>>I've ordered one...
>>http://www.eliomotors.com/
>>
>>Price seems right and 84mpg on the highway.
>
>No, a big resounding NO because of their website. There's all about marketing, soundbites, tech support, how smart we are, bla bla bla. Ah, and the good results it shows on crash tests. No mention of the inherent instability of trikes in curves (which would be the reason they'd need to have a seriously caged cabin and pass crash tests with flying flags).

Already pass crash testing with 5 star rating - which is the highest you can get here. It's actually quite safe despite it's looks - the cabin is caged in quite well and it has all the aribags..etc etc etc.

>
>Worse, there's no technical specs that I could find. There's a features page, but with subtitles like "4 must-haves" and such marketing crap. No mention of what everyone looks at when buying a seco... oops, pre-owned car: the engine, the optionals, the kind of shift etc. Cat in a bag, I wouldn't be buying it even if I needed it and it was theoretically a perfect fit for me, just because of this "you're a stupid buyer, you don't need to know that, here's what you need to know" bullshit.

I've ready up on some of the specs from other sources - and seen video of people driving the car for 15+ minutes. One of the neat things about the car is that all of the parts are 'off the shelf' parts already being made - minus the body of course. The original engine was going to be a geo one - but now they've designed their own to get better performance - but even with that all the other stuff that goes on it (pumps, alternator..etc) still come from manufactures already using them. As for it being a trike and thus prone to tip over - I doubt that is going to be the case. If the design is right they'll handle just fine - take a look at the Campagna Motors T-REX - it's a 3 wheeler and handles better than pretty much anything on 4 wheels. I do see 2 problems with the 3 wheel idea though. 1. Two front tires, and one tire in the middle in the back - so if you're coming up to a pothole in the road - you're probably going to hit it. 2) in the winter I've seen roads where there is snow in the middle of the lane, but not the two strips where car tires go - so that could be in an issue to consider.


>Selling a tech thing? Show me the tech data, or else walk away from me.

The whole point of the car is that it's not really a tech thing - all the technology they're using is stuff already in use - they really didn't create anything new (hence on of the reasons it comes in at only %6,800. But yes some more tech specs would be nice - their website is quite lacking.