globi

Three wheelers might finally become popular and combine the stability (sliding without loosing control) of a car with the low weight and low price of a motorcycle:
This 40HP 3-wheel roller actually has more power per weight than a RX-8:
http://sameerkumar.blogspot.com/2006...fuoco-500.html
Here are some videos about the concept (different roller):
http://www.mp3.piaggio.com/index_eng.html

I wonder whether we'll see this concept based on a 'real' motorcycle any time soon.

Here's a three wheel concept that's been out for a while, but way too pricey:
http://www.carver-worldwide.com/

rx8wannahave

Interesting, but not very appealing...

Now this, is much nicer!

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blog...s/4212570.html





I like bikes, but I'd never own one...unless everyone else did.

rx8wannahave

BTW, the Carver is pretty dang cool but I'm with ya....WAY TOO PRICEY!

globi

So, since Bombardier also came out with a three wheeler these 3-wheel-concepts indeed appear to become more popular. It's one way to make a vehicle with a high performance, low costs and the stability of a car.

However, the tilting 3 wheeler has advantages (over the non-tilting Bombardier concept) since cornering forces are more equally distributed on the front wheels (or rear wheels), the entire vehicle can also be made narrower and the front can be made lighter since it doesn't have to accept any moment during turns (the averaged cornering force goes more or less through the center of the front axle - like in a motorcycle).

This Brudeli 625L also looks pretty interesting:

rx8wannahave

Yeah, that thing does look pretty interesting....never seen it before.

rx8wannahave

LOL, how about (because 3 wheels cause less friction than 4) for fuel economy/weight all cars don't switch to 3? Maybe have a fat rear tire and 2 tilting front ones.

Hmmmmm....lol.

globi

I guess, this would only be an option as long one doesn't have a family, but then again, why not:

rx8wannahave

LOL!!!!! That's great...LOL!

How about, to reduce air resistance we make cars with INLINE seating? Then...there will be NO DOUBT "who is driving" LOL!!!!

Heck, then you could fit 2-3 cars per lane. Talk about reducing traffic problems...lol.

m477

I see a 3-wheeler similar to the Carver One zipping around work from time to time. It is a neat little machine, but the problem is that vehicles like this are classified as motorcycles, which means that they doesn't need to meet any of the crash or safety standards that cars do.

In other words, you'll enjoy the excellent fuel economy until your untimely death.

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

This is what I'll be riding soon enough

rx8wannahave

^LOL

Hence, why I personally I'm not interested in a bike. Too many huge SUV's out there, let alone just normal cars that can kill you just as fast, did I mention bad drivers?

Nope, I need 4 wheels, seat belts, and a cage around me and my family.

globi

Well, passive safety is an issue, but as always 'no risk = no fun' and active safety is still better with a 3-wheeler (one really needs to know what he's doing, if he's trying to slide around with a motorcycle).

The point is: An affordable street legal vehicle doing 0-60 in 4s can probably only be had as a motorcycle or a 3-wheeler.

globi

And then of course there is this SS (safe & slow) 3 wheel concept from DaimlerChrysler:

http://www.didyouknow.cd/whatsnew/mercedes.htm

Steakboy42

-Steakboy

globi

You probably need the butt and leg muscles of a horse to get this thing from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds.

MadRonin

The VentureOne is based on the Carver and is scheduled to be released next year:

http://www.flytheroad.com/

It will come in three models - two hybrid and one all electric. Starting price is set to be less than $20k. The designers said when they built the Carver that with the right backing they could sell them for less than half the $40k retail price. Well they apparently found their backer - BMW.

rx8wannahave

MadR....dat is cool, and the price is pretty good while 15K would probably be the better sweet spot. The thing is, here in the US if you can get a 15K car that can also hold more than 2 people get decent fuel economy, and carry some of your stuff it might be hard to buy that thing instead.

I think it's great, and it would be great if the GOBment would offer drivers tax breaks so we all could drive these suckers. I mean, for normal driving we don't need more than 2 seats to get from point A to B. You would save money, save fuel consumption, reduce traffic if you could put two of these per driving lane, and the environment.

Very cool, thanks for the link!