Chinese-Built 60 mpg Wildfire Puts a New Face on Motorcycles
Appears in Print As: A motorcycle in disguise gets 60 mpg
The Chinese-built Wildfire is actually a three-wheeled motorcycle with some added coachwork. Perhaps its most noteworthy feature is its 60-mpg rating. There are two versions, a sedan for $7,781 and a delivery truck for $7,160. Each is powered by a 26-hp, 650-cc, water-cooled four-stroke twin engine. A four-speed manual transmission includes reverse. Front and rear drum brakes provide stopping power. Cruising speed is 45 mph, and top speed is 65 mph. The delivery version, which has collapsible bed sides, can carry a 1,000-lb load. The vehicles are street legal in every state except California, a state in which the company has yet to get the vehicles approved and certified.
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Magnoliacom
Newsvine
Furl
Facebook
Google
YahooAdvertisement
Machine Design Product Search
Supplier Search
Plastics Search
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Comments
Unsafe & not ecomomical
I live in Ireland. I drive an old Yaris Diesel that can do over 80mpg(U.S).It is dated diesel technology now. Diesel is cheaper than petrol(gas) here. Why would I consider a Wildfire?. We had Reliant Robins here. These were three wheeled 850cc vehicles. The concept was dangerous with the single wheel at the front. They rolled if the steering was used avoid an obstacle on the road. With more road area covered with three wheels compared with four - this resulted in a greater avoidance requirement. If it had two wheels at the front and one at the back it would make more sense from a stability perspective. The concept was from the 1950's where there was not the same sensible constraints to putting a car like this on the road then. Let the world learn from the engineering mistakes of the past.
The quest for a cheap car.
Let us assume this car is designed for India and China.
Why were the 3-wheeler ATV's discontinued?
The three-wheeled ATV's were taken off the market years
ago due to the large number of roll-over accidents that caused
a lot of fatalities and injuries. I don't really see anything different about this vehicle, and fear in a quick avoidance maneuver, the vehicle could easily roll-over. It may be fine driving straight
down the highway, but I suspect the first time you swerve to miss
someone or an object in the road at 60mph, it will likely be the
last time you do so. Has there been any consumer test reports
released on this vehicle? I believe it would be worth checking
out before you buy one. I'm personally not interested.
Wildfire
Some of the comments here are very disturbing, indicative of a challenged society. Regardless, Frank Lloyd Wright (USA) designed a 3 wheeled vehicle in the early 1900's. Since, thousands of various vehicles have been pieced together across the world to provide transportation or preform a specific job. Advancement in this area isn't accomplished by typing disturbing comments on a forum or blog or such. It's advanced by doing. Another thing to think about, if you're a member of a thinking society is the price. The vehicle should be selling for under $2,000 USD. However, this challenged society is more happy to pay the $7,000 . Therefore, the maker clears a pure profit of $5,000 per vehicle sold simply because he/she is selling to a challenged society. This is NOT the makers fault. It is yours. GM, Ford, Chrysler (USA) play on your challenges as well.
Get consistent, Altoman
Maybe it SHOULD be priced at $2000, but a 650cc Kawasaki motorcycle is still priced over $5K. Maybe minimum wage SHOULD be $2.85/hr, but it's still $7.25. On the one hand you slam individuals expressing valid concerns based on proven instability of 3-wheeled vehicles built to date - indicating they aren't likely to buy one - and at the same time you claim this "challenged society" is going to fork over $7K for the vehicle. Get consistent.
Europe and diesel cars
While vacationing in Europe I rented a Volvo XC70 and got better than 40 miles per gallon. This car is a tank, I wonder what the other smaller Volvo's get per gallons.
We are doing something wrong.
Don't worry Obama will fix it. Just wait a while. Change is coming.
Obama is an idiot, he won't
Obama is an idiot, he won't fix anythinig.
The chinese car is expensive considering the alternatives
In Europe you can buy a brand new car with 7000 euro (9,870.7)0): I think is worthing to pay extra 2000$ for a 4 wheel car with ABS and enough space.
Ni Hao!
My advice to all of you is to learn to speak Chinese! Sorry, but this century belongs to them. Deal with it.
Front end design
I got to say, the front end of the red bears a strong resemblance to my $200k, 14mpg, 605HP, Mercedes S65 AMG.
Leave a comment