Anyone see this 3 wheeled Metro?

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Christ

They're made of an aluminum alloy bonded with magnesium and other metals, hence the name "mag" rims.

Alloying Mg with Al doesn't make the material Magnesium. Standard practice is to call an alloyed metal by it's base (exception for a few things, like Steel which uses neither the base or alloy).

I got to play with an X-ray fluoroscope awhile back... I found some chromium, zinc manganese, etc. in my wheels - but I sure as hell am not going to call them zinc wheels or manwheels and especially not chrome wheels

It's either an Al alloy or an Mg Alloy. You can alloy Mg into Aluminum, but it's still Aluminum. Mg just isn't practical for typical street vehicles, aside from their comparable lack of strength, porosity (probably better now than wheels of yore), etc. - you'll know when you see one when the firetruck just sits there while they burn

All that said - with respect to this topic... I doubt $1000+ was dropped on a Mg wheel while there's a gratuitous use of hose clamps, plastic barrel, plate steel in need of protection etc. That and the rust where the paint is chipped

[Christ]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

Alloying Mg with Al doesn't make the material Magnesium. Standard practice is to call an alloyed metal by it's base (exception for a few things, like Steel which uses neither the base or alloy).

I got to play with an X-ray fluoroscope awhile back... I found some chromium, zinc manganese, etc. in my wheels - but I sure as hell am not going to call them zinc wheels or manwheels and especially not chrome wheels

It's either an Al alloy or an Mg Alloy. You can alloy Mg into Aluminum, but it's still Aluminum. Mg just isn't practical for typical street vehicles, aside from their comparable lack of strength, porosity (probably better now than wheels of yore), etc. - you'll know when you see one when the firetruck just sits there while they burn

All that said - with respect to this topic... I doubt $1000+ was dropped on a Mg wheel while there's a gratuitous use of hose clamps, plastic barrel, plate steel in need of protection etc. That and the rust where the paint is chipped

Apparently, the 60's, 70's, and 80's muscle car/head era are lost on you...

Aluminum rims have been referred to as "Mags" for years. Hence the reason I keep calling them "Mags."

It doesn't mean they're magnesium wheels, it's just a name.

It's calling calling a fat guy "slim".. he's obviously not slim, but he's "Slim."

[Frank Lee]

I still wanna see this three-wheeled Yamaha bike.

[Christ]

oopie, it's not a Yamaha, it's a Campagna T-Rex

Linky:
Campagna- Fun, Style, Performance

[Frank Lee]

I don't think that's a stock bike swingarm.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Christ

Apparently, the 60's, 70's, and 80's muscle car/head era are lost on you...

Aluminum rims have been referred to as "Mags" for years. Hence the reason I keep calling them "Mags."

It doesn't mean they're magnesium wheels, it's just a name.

The 60's, 70's and 80's can stay in the 60's, 70's and 80's.... Because something was done 20, 30 ,40 years ago doesn't show that it's done now. Industry has moved away because of stronger, nonflammable alternatives.

And, If it were just a name, why did you say

They're made of an aluminum alloy bonded with magnesium and other metals, hence the name "mag" rims.

Mg wheels are Mg base alloys. Al wheels are Al base alloys. Calling it something else is inaccurate. Words have definitions to allow effective communication. Perhaps I'm anal about it - but attention to detail is my job

[metromizer]

Originally Posted by bikin' Ed

I've been in the planning stages of something like this for a while. My ideas include: leave everything under the hood where it is--no hassle heat, charging system, brakes, etc; taper starting right after the B pillar--making the back seat just one place; drive the rear wheel with an electric motor.

I've got to believe 75 mpg using only the ICE and another 30-40 with the electric.

Why would this particular <very cool, I like it> three-wheeled contraption get better FE than the same Metro with 4 wheels?

Thinking out loud here, one less wheel bearing, and one less rotating mass, a little less overall weight <maybe>, perhaps less friction between the road and rubber contact patches <although, psi on the now single rear tire goes x2, so friction goes up by some amount, maybe 1.5?>. Is the sum of all that enough to where you'd expect an improvement of 20%-25% over an OEM Metro?

BTW, I love your electric single rear wheel idea, you'd just need to make the motor passive when engaging the ICE. Although still alot of work, the body mods you are talking about get easier if you aren't going to enter it into a car show... IMO crude is good enough to prove the concept, the 2nd gen can be 'purdy'

[Frank Lee]

mizer: good thoughts, that's kinda where my enthusiasm to hack up my car lost it's momentum. My calcs showed less than 100 lbs weight loss, and I'd expect some reduction in rolling resistance simply due to the elimination of tire scrub on one end as the suspension works. But those factors, nice as they are, probably don't amount to a significant increase in fe... and they definitely amount to a significant compromise in utility.

[Christ]

FrankLee - might not be a stock bike swing arm, b/c they're not kit vehicles, they're actually jig-built and assembled in house.

I saw somewhere a kit to mimic it though, that used a swingarm and part of the frame of just about any street bike you wanted to use. The whole vehicle would cost less than $2000 to build, not including the cost of the bike you hacked apart to build it.

So, since you could get a bike for ~$2000, and the kit costs ~$2000 to build, plus random pieces/screwups, etc... figure about ~$5000... vs. ~$50,000.

But, I'm going to try to find some information on exactly how strong the average bike swing arm is.

[Frank Lee]

I should have elaborated a long time ago, but IMHO there isn't anything inherently bad about using a bike swingarm and/or wheel on a trike... provided the vehicle is weight and traction and speed limited such that the light/re-applicated parts don't get overloaded and break or merely wear out prematurely. So yeah, even I'd be comfortable with that setup in something like a neighborhood NEV.

As noted, I had been thinking along the lines of a 5-passenger car application with little reduction in payload capacity.