LocostUSA.com

Hi all. I've been lurking around the locost forum for about a year now and never realized there was a sub forum for 3 wheelers. I have a reverse trike in the works so I figured I'd start a thread about it. It will be mid engine , FWD, with side by side seating for two.

This gives you an idea of the basic drivetrain.

That style drivetrain - a RWD engine and transmission powering the front wheels from midships, about - has been used in the Dirigo eco-reverse trike.

http://www.dirigocar.com/the-project.html

It certainly packages well. However for a three-wheeler with driven front tires, I'd expect that you'd want as much weight as possible over the front tires, both for stability and traction.

Checking out the website linked above... so what happened with their project? It seemed more than able to reach 100 mpg... wonder it it all went wrong or they ran out of cash. If they'd succeeded I'm sure they'd have posted about it.

[edit] Oh, I see, they didn't hit 100 mpg... they really need to redo the body and would hit that easily... easy for me to say, who's not paying or doing any of the work!

You are correct. Trying to get the proper amount of weight up front. I think it's a better solution than trying to get the power to the pavement through one rear wheel.

Agreed, but in the styling department, 3-wheelers need all the help they can get, and having a big drivetrain up front really ruins what could be a sleek look... it's all a compromise. 3-wheelers are a VERY tough sell due to the impression that they'll tip over. With as much weight forward as possible, a couple videos of throwing the car around should prove the point.

(I remember the Aptera marketing weasels saying that it was impossible for their 3-wheeler to tip over. Incredible.)

Hey, I resemble that remark

Interesting layout mtntech, looking forward to seeing how you lay out the rest...

I'll try and get some more pics up soon. I like the powerplant in your ride. I had the same one many years ago in a '83 GPz 1100. Was a fast bike in the day.

Interesting design - Have you considered using a lighter shaft-drive v-twin engine instead? Looks like the leg room will be compromised due to short
trans to diff coupling length? What are your track & wheelbase measurements looking like?

bryan

It IS impossible to tip an Aptera, since they folded & closed up shop. A Chinese company supposedly owns them now... the new electric Aptela will be released soon... ?

b

Everything fits. I'm 6'4" and the design will fit shorter drivers as well. This is being built as a performance vehicle so a V twin never entered my mind. Everything I build must put a smile on my face! Engine is a K Series Honda, which will start off normally aspirated (200+ HP), coupled to a F series 6 speed tranny. Drivetrain is mounted low, as are the CV shafts. The wheel track is just over 81 inches and wheelbase is still to be determined.

lets see, a rearward weight bias, front wheel drive, and 200 hp. big smoky burnouts anyone?

It's not just lack of traction, it's that the CG is located at the narrow end of the vehicle making it more susceptable to tipping, never mind a higher propensity for oversteer.

well, as long as Mtn keeps the CG close to or under the plane of the axle centerlines, and keeps the front track relatively wide, the tendency to tip can be mitigated.

Also, with careful packaging, he could give the vehicle a fairly low polar moment, and mitigate oversteer with a fat rear tire. but, with the heaviest component towrds the rear of the vehicle, and given how acceleration unwieghts the front wheels, power-on understeer in turns is kind of a given, don't you think?,

Mtn, sry if we're hijacking your build log. your chosen architecture is dialogue-enabling

Yeah I don't mean to dump on your particular project. I've actually been thinking about three-wheeler design for a long time and it's rare to see threads, so I tend to do a cloud-burst when one comes along. To me, a successful design is one that's pretty, isn't tippy, has traction, and no oversteer issues, which is really hard to combine well.

It's an interesting idea with the drivetrain layed out that way, but I don't think the single U-joint will work since it's impossible to keep the drivetrain perfectly in-line. It really needs two U-joints else it'll put huge side loads on things and stuff will break.

Oh, and how will the shift pattern not be upside-down? While it'll obviously work as-is, all it takes is one brief lapse of concentration to shift the wrong way...