Elio Three Wheel Car

[mika]

I got a t shirt and bumper sticker and AM patiently waiting for a phone call for a elio car ,as far as hitting junk in the road ANY vehicle will hit stuff in the road so what's your point? I'd say you have to pay attention as you would on your motorcycle or whatever you're driving. My t shirt could be a collectors item if these cars don't materialize.Yes i'm still excited to take one out on the road!

I signed up for their news letter. Is their road tour promotion coming close to you?

For information purposes only http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2013/01/shreveport_gm_plant_acquired_b.html
The article is dated; however, the company has continued to commit to wages in line with those GM was paying when they closed the Shreveport plant.

 

[akbeemer]

Looks like a CanAm Spider with plastic added.

50% more frontal tire width than a car means it is more likely to hit road debris.

Will probably be a hoot to drive. Hope the heater can handle Wisconsin winters.

 

[mika]

Looks like a CanAm Spider with plastic added.

50% more frontal tire width than a car means it is more likely to hit road debris.

Will probably be a hoot to drive. Hope the heater can handle Wisconsin winters.

One of the things I notice with my first (69) Beatle was that I hit more birds than I ever did with my Corvette. My guess is owners will learn to deal with road hazards.

My guess is the heater will work as good or better than my Beatle's did. I wonder how it will handle winter driving. I live in metro MSP. I could buy a Elio and a new Suzuki SM, be covered for winter and summer for the price of a new Roadster; if it can handle winter ice and side steers.

 

[lkchris]

as far as hitting junk in the road ANY vehicle will hit stuff in the road so what's your point?

Give me a break ...

With a 4-wheel vehicle, you can straddle the object.

With a motorcycle, you can move over.

You ain't straddling nothing with a 3-wheel vehicle.

 

[wezul]

Took the Reliant Robin and turned it around, that's a good start. Yes we remember the Honda ATx
While I like odd numbers, three wheels? Meh
Can Am with a canopy
I think "Made In America" really means "Assembled In America" anymore.
Almost nothing is wholly made in any one country. There are exceptions.

 

[akbeemer]

I was having coffee once with a friend who is an orthopedic surgeon. A teenager pulled into the parking lot on a Honda three wheeler. The doc looked out the window at the Honda and remarked, "Those things made a lot of surgeons rich." He said he'd get one or two cases a week of serious injuries sustained in three wheeler accidents. And yes the doc is a rider.

 

[36654]

I was having coffee once with a friend who is an orthopedic surgeon. A teenager pulled into the parking lot on a Honda three wheeler. The doc looked out the window at the Honda and remarked, "Those things made a lot of surgeons rich." He said he'd get one or two cases a week of serious injuries sustained in three wheeler accidents. And yes the doc is a rider.

Three wheels are OK, if two of the three are in front.

One in front is bad for anything but a toddler's tricycle.

 

[classicvw]

Give me a break ...

With a 4-wheel vehicle, you can straddle the object.

With a motorcycle, you can move over.

You ain't straddling nothing with a 3-wheel vehicle.

Give ME a break! Where do you do your riding, in Iraq? Are you dodging chunks of concrete on your daily commute? At least it's got three wheels and should be more stable and be able to withstand riding over an object better than a two wheeled motorcycle can. Yes, I've seen debris in the road many times, but it's usually small enough that it won't hurt you.

If road debris was your overriding concern, you'd never ride a two wheel motorcycle.

Of course, you'll now probably recite what happened to you just yesterday, that if you had been riding a three wheeled vehicle you would have been launched into the Grand Canyon or something similar....

 

[akbeemer]

I do know some folks that ride the CanAM three wheelers and they have remarked about how it is more difficult to avoid things such a chunks of tire rubber from trucks and small animal carcasses; both of these are common on the roads I've been riding for many years. Three wheel riders find that since they cannot straddle the obstacle that they are forced to at least partially leave their lane to avoid contact. Poo-poo it if you like, but is a real concern. Perhaps not a deal breaker, but a concern none the less.

 

[classicvw]

Poo-poo I will. Running over a small animal carcass with a Can-Am is not going to be catastrophic. If it was, Can-Ams would be disintegrating all over the place. The Spyder actually has the same size wheels and the same ground clearance of many small cars.
Many times, we swerve to avoid things that will do us no damage if we chose to ride it out.

 

[dancogan]

Poo-poo I will. Running over a small animal carcass with a Can-Am is not going to be catastrophic. If it was, Can-Ams would be disintegrating all over the place. The Spyder actually has the same size wheels and the same ground clearance of many small cars.
Many times, we swerve to avoid things that will do us no damage if we chose to ride it out.

Not sure if you have any experience with a Spyder, but they do get damaged all the time from hitting debris on the road, such as animal carcasses. That's why there are aftermarket "skid plates" to protect the front end. Other things, like tire carcasses, often have steel reinforcement, which I would rather not mess with. And when I had a Spyder, the ground clearance was really low, maybe 4". Are small cars built that close to the ground? I really don't know, but it was too low to avoid damage when hitting junk.

 

[classicvw]

Not sure if you have any experience with a Spyder, but they do get damaged all the time from hitting debris on the road, such as animal carcasses. That's why there are aftermarket "skid plates" to protect the front end. Other things, like tire carcasses, often have steel reinforcement, which I would rather not mess with. And when I had a Spyder, the ground clearance was really low, maybe 4". Are small cars built that close to the ground? I really don't know, but it was too low to avoid damage when hitting junk.

Yes, Spyder ground clearance listed as 4.5 inches. Exactly the same as a Mazda Miata. And probably many other small cars. There are aftermarket skid plates for Jeeps too.

 

[akbeemer]

Boy oh boy, you don't say Uncle easily....

 

[mika]

Here is a link to the spec page. http://www.eliomotors.com/One_Page_Specs_Sheet.pdf It lists the ground clearance as 5.75".

The Turdmobile has for wheels, the Roadster has two and a skid plate. To avoid damage to either I drive around road debris whenever possible. YMMV

 

[classicvw]

Boy oh boy, you don't say Uncle easily....

Haven't read or heard a reason to yet.

 

[akbeemer]

Haven't read or heard a reason to yet.

Well, you will when we all hold you down and give you noogies until you puke.

 

[Omega Man]

........noogies ........

Haven't heard that in a while
OM

 

[35634]

Give me a break ...

You ain't straddling nothing with a 3-wheel vehicle.

I straddle things just fine with my Ural. I was gassing it up the other day and the fellow in front of me pointed to my rig and said "The world would be a better place if everyone rode those" I agreed

 

[36654]

Haven't heard that in a while
OM

Hmmmmmmmm....sounds like a guy with fond memories of Atomic Wedgies..

 

[classicvw]

Boy oh boy, you don't say Uncle easily....

I had heard that you BMW guys were rigid and not very interested in other opinions, (and rode funny looking motorcycles) but I always wondered about that description. I'm wondering less about it these days....