BladeGlider . . . Oh BOY!

awkward....

 

I'd rather have a Volkswagen XL1..... a plugin hybrid which gets 240 MPG (and already in production).

 

Shouldn't it be fat end in front and skinny in rear for best areodynamics.

Hopefully, we'll get the Elio in the US sometime soon.
Elio Motors

 

Cool. Thanks for sharing the Elio link!

 

Just looking at the picture I could imagine it would be fun to drive and own.

Hmm....I wonder what they mean by inexpensive....

 

I read somewhere that most cars would get better mpg if driven backwards.

SCH-I535

 

Bizarro? No, I think it's about time some of the less conventional, not-boring ideas made it into production.

 

Isn't this pretty much a look-a-like for the weird looking but succesful Le Mans car I read about on Priuschat some months back? There was a technical explanation why the shape was a big step forward compared to the conventional shaped competitors...

Edit: Link and quote from wiki:

I think that sounds like a pretty good reason to adopt certain design aspects for a street-legal car

 

Yes if you have two sitting side by side, and can push the wheels off the body. But this is something different its a 1 +2. One up front plus a back seat for two. I don't think people will like it. If I was going for inexpensive I would go for two wheels in front, 1 in the back, and only have to follow motorcycle regulations. This thing is based off the very fast delta wing race car nissan worked on, at least according to the delta wing folks. It has two tires up front as close as possible to have front stability, its not a single wheel.

Its so close that nissan is being sued by the delta wing folks they used to work with on race cars. The shape reduces the drag while moving weight to a rear bias making it easier to turn with skinnier (lower rolling resistance) front tires on a track.
Five Speeds Are Plenty

 

The car seems marketing flawed and not engineering flawed. Nissan wants to cajole young people in to becoming car enthusiasts. That's hard to do when marketing shows young people are less interested in cars than ever. A little unique styling will work a little. There have been some recent cars that have made a few sales on their quirky looks. A lot of 20 somethings just want a car to get from point A to point B and also want to be connected with all the latest electronics. This car is like trying to get young inner city blacks interested in country music by introducing country songs with a hip hop sound. Sorry. That probably won't work. Reading between the lines, they really don't expect to sell a lot of this car.

 

Hey. I want to be able to shuttle two kids in the back. Hard to do it with a 2+1 instead of 1+2 Coupe.

 

Yes, the wife stays at home...

 

Just read something that linked to the ice for the zeod RC. 400 hp weighing only 88 lbs
Nissan's Crazy-Powerful New Engine Weighs Just 88 Pounds | Autopia | Wired.com

 

The race car's main body doesn't get much wider than the front wheels and axle. The wings for the rear wheels are half or less the height of that main body. Not to belittle would this team has accomplished or the work involed, but the Delta Wing is like a drag racer that pushed out the rear wheels with aerodynamic fairings in appearance. More flattering, a Saab jet fighter with wheels.

For the +2 seats, the BladeGlider had to widen the main body out to the rear wheels. It looks like a typical sports car from the rear. Corning with it will be fun, but it got the ideal rain drop shape backwards.

 

I think you are missing something major here. This car is built to corner well, dragsters are just made to go straight. The configuration drogs weight and provides a low cda. This allows very high efficiency, along with great accelearation.

Its too bad the delta wing's shape makes it hard to see from some angles. Its a shame that the toyota car took out the prototype on its first real race. I doubt they will let it race with other lmp cars given the possiblities of crashes, but they are trying to get a new racing catagory just for it. Those drivers should be able to more easily recognize other delta wings.

I don't think the thing will be safe from other cars crashing into it. That would be my main concern. It is quite low with a low profile up front. VW also had a 1 in front 1 in back configuration for L1 to reduce cda, but that did not work out in their research so they switched to side by side. A 2 front, 1 back can work, or just 2 front, but 1 front 2 back is likely to fail in the market.

Rain drop is just one possible shape. This shape works well for cda and handling, plus you don't need to add as much aero for downforce on the rear wheels. In a typical lmp, you need to have a higher cda to keep the back on the track Make the thing cheap enough and it might be fun on track days, and efficient for commutes. It would suck generally for nightime with more than 1 adults.

 

You certainly can't say that Nissan isn't thinking outside the box.

 

You forgot this one, as it is my favorite. Too bad one American company got exclusive rights for America and stalled on releases their version for many years now. It should be hell of fun to drive. Too bad.