Posted on 12/22/2008 9:07:00 PM PST by Schnucki
THE Carver One resembles a giant mechanical insect, yet its bizarre looks give no hint that the three-wheeler has moves to rival a “Dancing With the Stars” finalist.
It works like this: When steering into a corner, the front wheel and the passenger cabin lean like a motorcycle. Flick the steering wheel back and forth and the Carver bobs left and right like a prizefighter dodging jabs.
Meanwhile, the two rear wheels, along with the 4-cylinder engine mounted between them, remain parallel to the road. Hold the steering steady and the cabin quickly rights itself.
Engineered in the Netherlands and built in Germany, the Carver One is promoted as the world’s only available tilting car. Its balancing act is controlled by a high-tech hydraulic system that Carver calls Dynamic Vehicle Control. Linked to the steering, it calculates a lean angle based on vehicle speed and the cornering forces on the front wheel.
The Carver One tilts to a 45-degree maximum, which could be handy for picking up dropped change at a parkway toll booth or a fast food drive-thru.
As appealing as that may sound in today’s economy, don’t head off to the local auto mall for a test drive; the Carver is not offered in the United States (and sales this year will total only about 200, the company said). My test drive required a trip to the headquarters of Carver Europe, here in the western part of the Netherlands, about 15 miles southeast of Rotterdam.
Anton van den Brink, the company’s co-founder, said the idea for the Carver came to him while he was stuck in a Paris traffic jam about 20 years ago. Noticing that most cars had only a driver inside, he reasoned that a small three-wheel car would be vastly more efficient for transporting
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I bet it’s a gas to drive on a curving road, just like a motorcycle.
Any turn on a motorcycle pushes you directly downwards onto the seat. There is no side to side motion, ever, unless you’re about to lay it down.
A tight turn in a car, on the other hand, slides you across the seat into the door handle or parking brake.
in late 1988-89 period, there was a similar function in a four-wheeler (sort of an enclosed cockpit, super-streamlined, large motorbike) with two outriggers/stabilizers to each side. The stabilizers would recoil (lengthen/shorten like shocks to let the vehicle lean over into corners.
Looked beautiful. Saw two copies of the machine: one in Marietta GA, one in north Atlanta.
Biggest problem - other than being only a two person vehicle - was overheating of the engine. AC and heating.
My commute is short enough that I’d be using it as an electric most of the time. The main benefit of a plug-in hybrid is that it would have more flexibility than an all-electric if I needed to run errands after work and didn’t have time to go home and fetch the real car.
I’m in Atlanta, where heat is often not a critical issue (though it was 19°F this morning, so it’s not exactly trivial). I could take my gasoline car on the few days of the year that it’s too cold to just wear a coat. Or an electric car could be outfitted with a separate propane or butane heater for those rare cold days.
I left out one option that T. Boone Pickens is big on — CNG cars. I already have methane piped right to my house, so a pump/compressor would be a nice home addition. A CNG hybrid could switch between gas and electricity, whichever is cheaper on a given day; both are domestically produced, so I could flip off the Saudis with every mile; and methane is sufficient to heat my house, so heating a car should be a non-issue.
1400 pounds!
Who is going to drive this who would not also be happy on a motorcycle? Since motorcycles already exist, what is the purpose of this machine?
Frankly, motorcycles, ridden conservatively, have the ability to avoid many, many accidents that an automobile will helplessly skid into. If this contraption gives away any of the braking and maneuverability of a motorcycle, it will be the worst of all possible worlds, safety wise.
So it is slower than a Nissan Sentra and gets worse milage to boot. To achieve this great feat it gives up two seats, a trunk, airbags, anti-lock brakes and any pretense of dignity.
What is the purpose of this machine, again?
Anybody who chooses not to get soaking wet when it rains, or freeze their asses off in winter.
Hey yeah, the Messerschmidt. I’d prefer that, probably much more affordable and a lot more fun even though it does’t lean. Those middle wheels though are h**l on a country dirt road with a grassy center LOL! Also reminds me in a way of the BMW Isetta, remember that? I do. Drove one as a teenager trying it out, what a hoot.
Well, if all you want is to keep warm and dry, the Nissan Sentra will do that for you, with better milage, acceleration and with twice the seats. But you will have to pay a 75% less for the Sentra.
Back in the 70's, I had his Phase Linear 400 amp driving a pair of the original Advent loudspeakers - great sound. I later upgraded to a pair of Rogers (BBC) LS3/5A speakers (shoebox size) and ARC D-52 amplifier - smaller, less power but absolutely amazing sound within their range (5" mid-bass driver & flat to only 70Hz). I still have the Rogers in my office system.
Not a diesel but still looks like fun to drive.
Ping!........
As long as it tilts within 5 seconds, you can also pick up the fries that you dropped.
40 mpg? Are you KIDDING? My wife had a Honda Civic that got 44! (She ditched it right before gas prices started going up).
Love em if you like, but there’s no way those things can absorb any impact when the “crumple zone” is about eight inches. I can’t wait to see the death stats on those things in five years. It’s going to be astronomical, I guarantee, and will make about as much sense in retrospect as ethanol.
Agree, whenever I see someone in their “Smart” car, I wonder how smart they are going to feel when it takes a can opener to get them out after a minor fender bender. Maybe they would just be buried in their Smart car after a bad crash.
Well, I drive an Acura Integra, which does pretty well. But I think that a monocoque two-wheeler makes more sense. There was a thread on here some time back which featured a Swiss design, but it was aimed at VERY top end speed performance.
I would think it possible to make a monocoque two-wheeler which would give the same performance as todays cars, and MUCH better gas mileage. I agree that 42 mpg for what is basically a covered three-wheeler is ludicrous. Heck, my wife's new Toyota Corolla does that well.
I was happy on a motorcycle. When young ones started popping up in my family, the motorcycling days ended. With a Carver, I can continue to ride and even bring an ankle biter along.
Riding comfortably in the rain without rain gear is a plus. Riding curves like a moto gp racer without leathers/helmet is pretty exciting, too. :)
Frankly, motorcycles, ridden conservatively, have the ability to avoid many, many accidents that an automobile will helplessly skid into. If this contraption gives away any of the braking and maneuverability of a motorcycle, it will be the worst of all possible worlds, safety wise.
I've seen a slide test of this in a parking lot and I think it's got the best of both worlds. You can lay this down and it stands right up again after finishing the slide.
An acquaintance of mine was cut off while riding one of these and, although he suffered a fender bender, he swears that a) with a motorcycle, he'd be dead and b) with standard sized automobile, the other guy would be dead. He was pretty impressed with how quickly and stably he could respond in the situation.
While driving, though, you really can lean so far that you can touch the ground. It's just that, at those speeds, your hands would suffer some serious road rash. ;)
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