Drawings are coming along , so I though I would 'publish' andf get any reaction/comments/critisisms.
CONCEPT
The concept is simplicity; simple to build and simple to maintain, and the least to do the job. It will be an action toy with race car
characteristics, as few compromises as possible and a minimum of comfort. Anything that does not make it stop, go, or turn, will not be there.
The only acceptable layout for any type of performance car is the engine behind the driver, in front of the rear wheels and all major masses - engine,
transmission, fuel, driver - positioned within the wheelbase, and the engine will be from a motorbike as compared to a car engine and gearbox, the
engine and integral gearbox from a motorbike is relatively inexpensive, yet is far lighter and offers a significantly higher performance potential
than a car engine.
There will be no wind tunnel testing, and no scale models for the styling. Form will follow function, with the shape being dictated by the
mechanicals. The body will purely be an envelope, shrink-wrapped around the mechanical parts.
Parts will be source from manufacturers 'parts bins' for their function rather than for their convenience, but there will be nothing exotic
in the parts list: just the use of standard, easily available, components.
WHY THREE WHEELS?
Three wheelers have been on the motoring scene since it started, but it seemed to get a bit lost early on. maybe it wasn't fully understood?
Compared to a four wheeler, the theory involved in building a car with three wheels, a trike, is complex, but after all, the Morgan 3-wheeler was the
world's first 'sports car'.
Put simply, it all comes down to where you put the single wheel.
When a car corners fast, weight is transferred to the outside front wheel, if the 'trike' has a single front wheel, it will tip, but if it
has two wheels up front, it won't and, as the single rear wheel experiences no weight transfer, the vehicle will remain stable.
Overall, reverse trikes:
Are:
- Under breaking and steering, the same as a four wheeler
- Like a tripod, dynamically stable at all times
Have:
- 30% less polar movement for better handling
- 25% lower rolling resistance, for lower energy consumption
- Fewer parts, therefore lighter, for lower energy consumption
- Fewer parts, for a quicker build
- Fewer parts, for a cheaper build
- No differential, so the complexity of the rear end is reduced
And:
- In most countries they are considered a motorcycle so the legislation regulations are less demanding!
- Why not??
So, 'SIMPLICITY' is intended to be the least possible to do the job, and I have these objectives:
- Make it 'different'
- Keep it simple
- A reverse trike
- Single seat
- Bike engine powered
- Economical to use
- Use proven, understandable and practical technology
- Keep it easy to build
- Keep in mind servicing and maintenance
- Integrate the design - let one part do the work of two
- Just big enough inside - for me, a 95 percentile man (plus a bit more)
- Small as possible on the outside - for a lower frontal area
- Light as possible - each part should be just strong enough
- No 'extras' - such as power steering, heating, stereo, etc.
- Aerodynamically clean - for less drag
- Pointy front - to minimize frontal pressure
- Minimum ground clearance - to minimize air flow under the car
- Slightly raked underside - to create low pressure under the car
- Good traction - for acceleration, braking and cornering
- Minimum weight - for acceleration, braking
- Decent power - for acceleration
- Good brakes - for deceleration
CHASSIS
The chassis structure is designed so that no tooling is required during construction. Rather than a spaceframe the chassis will be a multi-tube frame,
the basis being two continuous beams, one either side. The chassis sides will be built flat and then will self jig as they are joined together by
cross pieces to form the completed chassis. Aluminum panels are added later to increase chassis rigidity.
MOTORBIKE
The bike wil be mounted to the chassis via the steering stem. The top part of the steering stem and the fork tubes will be removed and the the lower
lower stem will bolt onto mounts provided on the roll bar.
1) Unable to put down more than a measly amount of power through a single rear wheel. As the wheel width increases to meet power you loose all
benefits of less rolling resistance.
2) Less grip at the rear leads to chronic oversteer + see point above when attempting to power out of a situation.
This chap started off with a trike. 3 years late he added an extra wheel.
http://www.home.mride.se/video1.html
Watch the 3 wheel videos for oversteer.
JC
[Edited on 13/9/10 by SeaBass]
Yes, all well and good in theory.... but what do you do with it?? track days wont have you 'cos you haven't got 4 wheels (nor will Sprints
and Hillclimbs for the same reason) and if "anything that does not make it stop, go, or turn, will not be there." then you're not
going to get the Mrs to go anywhere near it...... so you'll spend LOTS of money to build it so you can drive round by yourself for a bit then
sell it for much less than it cost to build because driving round aimlessly by yourself is actually rather boring........
Just buy a decent bike... much cheaper, better performance and when you realise it's a bit boring blatting about on your own you can probably
sell it for pretty much what you bought it for..... unlike some 3 wheel homemade type thing.......
lol
[Edited on 13/9/10 by D Beddows]
I have seen several 3 wheelers at hillclimbs and sprints, haven't seen at trackdays though
That swedish 3 wheeler has a turbo bike engine through a normal motorcycle tyre. A normal bike engine through a flater car type tyre will be okay if
properly designed
Cheers
David
Engine behind the driver but in front of the rear wheel would make it either quite tall or quite long wouldn't it?
Got any pictures?................
Phil
I'm sure an FF trike could work well, afterall under cornering the best handling FWD cars become 3 wheelers...
quote:
Originally posted by D Beddows
Yes, all well and good in theory.... but what do you do with it?? track days wont have you 'cos you haven't got 4 wheels (nor will Sprints and Hillclimbs for the same reason) and if "anything that does not make it stop, go, or turn, will not be there." then you're not going to get the Mrs to go anywhere near it...... so you'll spend LOTS of money to build it so you can drive round by yourself for a bit then sell it for much less than it cost to build because driving round aimlessly by yourself is actually rather boring........
Just buy a decent bike... much cheaper, better performance and when you realise it's a bit boring blatting about on your own you can probably sell it for pretty much what you bought it for..... unlike some 3 wheel homemade type thing.......
lol
[Edited on 13/9/10 by D Beddows]
quote:
Originally posted by designer
...lots of interesting preamble....
followed by....
The bike will be mounted to the chassis via the steering stem.......
quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
quote:
Originally posted by D Beddows
Yes, all well and good in theory.... but what do you do with it?? track days wont have you 'cos you haven't got 4 wheels (nor will Sprints and Hillclimbs for the same reason) and if "anything that does not make it stop, go, or turn, will not be there." then you're not going to get the Mrs to go anywhere near it...... so you'll spend LOTS of money to build it so you can drive round by yourself for a bit then sell it for much less than it cost to build because driving round aimlessly by yourself is actually rather boring........
Just buy a decent bike... much cheaper, better performance and when you realise it's a bit boring blatting about on your own you can probably sell it for pretty much what you bought it for..... unlike some 3 wheel homemade type thing.......
lol
[Edited on 13/9/10 by D Beddows]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe_57nstK8c
Its well worth considering one of these, they don't cost a fortune to buy and a fully built one can be built for a modest price of between £6500
to £8000 depending on the mileage on the R1 you buy...
I took a spin in one earlier this year, its was fantastic, to be honest, I have had several bikes, 1 lovely Boom Trike, several sports cars, but there
is something about Trikes I love, I like to stand out, so for me its the way to go, yeah, you might not corner as fast as a 4 wheel car, but hey its
still fun, and in a straight line, its hard to touch this accelerating to 70MPH in 1st gear is jolly good fun, whilst is a perfect drive at 40 MPH in
6th.
Well worth a look, I suppose the look of the MEV is either love it or hate it, I personally like it...
It sounds ,from your disciption you are talking about my three wheeler
.
Have a look at my archive photos.
I have changed the layout from using a piaggio 500 twist and go engine to a kawasaki zx900.
Regards Denis.