Anyone interested in the Elio?

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Shucks ,wish I had my own car company
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At a cost of about $6800, the Elio is appealing. It is a limited use vehicle to be sure. There are many people out there that just need a single purpose vehicle, particularly if it is a second vehicle. For many, the fuel savings alone would more than pay for the vehicle.
 
Originally Posted By: glock19
I'm a bit skeptical that they will ever produce these cars in large numbers. I'm going to wait to see if they actually start producing them before I get any money in the game.

Originally Posted By: Mykl
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
It does have a simple motor I believe, no VVT or other mileage tricks. I wonder if they can put simple pre-emmisions diesel in it as it is a motorcycle? Perhaps there is a loop hole there?
I'm sure someone will put a 40hp kubota diesel in one, in a non-inspection state and get 100+mpg out of it.


That would be pretty sweet, but if I could choose any engine for this thing it would be Ford's 3-cyl Ecoboost that's getting put in the Fiesta. While there would probably be a bit of a fuel economy hit, the extra horsepower would inject a lot of fun into it.

But as it sits, with the horsepower it has, in order for me to take the acceleration hit over the GTI it would have to save me a fair amount of money. At 84 mpg it could save me enough to get me to test drive one to see if I liked it enough.


+1 A car this light (I'm guessing it must be very light) with that 1L Ecoboost would be a rocket ship. Not sure how it would take the corners, but it sure would be fun in a straight line.


On second thought, I would rather have one of these Nissan motors in my Elio.

"The motor is a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine called DIG-T R that puts out 400 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque while weighing just 88 pounds."

http://jalopnik.com/nissans-new-le-mans-engine-has-400-hp-and-can-fit-in-y-1509734976
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
I expect it will be just as successful as Liz Carmichael's 3-wheeler!


Wow, someone actually remembers this! Google "The Dale" for more info. I'd link, but I'd be banned.
 
We've had one or two other threads about this car, and like before, I think this "car" is a great idea, but I don't know if it will ever actually do well outside of urban centers.

The entry price point is fantastic, and undercuts whole sections of the motorcycle market, while offering improved fuel economy, safety, and weather protection.

And, it looks different than a Smart car, and gets better mileage, supposedly.

It should also be really easy to work on, but who knows what the build quality will actually be like. There are plenty of cheap products on the market already where they skimp on wheel bearing grease, and the like, just to save those pennies per unit.

BC.
 
Originally Posted By: glock19

On second thought, I would rather have one of these Nissan motors in my Elio.

"The motor is a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine called DIG-T R that puts out 400 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque while weighing just 88 pounds."

http://jalopnik.com/nissans-new-le-mans-engine-has-400-hp-and-can-fit-in-y-1509734976

That sounds nice, but getting 400HP from 1.5L would result in major turbo lag.

The other problem with turbos that size is that they could go from not spooled to 20+ PSI of boost in a fraction of a second, and that the spread between those 2 would make the car hard to control.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
That sounds nice, but getting 400HP from 1.5L would result in major turbo lag.

The other problem with turbos that size is that they could go from not spooled to 20+ PSI of boost in a fraction of a second, and that the spread between those 2 would make the car hard to control.


There's probably a happy ground in the middle somewhere. You just named two opposing situations: bad turbo lag and turbo response so instantaneous, it'd be hard to control the engine. I bet they can tune it well enough to be pretty driveable, if that is their mission with that engine.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: artificialist
That sounds nice, but getting 400HP from 1.5L would result in major turbo lag.

The other problem with turbos that size is that they could go from not spooled to 20+ PSI of boost in a fraction of a second, and that the spread between those 2 would make the car hard to control.


There's probably a happy ground in the middle somewhere. You just named two opposing situations: bad turbo lag and turbo response so instantaneous, it'd be hard to control the engine. I bet they can tune it well enough to be pretty driveable, if that is their mission with that engine.


Well I was just throwing it out there as a fun suggestion.

It was designed by Nissan to be a race engine so I'm guessing it doesn't have an appreciable amount of turbo lag but it probably would be hard to control in something like an Elio.
 
Note that true racing engines rarely have any concerns with driveability, only power output.

Turbo lag is generally quite bad in them, the reason it is not an issue is the revs are always UP and the gearing is very short as well.

See a dyno chart on almost any boosted racing car, there is no power at the bottom of the rev band. Get that thing revved up and there's more than you want...
 
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