Tuesday 20th October 2009

Land Glider Points Towards Infiniti

Nissan's tilting electric 'carsickle' could be more than a concept

---

Land Glider could reach production...

We spared you the pictures of Nissan’s electric Land Glider concept when it was revealed a couple of weeks back, as it looked like a bit of a joke. But with latest reports from Tokyo suggesting Nissan might actually build the thing, we thought you should be warned!

The Land Glider is a tilting mobile chicane conceived as an enclosed four wheel motorcycle with a bubble roof. Electric motors above the axles allow it to tilt up to 17 degrees for what is optimistically described as ‘full speed cornering’…

...bearing Infiniti badges, say latest reports

If it does go on sale, the Land Glider will sport Infiniti badges according to well-respected industry journal Automotive News, whose reporters have just revealed the Japanese company’s serious intent for the project.

Either way, we're guessing that Infiniti badges pretty much guarantee their won't be a 'GT-R' or NISMO version, so don't put us down for any.

Well, maybe just the one...

[Tony*T3]

Why such negative comments in the article? 'Mobile chicane'? Come on, report the news if you want, dont poke fun at the thing until you've test driven a full production example.

Or has the PH 'flat earth society' now taken over editorial content as well as forum retoric?

[Escort Si-130]

This car or whatever it is is 4KIN hideous...another one for the geeks & tree huggers I guess!

[Insight]

I think this is brilliant!

[threespires]

Either way, we're guessing that Infiniti badges pretty much guarantee their ??????? won't be a 'GT-R' or NISMO version, so don't put us down for any.

[Gun]

Sorry but that write up reads more like a Max Power article, I think that looks ace, it leans through the corners FFS, what's not to like!

[Mr Gear]

Tony*T3 said:

Why such negative comments in the article? 'Mobile chicane'? Come on, report the news if you want, dont poke fun at the thing until you've test driven a full production example.

Or has the PH 'flat earth society' now taken over editorial content as well as forum retoric?

Totally agree. If Pistonhead's is aiming it's editorial content at morons like this:

Escort Si-130 said:

This car or whatever it is is 4KIN hideous...another one for the geeks & tree huggers I guess!

...Then I'm no longer interested.

PH is a broad church and there's no space for narrow-mindedness. I hope.

[Chris-R]

Mr Gear said:

Tony*T3 said:

Why such negative comments in the article? 'Mobile chicane'? Come on, report the news if you want, dont poke fun at the thing until you've test driven a full production example.

Or has the PH 'flat earth society' now taken over editorial content as well as forum retoric?

Totally agree. If Pistonhead's is aiming it's editorial content at morons like this:

Escort Si-130 said:

This car or whatever it is is 4KIN hideous...another one for the geeks & tree huggers I guess!

...Then I'm no longer interested.

PH is a broad church and there's no space for narrow-mindedness. I hope.

Agreed - hence 'maybe just the one' at the end of the item!

[The Black Flash]

Looks like a proper laugh to me, assuming it's got a bit of poke to it.

[Mr Gear]

Chris-R said:

Mr Gear said:

Tony*T3 said:

Why such negative comments in the article? 'Mobile chicane'? Come on, report the news if you want, dont poke fun at the thing until you've test driven a full production example.

Or has the PH 'flat earth society' now taken over editorial content as well as forum retoric?

Totally agree. If Pistonhead's is aiming it's editorial content at morons like this:

Escort Si-130 said:

This car or whatever it is is 4KIN hideous...another one for the geeks & tree huggers I guess!

...Then I'm no longer interested.

PH is a broad church and there's no space for narrow-mindedness. I hope.

Agreed - hence 'maybe just the one' at the end of the item!

Ok, fair enough. But try and pull the positives from wacky concepts and then you'll have got the point of them. Concept cars are always an extreme showcase for new ideas, and rarely the finished article.

[wildoliver]

If that does 0-60 in sub 10 and goes on to around 100 while costing less than a micra then it would be a hoot to drive!

[DeadMeat_UK]

That looks like top fun.

[Mr Gear]

In all seriousness, I think a leaning 4-wheeler makes a lot of sense, and Nissan aren't the only one to be toying with the idea. This is the Yamaha Tesseract concept:



The idea is that narrow cars/bikes/quads/whatever are better suited to city environments than short cars like IQs and Smarts. Allow them to lean and they can have superb cornering too as the weight can be transferred to the inside wheel.

Great ideas, bring 'em on!

[Mc lovin]

Interesting

[PascalBuyens]

Didn't know Nissan bought Carver?

[G4HKS]

PascalBuyens said:

Didn't know Nissan bought Carver?

If they actually put that in to production I would order one today. I have been looking at a Carver for years but can't bring myself to spend £40k plus on one.

[JRM]

I think it looks great, why such a negative article???

[JRM]

I think it looks great, why such a negative article???

[Gridl0k]

The more people drive electric buggies, the more petrol there is left for those of us who care more about noise and panache than running costs.

It's not a difficult concept.

[Futuramic]

Anything that looks like the Metro Cab from Judge Dredd has to be good.

It looks like a hoot to drive, so why the negativity. Maybe becasue it is electric. Although the prospect of RWD and massive torque from zero RPM fill me with longing.

I'm off to hug a tree.

[mikeveal]

G4HKS said:

PascalBuyens said:

Didn't know Nissan bought Carver?

If they actually put that in to production I would order one today. I have been looking at a Carver for years but can't bring myself to spend £40k plus on one.

Three wheelers & four wheelers don't need to lean to be stable in corners. Manufacurers only do this when you have a high centre of gravity and a narrow wheelbase. Project a line through the CoG down to the tarmac, to represent the force acting on the CoG. As you corner the line swings to the outside of the bend. Brake and it swings forward. You get the idea.

The trick to designing a car that doesn't fall over is to ensure that the tyres lose traction and slide sideways before you generate enough cornering force that the line from the CoG meets the tarmac outside of a polygon drawn between the tyre contact patches.
If the tyres don't slide before you get to that point, the car falls over.

It's perfectly possible for a 7esque car to generate 1.5g in a corner without falling over. Any car that needs to tilt to corner is a fundamentally bad design. Why design a heavy and expensive tilting mechanism when you can solve the same problem by just lowering the CoG?

I wouldn't touch a Carver. If you want three wheel fun, look for a JZR, a Scorpion or a Skunk (lesser trikes also exist!)