Shockwave Defiant EV3

[elhigh]

These guys are local to me, and frankly I hadn't ever heard of them until literally just a few minutes ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5H9ibfsNlk

Not much information on the website, just pitches, pitches, pitches. Some gallery fodder, meeting the mayor of Knoxville, etc.

I wasn't thrilled to see the delta configuration because I know it leaves a great big bluff booty for lousy aero, but whatevs.

[Xist]

The crumple zone is the front wheel? Yes, a tadpole should be much more aerodynamic, although I wonder what reversing the footprint would do.
I think the leg room would push back the seats, leaving a narrower part of the triangle.

The delta design should give it more trunk room. In theory, it would be more stable, although I wonder how much of a problem that would be. The Reliant Robin was infamously unstable, but "Top Gear" went out of its way to roll it while filming. That car seems slightly narrower than a normal car, far more massive than this Defiant, with far more mass to sway past the center of gravity.

[elhigh]

Originally Posted by Xist

The delta design should give it more trunk room. In theory, it would be more stable, although I wonder how much of a problem that would be. The Reliant Robin was infamously unstable, but "Top Gear" went out of its way to roll it while filming. That car seems slightly narrower than a normal car, far more massive than this Defiant, with far more mass to sway past the center of gravity.

The closer you have the center of gravity to the wide end, the less of an issue rolling is. That was the problem with the Robin, the engine is at the front with the single wheel. Get flicky with the steering and over she goes - and note, too, that when TG rolled their Robin (over and over and over), Clarkson put it over on the right side, where his own weight helped to bring it over. The Defiant puts the passenger compartment waaaay at the back - the crazy-wide back - and I reckon that's where they've dropped the batteries and motors too. I suspect rolling it would be pretty difficult.