ok i was watching top gear wed night on discovery channel (ferrari enzo vs ferrari f40 episode)

they had this short segment on this car/motorcycle

details:

had one wheel in the front, 2 in rear. enclosed driver seating for 1. Engine was rear mounted. made in europe (maybe the danes???) When you went around a turn the body of the car/bike would canter up to a 45 deg pitch. I for the life of me can't remember what is was but I wanted to look into it more and the possiblility of getting it.


Winner will get my great appreciation

8/19/2005 7:52:38 AM

i saw a car like that on 540 a few weeks ago

8/19/2005 8:14:28 AM

any ideas on its name or maker??

8/19/2005 8:57:46 AM

i saw that episode. i think they said it cost 43,000$

8/19/2005 9:10:01 AM

no....i just remember going down 540 and passign this crazy looking car that had a center cockpit for one, it was small, i think it had a white and blue color scheme and it had just three wheels. i was in a rush so i kinda blew past it but i was thinking that driving that thing on 540 couldn't be that safe. but i guees it's no less safe than being on a bike.

8/19/2005 9:15:08 AM

Yeah, that was an awesome little thing. Only tilted far if you turned the wheel hard. I do know they said it was a Dutch manufacturer.

8/19/2005 9:15:58 AM

yeah it was dutch i remeber now (at least i remebered it started with a d) I just wish I could remember the car name

8/19/2005 9:28:32 AM

wooohoooo found it

Quote :

"Fifteen years ago, the designers at Vandenbrink, a company in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, set out to build a slender, two-seat vehicle in which the passenger would sit behind the driver. What they ultimately created is the Carver, a three-wheeled car that requires drivers to lean into turns as they would if piloting a motorcycle. The 47-inch-wide chassis can tilt as far as 45 degrees and can roll from the extreme left to the extreme right in the space of a second, while the vehicle’s two back wheels remain perpendicular to the road. The Carver also achieves an exhilarating top speed of 118 mph. The vehicle, which went into production last year and carries a price tag of $50,000, is street-legal in the European Union but not yet available in the United States. (Click image to enlarge)"

http://www.carver-europe.com/home.htm

[Edited on August 19, 2005 at 9:34 AM. Reason : link]

8/19/2005 9:31:38 AM

thats crazy

8/19/2005 9:41:32 AM

I've been seeing a purple 3 wheeler in RTP sometimes when I come home from work. It looks like those cars in Austin Powers. http://www.sparrowelectriccars.com/ Not nearly as much fun as the Carver tho.

I was kinda disappointed when they said 0-70 was like 7+ seconds on the Carver but throwing more power in that thing would probably be dangerous, I know i'de be driving like a crazy person already, don't need 2X the power to make things worse.

-- Dave

8/19/2005 10:00:20 AM

ariel atom ftw, 300hp 0-60 in ~2s, top speed - a lot more than 118

8/19/2005 10:11:46 AM

yeah it was the sparrow that i saw not the carver.

8/19/2005 10:22:15 AM

I would rather go with the carver...as I work 62 miles from home, and don't know where I would "plug" my car in for the day to recharge......


0-60 in 7 secs isn't tooooo bad....better than the 92 civic

8/19/2005 10:32:29 AM

i think the lowest 0-60 i've seen for an atom is 2.9s

8/19/2005 11:42:52 AM

Ive seen something like this on glenwood ave.

8/19/2005 12:29:06 PM

Quote :

"i saw a car like that on 540 a few weeks ago"

i see it about once a week on 540


also what is the deal with them constantly spraying the weeds on the side of the highway on the north end of 540? that truck with the big tank is out there on the shoulder almost every day in different spots.

8/19/2005 5:58:25 PM

give it more power and i bet that thing would drift like a beast

8/19/2005 6:05:25 PM

damn thats pretty nifty, but that price tag is a bit too much, might as well just get 4 new bikes

8/19/2005 6:18:17 PM

I wonder what would be more fun:

The carver: 1 wheel at front, 2 at back:



or the T-rex: 2 wheels at front, 1 FAT one at back



Specs:

Quote :

"Chassis: Multi-tubular steel chassis frame. Engine: 1164cc Inline 4 cyl., DOHC, with Ram-Air. Transmission: Sequential 6-Speed close ratio gear box, purpose designed reverse gear, rear wheel torque damper. Front suspension: Unequal opposed triangular arms, adjustable dampers with coil overs, sway bar. Rear suspension: Swinging arm, dual adjustable dampers with coil overs. Steering: Rack and pinion (2.25 turns lock-to-lock), leather steering wheel. Brakes: Front discs: Cross-drilled discs, 11in.(280mm) diameter, 4-piston aluminum calipers. Rear discs: Cross-drilled disc, 10in.(254mm) diameter, 2-piston aluminum caliper. Wheels and Tires : Aluminum 7"x16" front, 11"x17" rear, 195/50/ZR16 front tires, 315/35/ZR17 rear tire. Body: Reinforced fiberglass plastic-sandwich construction, carbon fiber windscreens and headrests. Cockpit: Side-by-side 2-person seating, adjustable backs, adjustable foot-pedal box, 3-point retractable safety belts. Dimensions: Wheelbase: 90in(2286mm); Width: 78in.(1981mm); Length: 138in.(3500mm); Height: 42in.(1067mm); Dry Weight: 900lbs (410kg). Fuel Capacity: 7.5 US gal. (28L). Performance: 0-60 mph: 4.1 sec. Top speed: 140 mph. Lateral acceleration: 1.9g Horsepower: 152 Base Price: $48,000"

Quote :

"The T-Rex is a “50 states legal” road car that performs like exotics costing five times as much. It’s unusual, exciting, and offers a driving experience unlike any I have had. Built by the Campagna Corporation in the province of Quebec, Canada, and designed by Daniel Campagna and Paul Deutschman, the T-Rex is a tube-framed three wheeled vehicle that uses the engine and transmission of a Kawasaki ZZR-1200 at the back, and custom built race car style suspension at the front. The 152 hp motorcycle engine in a vehicle that weighs only 900 lbs (dry) creates performance numbers that few cars can rival. Even with the 315/35/ZR17 tire out back it’s easy to break the rear-end loose with the throttle in the first couple of gears, but the real thrill comes when you approach the 11,000 rpm redline. This is a 4 cylinder, Double Overhead Cam engine with ram air, and it makes its real power at high rpm’s. Faster from 0 to 60 mph than a Ferrari Challenge Stradale or a Lamborghini Gallardo, and with an advertised lateral acceleration number of 1.9 g, you can’t beat this thing on a performance per dollar basis. The front brakes use 11 inch cross-drilled rotors and 4 piston aluminum calipers, and the rear has a 10 inch cross-drilled rotor with a 2 piston aluminum caliper. This provides some SERIOUS stopping power for a vehicle that is just over 900 lbs when it hits the road."

Go to http://www.fast-autos.net/roadtests/trex05/index.html for more details. Also, the official website: http://www.go-t-rex.com.

Now some more pics:

http://www.go-t-rex.com/photos_journal/T-Rex%20High%20Res/100_0011.JPG 2048 x 1536











[Edited on August 19, 2005 at 8:09 PM. Reason : ]

8/19/2005 8:05:09 PM

t-rex all the way.

8/19/2005 8:13:20 PM

BMW made/demoed a 3 wheeler a while back. It was a two seat driver front / passenger back deal with a motorcycle rear and 2 small front tires. It had a setup similar to the carver for cornering, but I dont think it went over as far. I remember car and driver and Pop Mech had big ass writeups on it.

8/19/2005 8:28:05 PM

i saw one of ^^^ on the streets of ft. lauderdale when i was down there in january... definately impressive

8/19/2005 8:39:59 PM

Somehow it surprises me how that thing is 50-state legal. Pretty damn cool though.

8/20/2005 8:31:31 AM

I saw that on Top Gear also
reminded me a lot of an old mercedes concept vehicle that tilted while you turned but had 2 wheels in the front

8/20/2005 10:35:45 AM

Yeah, Mercedes made one called the lifejet or something like that. I think it looked better then the one on Top Gear the other day.


Oh, an T-Rex all the way.

8/20/2005 6:44:57 PM

hey Ronny.

8/20/2005 7:51:42 PM

T-rex is bitchin. Loving those wheels. Looks like it could do a wheelie... perhaps if it was turbocharged, then it would be unstopable.

8/20/2005 11:02:33 PM

I wonder if the T-Rex is a good track car, or if its just a good looker with poor racing dynamics. Something tells me it would be hard to take a curve at speed without the rear sliding out.

8/21/2005 2:18:37 AM

What mileage do you think the T-Rex gets?
I could see my self driving that to work.

8/21/2005 12:36:34 PM

^^^^^^ that's the MB F300.

Here is the F400 Carving Concept:

3.2 l V6 with 220 hp.

Quote :

"The main attraction in the F 400 Carving is a new system that varies the camber angle on the outer wheels between 0 and 20 degrees, depending on the road situation. Used in conjunction with newly-developed tyres, it provides 30 percent more lateral stability than a conventional system with a fixed camber setting and standard tyres. This considerably enhances active safety, since better lateral stability equals improved road adhesion and greater cornering stability. Active camber control boosts the research vehicle's maximum lateral acceleration to 1.28 g, meaning that the concept study outperforms current sports cars by some 28 percent. "

Lots more pics here: http://www.seriouswheels.com/top-2002-Mercedes-Benz-F400-Carving-Concept.htm















[Edited on August 25, 2005 at 10:54 PM. Reason : ]

8/25/2005 10:53:43 PM

HOLY SHIT THIS THING IS GORGEOUS!!!

2005 Peugeot 20Cup Concept

I4 turbocharged
170 hp
325 lb-ft
1100 lbs
F: 210/65 R18
R: 377/71 R18

8/31/2005 8:31:16 AM

From the front, yes, very attractive. But from the side, it looks like somebody cut the car in half and put a bike tail on it. :-/

8/31/2005 10:47:42 AM

If we are getting to pics of three wheels then i have to add one of a morgan...


don't think it would exactly pulll 1.5g's on the skidpad....but yeah its a morgan...

[Edited on August 31, 2005 at 5:47 PM. Reason : z]

8/31/2005 5:45:49 PM