better. My wife is always teasing me because I'm always out in my workshop modifying some gizmo I just bought.

I'm sure the German designed engine planned for the cars will be good. After all, who's better at engineering than the Germans (It's human relations where they seem to have problems). Anyway, this is what I wish Elio had done. In a nutshell; make a deal with BMW to use their Boxer twin motorcycle engine. I've owned 2 BMW bikes and the engines were great, smooth, reliable, quiet and dependable. I can remember going on trips across the western U.S. on the Interstates, with little traffic, at least a mile visibility ahead, radar detector on, and cruse control setting on 100.... The engine sounded like a sewing machine at that speed. I could cruse like this for hours and it didn't bother the Boxer a bit. In tens of thousands of miles I never had a problem. I suspect the cost of the Boxers might be the problem.

Oh well, we can't have everything...
Click to expand...
Another thing... Most motorcycle engines seem tight and problem free... My 2002 Honda VTX1800C is an example. I've never had a problem and I was thinking "Man, this engine is 13 years old and I haven't had any problems. Great engine." I noticed that my 2 year old truck has the same number of miles on it. So, not as great as I thought about the motorcycle engine. Those engines just typically don't see 100,000 miles. Sure, part of that is the rider's inability to keep the bike rubber side down and the lack of riding season. But, when it comes down to it, automotive engines are designed to last much longer and have improved drive cycles. Someone on here will jump up and say "But my bike has 100,000 miles on it!" But, that'll be the exception, I'll bet. My bike, for the record, has just 25,000 miles on it. I don't take it on long trips across country but I do drive it to work a couple times a week to give my truck a break and because, doggonit, it is still fun to ride.
 
G

Gas-Powered Awesome

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I wish Elio had started building Elios in a garage as soon as they could. Getting them on the street in the hands of owners as soon as possible is the best possible advertising. The all-or-nothing big automaker path they've chosen limits their chance of success, IMHO.
 
NSTG8R

NSTG8R

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Trusting said:
I'm the type who is never satisfied with anything. Seems that every item I buy, I look it over and see something I feel could have been better. My wife is always teasing me because I'm always out in my workshop modifying some gizmo I just bought.

I'm sure the German designed engine planned for the cars will be good. After all, who's better at engineering than the Germans (It's human relations where they seem to have problems). Anyway, this is what I wish Elio had done. In a nutshell; make a deal with BMW to use their Boxer twin motorcycle engine. I've owned 2 BMW bikes and the engines were great, smooth, reliable, quiet and dependable. I can remember going on trips across the western U.S. on the Interstates, with little traffic, at least a mile visibility ahead, radar detector on, and cruse control setting on 100.... The engine sounded like a sewing machine at that speed. I could cruse like this for hours and it didn't bother the Boxer a bit. In tens of thousands of miles I never had a problem. I suspect the cost of the Boxers might be the problem.

Oh well, we can't have everything...
Click to expand...


It (Boxer engine) would help to keep the CG lower...better handling!:)
 
NSTG8R

NSTG8R

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skygazer6033 said:
A few years ago I was researching engines for a homebuilt airplane project. I seem to recall the cost of a BMW oilhead boxer crate engine was well over $3000. No doubt much more than that now. Decided to go with a Subaru EJ22 instead.
Click to expand...


Suby's are sweet, smooth running, relatively trouble-free little engines. I've got a EG33 (spare) that I'm going to use in one of my 914's, but I've seen gear reduction kits for use in light aircraft.
 
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