Decision Matrix: 3 vs. 4 Wheel Car Design

 Design options

Preliminary Notes:

Frame

Pros:

• 3 wheel lends itself to a more "bullet" type design, could prove to be more aerodynamic

• Could potentially lead to a smaller car footprint because of 3 wheels, meaning we could save weight on aeroshell, frame, etc.

• Innovative design, not sticking to what we have done previously

• Explore trailing arm suspension

Cons:

• More prone to body roll because of only one wheel contacting on the back AND potentially biased COG/COM

• 3 wheel design means that we would need to support the entire weight of the car but now with one less wheel, could prove to create more complex/heavy dynamics assemblies

• Overall, the car would be less stable (aka we would probably need more driving practice)

• Frame would be asymmetrical and mounting of the rear wheel would be an interesting dilemma (not saying its not possible, but it would either be trailing the frame in a weird way, or be inside the frame and be hard to work on)

• Hard balance between low drag and low stability (aka your trackwidth and wheelbase would absolutely have to be optimized to actually utilize the benefits of a 3-wheeled frame)

 Follow up

 Source files

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