Building a 100mpg consumer vehicle

[ecomodded]

I bet miller has the rear end completed.
Dr Frankenstein has been hard at work

[drmiller100]

rear steer is horrible.

Rear steer, fundamentally, is VERY unstable, and pretty much unfixable at speed. Think forklift. They do NOT go straight normally. They want to wander hither and thither.

The rear suspension is done. I used an air shock. Pretty neat as you can easily set the ride height, and it is VERY progressive.
I drove it hard tail. Not horrible, but too stiff.

Air shock much better.

Rear tire is small skinny.

Front tires are 16x7, and i tried some 17x7. Looks NICE.

I think the real market is performance commuter. No one cares about a car which will get 80 mpg, but EVERYONE seems interested in a cool car which flat frigging SMOKES a vette and gets 50mpg.

[Grant-53]

Would settle for 85 mph top speed, a vehicle that cruises at 85 mpg, and pulls 0.85g on the skid pad. Back East of the Mississippi the roads aren't smooth or straight so high speed is rare. Posted limits are usually 65 mph on Interstates and 55 mph everywhere else. The drag racing takes place at the on ramps of the divided highways. Getting up to speed from 30 mph to 65 mph is critical.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Grant-53

The rear wheel discussion came in, I believe, with skyking at #227 on 6/17.

OK- I see his point. That could be cool for a 10/10ths track machine but I wonder if it would bear any fruit on the street...

[Grant-53]

Yeah, at low speed the rear wheel would turn opposite the front wheels for a small turning radius. Somewhere above 40 mph the wheels all need to turn the same direction. The controls needed to make the transition don't seem to be worth the effort.

[drmiller100]

then u should build one.

as for the guy who wants speed, .85 G's should be EASY with decent tires. The CG is LOW. The rest of your specs are trivial.

[NoD~]

I'd be surprised if a car with this low of weight would have a problem with good performance. Look at the Arial Atom. It weighs little, makes nothing spectacular for power, yet is an incredible machine in terms of speed. I'm a big fan of light weight, naturally aspirated cars. They are just simply "fun" to drive!

drmiller: When you get this beast road ready, if there is any way I could come see it (since I'm only an hour away), I'd love to!

[Diesel_Dave]

Originally Posted by drmiller100

I think the real market is performance commuter. No one cares about a car which will get 80 mpg, but EVERYONE seems interested in a cool car which flat frigging SMOKES a vette and gets 50mpg.

I think this is a very good point. As much as we're all about fuel economy on this forum, I think it's wise to realize there's probably not a wide market apeal out there for that yet. It looks to me like you had two options:
A: Good fuel economy and good perfomance
B: Great fuel economy and okay perfomance
If you were only trying to market to the folks on this site, then option B would be the way to go. However, I think you'll get a lot farther by going with option A, as you have. There's more people and more money out there to appeal to that way.

BTW, do you have any videos yet?

[Grant-53]

If you mean a top speed of 85 mph and 85 mpg as being trivial in comparison to what is possible then I agree. I am limited for the time being to HPV projects- no income, no garage, no welder. I have been considering a four passenger velomobile and incorporating all wheel steering could be an option. Any system would have to be light, reliable, and inexpensive.

[drmiller100]

Rear steer is a bad thing.

No one makes it anymore. There was a brief flurry in the 90's, but that time is past. Too heavy, too complicated, doesn't add much.