Trimuter, Trimutor, Trike, Kit car, 3wheeler

[XFi]

Don't know if someone has already posted this, so thought I would just throw it into it's own thread. This one is on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=150016545334

Imagine one of these with a metro drivetrain! This one is within 25 miles of my location...waiting for a call back from them to go check it out.

[MetroMPG]

The funny thing about these is they'd get better mileage going backwards! The aero is off by 180 degrees.

I think I'd also prefer 2 wheels up front for better handling.

Looking for a project are you?

[XFi]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

...

Looking for a project are you?

Always looking & thinking, thankfully I rarely act on the large $ impulses.

[XFi]

Went and looked at the trimuter yesterday....it was really neat. It had a datsun 210 rear independent suspension/rear set up (Pumpkin turned backwards). The vehicle was powered by a Honda Goldwing 1100 (not currently installed) and 'belt driven' from the Goldwing transmission to a pulley coming off of the rear.

Rough shape, but all there...was tempting, but didn't move on it.

[binclintonusa]

I think I'd also prefer 2 wheels up front for better handling.


pret auto

[Snax]

Speaking of tadpole style trikes, I happened to stop by Arcimoto today while they were allowing somebody to demo their latest prototype.

It looks like a fairly promising design concept with their 3rd gen. prototype, and their next one already under construction showing significant refinement of the spaceframe. I'm looking forward to seeing the production version which they are targeting to sell for about $16,000. That beats the pants off of the Aptera and offers significant refinement over something more spartan like the Bug-E.

[bowtieguy]

it def has the aero issue well in hand.

[theclencher]

I've had a few single fr wheel trikes and felt stability was fine.

[samandw]

Actually, if done correctly, the 1-in-front trike can have superior stability. It all depends on a number of factors including center of gravity, front/back weight distribution, track width etc. The Vigillante trike had a theoretical tip over limit of 3.27 g's, meaning it would spin out long before it would flip, and was stable under heavy straight-line braking, even with the wheels all locked up. Here's a link to a top-gear article from 1998:
Vigillante

[Snax]

I disagree with the reverse tadpole design having superior stability for one specific reason: People don't plan to have to hammer the brakes and swerve in an emergency, an action that often generates the highest g-forces to which the reverse design would still be more susceptible to instability and or rollover with all else being equal.

In more technical terms, the distance of the center of gravity to the fulcrum line between the front and rear tires is much shorter with a reverse tadpole under hard braking and turning than it is from the CG to the contact patch of the front wheels on a standard tadpole.

These are forces that one is unlikely to be able to replicate to the same degree under acceleration and would be more expected/planned for as well.