[Big Dave]

Looking at Phil’s three wheeler in progress, I looked at some treeware on three wheeled vehicle dynamics.

Some cars (basjoos, the T-100, Prius, Insight) are approaching the point of diminishing returns as far as Cd improvement go. We have to have frontal area reduction. Going with a tandem arrangement can reduce frontal area by 40% easily.

Phil has opted for the 2f1r (two front one rear) tricycle arrangement. This arrangement has a natural tendency to understeer (push). This is preferred for consumer automobiles. Most cars push. It keeps you from spinning them. This is one reason that Ferrari Enzos are such notorious wodowmakers. They are dead neutral – exactly what the professional race driver wants and (coupled with all that power) easily able to get away from the average joe. Also considering the 2f1r arrangement has a tendency to spin (ground loop) this a doubly good thing.

If he is using a motorcycle drivetrain, making a special, wider swingarm would allow him to mount a wide sports car rear tire to give the vehicle resistance to groundlooping.

The 1f2r arrangement tends to oversteer and is vulnerable to the “highside” rollover unless the vehicle can at least partially bank into the corner.