Help me name my 6000 mpg vehicle!

....I'm sure either type works fine, but the name 'Axe' is begining to trouble me....

I'm sure you got the films jumbled up. The axe scene was from The Shining, although that nurse in "One Flew...." was pretty scary. The plane is irrefutable proof that Germans have a sense of humour. I heard someplace that they couldn't use the film title 'Meet the Fockers' until they'd proven the surname existed !

I'd be happy with cross-hairs on the windscreen and an ample supply of 'kill' stickers. Ken could clean up by awarding exclusive accesories for mileage done/loyalty. All sold to an elite client base.

"...cross-hairs on the windscreen..."

Won't do you much good without summat to back that up. This should go in the 'World's Smallest Gun' thread, but you'll obviously need it here...

That's good, but I seen the mutha you posted on the gun thread. I hope Kens car has ratchet wheels to stop it flying backwards !

This one's the Gau-2 'mini gun'. That one's the Gau-8, and is bigger lengthwise than Ken's car is likely to be. This one will take up any passenger space you might have had. Either one could serve as the means of propusion, I'm quite sure... Instead of mpg, you'd measure mpr (miles per round).

Careful now, Enviro, you may be on to something here.

If we could just get Ah'nold to drive it around it might catch on as the Mini-Humvee.

Think about it Ken, twin Gatlin guns! What a statement!

Maybe a concealed 155 hp Evinrude beneath that rear shroud. Amphibious no less!

Jas. B would drool. Come to think of it, so would I. I suggest the "HumPhibiMini".

Why not fully auto paint ball guns

Firing off ammo the color of florecent bird droppings.

Ken tell us how would a big guy like Arnie fit in the "axe"?

Thats what the Axe is for, to trim off bits of Arnie that don't fit!!

"Firing off ammo the color of florecent bird droppings."

Is that what happened to the bird on the viewers' left?

Firing off ammo the color of florecent bird droppings.

I didn't know that florescent birds existed!

Shhhhh! They're exceedingly rare, and highly protected! This conversation never took place.

ermmm...

Shhhhh!!! This is, as stated in your link, NOT common knowledge, even amongst parrot afficionados. This conversation never took place either...

Hmmm, I was being flippant when I made that statement, and now my face is red.

Would that be florescent red?Maybe embareassed?

I personally feel that CR4 is not the place for seeing parts of a naked lady and her Pussy!!!

Naked lady? Who said that was a lady?!?

Simple logic:

All ladies are women. Not all women are ladies.

But then, OTOH in this day and age with trans(------), who knows for sure?

What is a translady anyway? Does she translate something? I have no idea where that line of thought came from. Maybe others might jump on gender? Noooooo! Please don't!!! Tie off the thread! End it before it deteriorates.

I think you must mean trans- fat. And the thread ain't over 'till the fat lady sings... Is that the rustle of sheet music I hear?

Who wishes it wasn't?

With a rear end like that it will be some very strange feller!!!!

Each to his own of course!!!

Absolutely right. Wow, it must be great to live the life that Del does.

"...now my face is red..."

Like...this?

Would that be pronounced "Humph, I be mini"? As in "Bah, I am small"... With the mini guns mounted, you could pronounce it any way you cared, such as "Hah, kiss my arse"! (Did I say that out loud?)

You could be right, it going back a bit for me.....I stand corrected (well sit really!!)

"could" !!! PMSL. Keep on smilng I always say ;

Andy, The scene with Jack hacking through the door was in "The Shining". But frightening nontheless.

Dragon

Thanks, I am still sitting corrected!

"...I am still sitting corrected..."

That's good - proper keyboard posture is important to not suffer ergonomic injury.

EnviroMan, life would be so boring without you. Please stay healthy and keep us laughing!!

Careful Andy, his head will swell up and we won't be able to live with him!

Just kidding Enviro, I'm with Andy. Keep up the great posts. Anyway, maybe we could call Ken's Pod "Answer-1", as in an answer to big automakers! "-1" is, of course, for version 2.00.00.00.00.00.00, etc. (prototype is version 1.99.99.99.99.99.99......)

1 = 2 huh? Must be the 'new math' I've heard so much about...

No! 1 is a lonely number! It's like this Enviro. Surely you'll appreciate the relationship. 2 is way beyond us.

2 can be as bad as 1; it's the loneliest number since the number 1, oh...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5DHquP1HWU

Her problem is that she needs a place holder, don't ya think?

Hmmm...must be - she already has the places to hold...

Roger. Will do - guess I'm just a...

jolly roger!

Sorry, Ken, that's stone axe thinking...

Hi Ken,

I'm just wondering about the roadworthiness of the (as yet unamed) Pod. For example, have you taken it on the freeway and driven it at normal traffic flow speeds (70+ mph)? In particular, I'm wondering how it fares when an 18 wheeler comes blasting by in the lane right next to you. Can it hold its own?

-John

I can't say from personal experience because in it's current state it only does 50, and within a month or so it will do 60 (and the proof of concept prototype will remain at that level). The second prototype will have twice the electric hp and will be capable of highway speeds. (The time for its completion is subject to financing.) So the rest of this is theory:

In general, cars with most of the weight on the front wheels tend to be directionally stable (The second prototype will be 60% front, 40% rear). Streamlined cars (strange as it may seem) are actually more sensitive to crosswinds than not-so-streamlined cars. But by adding "sail" area to the rear of the car (part of the reason for the central fin in the red drawing, and the tall back end of the avatar version) directional stability is reinforced. Also contributing to stability is the amount of rubber on the road vs weight: for the same reason that sports cars have high cornering limits, it takes a relatively larger force to deflect something with a lot of tire area versus little. Low CG and overall lowness (it's the height of a Corvette) help too, as does relatively firm suspension.

So I expect the Axe to do quite well around big trucks and in crosswinds. But of course, the proof will be in the driving of the second prototype.

TriAxion

Nice, but a bit reminiscent of 'Trimaxion' from Flight of the Navigator...

But...hmmm...there IS a certain resemblance, isn't there?

Out here your BRG is refered to as Forest Green and is probably my favorite color.

I'm not a "greenie weenie" BTW but a realist. There is some truth to every new fad that comes down the pike, otherwise they (the greenie weenies) would get no traction at all. We do live in a constantly changing universe and we may be responsible for a lot of our own problems. To go around crying that "the sky is falling" has never been much help, however. That's probably why I like engineering and engineers; It's better to try to fix problems than to cry about them.

OK! My Scott and Dutch ancestry probably makes me a bit of a skinflint as well, and green solutions (done right) are often good solutions.

If when you wrote:-

OK! My Scott and Dutch ancestry....

...you meant from Scotland (it could be a town called Scott for all I know), you should write it so:-

OK! My Scottish and Dutch ancestry.....

Shortening is not good, sorry.....being of Scottish ancestry myself you see.....

We too suffer from the overly authentic syndrome, but Denise Burke, our Publican, is as authentic as the Blarney Stone. Green branded autos IS a big new deal, and it is not just you that finds Prius somewhat overtly graphic. Axe would not be bad, there's a mens' cologne under that marque, but no autos that I know of. However, I already submitted the ultimate name choice I'm afraid - TRIUS!

If Neanderthal is too long, try Troglodyte?

...or even Triglodyte? or Triglodart?

This is getting better than "Bath Breaking" with Kris!!!

It's still running ! Just yesterday PlbMak added another picture - If you've got a spare week it's worth a look.

You unashamed tart..!

'Ere darlin' wanna see a good time wiv a bath?

LOL. Next time I return to 'Bath' I'll give Kens thread a complementary pimping. If he pays me enough, I won't. This may horrify Ken, but when I looked under google images for "car bath" I found these ;

That second one (called "CLEVER" !) has funky styling.

Now that has suddenly made me wonder why Ken decided to put the two wheels at the front?

So he can drive foreward into a parking slot ? I don't know, but there are probably lots of pros and cons. With 2 wheels at the front it would be more like driving a speed-boat. I'd like to know if the back-end sliding is a problem....I'll go look at Kens picture again....

I'm not clear what type of tadpole Ken has (Sorry Ken, it was too good to resist ! ). When I said about parking, I was thinking tadpole 2 in the link.

Read my recent post!!

Hi Randall,

Andy's post #103 covers many of the differences. Delta (single wheel in the front)trikes are particularly bad in panic stop/turn situations, with a propensity for rolling right over. Tadpole trikes can have very high cornering limits with some examples (like the T-rex pictured below) cornering far better than virtually anything on the road.

The T-Rex and the Aptera are both rear wheel drive. For the T-rex, that probably makes sense, as it is intended for enthusiasts, who, like Porsche drivers, might want to induce oversteer. But for more ordinary transportation, there is no good reason to enable a vehicle to oversteer. So then, a tadpole trike should have most of its weight on the front wheels, to promote ultimate understeer. But if most of the weight is on the front, then the rear drive wheel is not heavily loaded enough for good traction on slippery roads. Thus, the Aptera people do not recommend their vehicle for all-weather use.

Driving the front wheels adds complexity, but all of the required pieces are well proven in typical small cars.

"Leaners" which can be very narrow, can be of either configuration, although having one wheel in front makes the steering and leaning mechanism much simpler. Some of these are quite simple, with the lean angle controlled by the driver in the same way as it in controlled in a motorcycle. (These don't lend themselves to a fully enclosed vehicle, because it can be difficult to right the leaning part of the vehicle while at rest, without being able to put feet down. The Carver, and the related Venture One have computer-controlled leaning, which allows the vehicle to be fully enclosed and driven like a car (turn the wheel to the right bank to go right) rather than like a motorcycle (in which you first must counter-steer to bank -- steer left to go right -- and then make small adjustments to maintain a bank angle and cornering rate). The complexity of computer controlled hydraulics, (with fail-safe backups, one would hope) make this arrangement unappealing for a simple inexpensive vehicle. I'm sure the Carver is fun, however.

The first one I find technically better as it has two front wheels. This is better when braking cornering and in accident situations......single front wheels are a liability on a car which has much more weight than a Motorbike....!!

f you have ever driven a 3 wheeler with a single front wheel you would quickly understand why!!!

Even the Triumph 3 wheeler cars of the thirties put two wheels up front....they knew!

A further nice link is:-

Steam Tricycle

Quoting from Wikipedia (thanks Kris, the link named Tadpole in your post):-

Strengths and weaknesses

Having one wheel in front and two in the rear for power reduces the cost of the steering mechanism, but greatly increases instability. However, a configuration of two wheels in the front and one wheel at the back has many strong proponents among automotive designers and enthusiasts. Two advantages are its improved aerodynamics, and that it readily enables small lightweight motorcycle powerplants and rear wheels to be used. This approach was used by the BMW Isetta.

For the lowest wind resistance (and best fuel efficiency), a teardrop shape is desirable. A tear drop is wide and round at the front, tapering to a point at the back. The three wheel configuration allows the two front wheels to create the wide round surface of the vehicle. The single rear wheel allows the vehicle to taper at the back. This approach is used by the Aptera.

I'd go with the idea of two front wheels, though a mate use to enjoy cornering his 2-at-the-back Bond Bug on occasion. It must have felt like doing a wheelie on the front wheel of a motorbike. The people at 3-wheeler have some nice pictures and info.

The Bond Bug, among others, suffered from the fact that the steering wheel had little resistance to movement, so you have to "support" your arms the whole time in some way. Whereas with the design of a modern 2 front wheel vehicle, there is no need to do that.....the design of the various links mean that it will drive just like a normal car in this respect.

Try 100 miles in a Bond Bug, you end up with muscles like Arnie!! Maybe its a good idea after all!!!

The other problem is trying to brake a relatively heavy vehicle (in comparison to a Motorbike, with just one tire.....in the dry not a big problem as long as you don't mind the wear factor, but in the wet or on ice, decidedly dicey in an emergency!!

It would be very interesting to see braking distances information(both wet and dry) for both vehicle types.....

Also ABS would help both under most circumstances and with ESP, the two wheel front car would probably make a huge leap in braking effectiveness....as far as I am aware ESP will not really help a lot with a single front tire....

Braking with a 1-front-wheeler has a lot of 'fun' possibilities ! It would certainly make people think about braking in relation to corners. The 3-wheelers that have a built in ability to lean look too complex, and just don't 'look' right. British Rail spent ages getting the APT to work, and then found it made people feel sick !

Then there's always my personal fave Brit (and originally a 3-wheeler) motorcar...I'm surprised none of y'all had mentioned it:

In 1906, H.F.S. Morgan, the founder of the Morgan Motor Company, opened a motor garage in Malvern Link running a successful bus service. He was also the local agent for Wolseley and Darraq. This success meant that he could purchase his own vehicle, an Eagle Tandem. This led to the idea that he could make his own three-wheeler vehicle.

He then mounted a three wheeled tubular chasis onto a two-cylinder Peugeot engine that he had bought and the very first Morgan runabout was created. Initially H.F. S. had no intention of becoming a motor manufacturer, but interest in his vehicle led him to extend the Malvern Garage and start manufacture in 1910. The Morgan name was then first made public at the Olympia Motor Show of 1910. A year later, Morgan exhibited its first two seaters at the 1911 Olympia Show.

The Morgan Motor Company was formed as a private Limited Company in 1912. Production was interrupted during the First World War when production shifted from cars to munitions and machinery for the war effort. In 1915 a four-seater was developed and marketed as the Family Runabout. Production increased to 50 cars per week making Morgan one of the largest British car manufacturers of the time. In 1918 a new factory was opened on the Madresfield estate. This is the same site as the present day factory, commonly referred to as the "Works".

By 1937 the Morgan Four Four roadster was a great success. This lead to the introduction of a four-seater version and, in 1938, a Drophead Coupe. Later that year Morgan introduced a standard engine. The company continued to produce three-wheelers as well as four-wheelers.

I'm sure they're probably in a link within a link, but just for the gratuitous fun of a picture...........

Ah, yes - up on 2 wheels thru the corner - nearly as much fun as the 4-wheel drift, eh?

....as long as the back drifts just enough on corners.

I'm told the pre-war Morgan 4-wheelers could only make curves over a certain radius by doing a four-wheel drift... Push TOO far and you end up like this (but ain't it lovely?!?):

Yes, for curves of infinite radius, foreward drift of all wheels is recomended. I dunno about that orange colour, it's not even a decent shade of orange like a Bond Bug. Maybes you can get away with it in Florida, but to my mind, it's like giving Concorde a Mr Blobby paint job.

Orange? That's sunshine yellow! Word up, bro - optometrist...

It's orange I tells ya ! OK, one side of it looks a bit yellow, but the rest of it looks orange to me. Besides, everyone knows oranges are blue;

"...everyone knows oranges are blue..."

Well, spank me pink and call me Rosie - they dang sure ARE:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058663/

http://www.orangeblue.com/

Flippin' French.... , it's just an evil plot to stop the BRG.

Sounds like your pet peeve to me. I had a pet peeve once..It ran out into the street and got run over by an ice cream truck.

Domo arrigato, Mr. Roboto.

http://www.styxnet.com/styxlyrics/roboto.htm

"This is getting better than "Bath Breaking" with Kris!!!"

Boy, talk about damning by faint praise...