Day 901 of 1000
Who would have ever guessed. Three-wheeled madness is coming out of the woodwork. Gene is actually working (on an extended schedule) on a building a three wheeler. See his blog on his effort here. He even provides a page that holds a bunch of links on the history of three-wheelers here. Actually, that whole website is very interesting. I just know I am going to get enticed into buying an Elio. The thing that gives me pause, though, is this youtube video from Trisha:
Betty Blonde #65 – 10/15/2008
Click here or on the image to see full size strip.
The problem with the Reliant is that the body shape was kind of square. With a more rounded top it would simply roll all the way over. A flop tube in the oil sump would help maintain oil pressure during the roll, and a flop tube in the fuel tank would keep it running. Plus, these guys insisted on driving on the wrong side of the road.
Ha! I have been working with a guy from Australia for the last couple of weeks who spent the whole time complaining about us driving on the wrong side of the road. I am going to send this to him. I thought the video was hilarious. It is interesting how people approach the roll-over problem. I wonder if the fact the two wheel steering and drive wheels are in the front helps. The website and the guy I talked to in the airport both say they have dealt with this problem–that is almost kind of sad–having a roll over and keep going capability seems like the RIGHT answer. Anything else is just not as much fun.
Designed right, a 2F1R design can have all the stability of a hard cornering sports car. Here is a technical paper on the stability characteristics of a 3 wheel car. http://www.rqriley.com/3-wheel.htm The guy that wrote the paper is the same guy that was selling the plans I was drooling over in high school. One wheel in the front is a bad idea.