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Old 01-17-2012, 03:32 PM   #160 (permalink)
Ken Fry
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pete c View Post
maybe, maybe not.

in the case of a reverse trike set up for very low drag, it's gonna be kind of tadpole shaped. If the engine is in the rear (a narrow MC engine) the tail of the tadpole can be filled by engine. This means the seats can move forward And frontal area can be reduced a fair bit.

I believe it's a wash, pretty much lengthwise.
I agree. For simplicity, the Zing POC is rear motored. The next one will be front motored, and the length doesn't change much from the motor location issue. (It does change, of course, from the addition of another seat.) It's always better to have most of the weight on the drive wheel(s). A center drive wheel is especially dicey on snowy roads, giving the rear wheel neither driving nor cornering traction, with potentially pretty good front wheel traction (because the snow tends to pile up in the center of the lane.) This is the reason Aptera did not recommend the first version for mountain roads.
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