Ultralow car

[Piwoslaw]

I found this on the net today:

FunPic - biggest collection of funny, cute, crazy or interesting pictures and videos



Talk about small frontal area.

I have no idea what it is, but it looks street legal (in the UK).

[RobertSmalls]

It reminds me of the Mazda Suitcase Car: Mazda Suitcase Car

[MrMiata]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

It reminds me of the Mazda Suitcase Car: Mazda Suitcase Car

And I thought my Mazda Miata was small

[vtec-e]

I think you'd need one of these:

[NeilBlanchard]

No head rests? No seat belts?

No thanks.

[jamesqf]

I like it, but it's a little too much of a good thing. I'd want a windscreen, and a good stout... well, roll cage isn't quite the right term, but a set of bars coming overhead from the rear, for the idiots who don't see me already at the light ahead of them.

But still, way better than driving a muffin car :-)

[thecheese429]

That looks like a car (or concept, at least) that has good potential. Why does a car need to be 4,5, or 6 feet tall? I say make it shaped like a wing, make the whole top a clear bubble, put in a nice roll cage, and go from there.

Yeah, seat belts and headrests would be nice (IMO, the latter would be a necessity, the former a safety feature)

A nice (small) motorcycle engine would be more than enough power. Can I hear you say Nu-Vinci?

[RobertSmalls]

The flat car has obviously taken it too far. It has very small tires, little to no suspension travel, and too little ground clearance.

But how low can you go? I say you're going to want about six inches of ground clearance to make it an all season car. You want the driver's pelvis about six inches higher still to allow a little bend in his knees while he sits on the floor. Beyond that, it's just a question of how far reclined you're willing to sit to reduce frontal area.

The Insight follows this formula pretty closely, and ends up 4.4 feet tall. Check out the seating posture:




I bet you could reduce height further with a prone recumbent seating position (lying down, face first). But you'd need a very low engine compartment in order to see over it, and you'd still need four feet of crumple zone in front of you.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

I bet you could reduce height further with a prone recumbent seating position (lying down, face first). But you'd need a very low engine compartment in order to see over it, and you'd still need four feet of crumple zone in front of you.

A rear-engined trike would solve that.
Isn't Dave Cloud's Dolphin less than 4.4ft tall?

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

It reminds me of the Mazda Suitcase Car: Mazda Suitcase Car

What if you could get off a plane, get your luggage, and instead of waiting in line for a taxi or shuttle... pop open your suitcase and drive off ?

Not in today's times. What would airport security say to a suitcase of engine parts and fuel?

[Angmaar]

I thought the first picture was photoshoped. I didn't expect a person's head to be there.