Elio Motors, The Next Big Thing?!!...

[doclees]

FYI folks, The deposit is nonrefundable. So if it never gets off the line there is a good chance you do not get refunded.

[doclees]

Supposed to get a list of part suppliers in May.

[rmay635703]

Get a honda designed 1ltr 3 banger with lean burn and this would be golden for 100mpg easily.

[charlesh]

Originally Posted by doclees

I feel a bit more hopeful now. So what would you folks do to improve it? I would add magnets. OK just one big one on a pole. So small and lite you could run right up behind those trailers, lock on and they would never know you were there. Now that's Hypermiling.

I like your magnet idea!

[NeilBlanchard]

I dunno how easy it would be - the Edison2 VLC had just a 250cc turbo with EGR and every trick in the book was used, I'm sure - and it got 129MPG on the EPA Highway rating.

The Elio is no lighter (the VLC weighed just 830 pounds) and it may be a lot heavier? Also, the VLC has an excellent Cd of 0.16 - I'd be surprised if the Elio was as good as even 0.25. Those open front wheels are gonna' negate any gains of the reduced frontal area, and then some.

An EPA Highway rating of 84MPG will be pretty sweet; and the price is right.

[bhtooefr]

For what it's worth, the engine is now SOHC: Our First Update!

[Xist]

Strangely, I had seen references to the Elio, but just figured out what it was. The tandem idea has some appeal to me. I do not often have passengers, I rarely have more than one, and when I do it is often my nephew, who will need a booster seat for a while, so if I only had two seats, it would need to be behind me.

I can see my sister saying "My son is not getting into that thing," but I would need to keep things in the back seat, despite the trunk being over two (!) cubic feet!

I am not sure that the stuff in the back of my car would even fit in there, but why am I driving around with lawn edging in my trunk anyway?!

Someone mentioned the open wheels. It seems like "economical" cars never have aerodynamic wheels, but since the fenders steer with the wheels, wouldn't it be really easy to enclose them?

I laughed at the "power windows and door lock." There is only one door!

[Xist]

Oh, I wanted to ask if there was really anything that could compare with the Elio besides a used Insight, but that is almost comparing apples and oranges. Autotrader shows thirty for sale across the United States. Six thousand will get you one with a hundred thousand miles. Five thousand will pay for one with two thousand miles.

Some dealership has one for $4,000, but no information yet: Cars for Sale: 2000 Honda Insight in COCOA, FL 32926: Hatchback Details - 342204608 - AutoTrader.com

[NeilBlanchard]

Enclosing the front wheels could be relatively easy, or it could be really hard - the trailing wedge needs to be a certain length for good aero, but then they might collide with the chassis when turned.

[Xist]

I do not think that a boat tail would need to be too long because of how narrow the end is and the back seat blocks visibility anyway.