Elio reverse trike aerodynamics

[Xist]

Actually, I am extremely surprised how this came out. I was actually expecting it to be so terrible that someone with the correct skill and tools would do it right.



Lame. I just realized that posting .PNGs on Facebook because they are too large to post here is futile because it converts them to .JPGs! I do not know how many degrees is a full wheel-lock and since the image is at a weird angle, I rotated the wheels 20° from our perspective.

You know, I used to have people almost hit my school bus when I was in one of two left-turn lanes, often coming within a foot or two of my giant yellow box. I actually had a woman hit my Altima while turning left and when I pulled over, she kept on driving.

How visible would the Elio wheels be? What are the chances of some idiot ripping off your fairings and possibly causing damage to your wheel because they attempted to occupy the same space as you while turning left?

I say that we make fairings out of broadswords!

"You $*^& idiot! You )#*%ing ripped off my @(%*ing fender, tore open my @*$* tire, and &$&^ing gouged my !(*#ing rim!"
"You should have stayed in your lane!"

[sheepdog 44]

Originally Posted by Xist

[k3ith]

^lol

[botsapper]

Elio should have their safety video next...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCpZTlCA7sY

[sheepdog 44]

Here's a better picture from the Elio Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ElioMotors/...type=1&theater

Please embed if you can, i'm only able to link to it.

[Xist]

30°

[mikeyjd]

Is production actually going forward on these? $6,800 seems like a very low price.

[aerohead]

In Horner's "Aerodynamic Drag" he has a section on landing gear drag.On a Heinkel tail-dragger,he depicts the tail wheel,fully exposed @Cd 0.58,and fully enclosed and faired inside a boat-tailed fairing @ Cd 0.27.
2-D flow airfoil sections really suffer when the boat tail is missing.

I realize that there are spacial constraints for the fenders,but some boat-tailing would really help.

[some_other_dave]

I personally wonder about interference drag. The main body and the wheel fairings are close enough to produce at least some interference. And how well can you fair in an articulating suspension piece to give a smooth transition between the suspension arm and the body or wheel housing?

-soD

[rbrowning]

Does it really matter how close the boat tail comes to the side of the body? You hopefully never crank the wheels to the stops at full speed. That is a tight space maneuver for low speeds where aero doesn't have such an impact.