the wheel reinvented

[daveyw]

To my mind the most efficient wheel is probably round.? So what's this all about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HC50O1vjd0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[John.edwards]

Leverage?

 

[Seajet]

It's specially designed so that the slightest thing dropped between steering thingy and coaming allows the opportunity to meet interesting people and discuss new ideas as the steering jams solid.

 

[johnalison]

I want my money back. He wasn't sailing at nine knots in zero wind.

 

[hartcjhart]

just like the old austin allegro eh

 

[rotrax]

just like the old austin allegro eh

AH- the Allegro-or all aggro.

When I worked at BLMC Cowley plant it was known as the ADO76.

ADO stood for Advanced Drawing Office.

The pre-production brochures were run by us lads in the Tech Service Dept.

It stated quite bluntly that the reason for the square steering wheel was easier entry/exit of the vehicle, a better view of the instruments and a bigger boot.

When we asked how the boot was bigger there was lots of evasion and editing of said brochure.

Us pisstakers often asked the ADO boys later on if they made a small change to their drawings would it give the car a bigger boot.

They would tell us to Foxtrot Oscar...........................

 

[Seajet]

rotrax,

for some reason I clearly remember Cliff Mitchelmore on the old style Top Gear testing the new Allegro, " I'm sure the racing boys will soon have those grills in front of the brakes out for cooling "...

For a while I used to share a lift to work in one, the exhaust leaked into the cabin so badly we had to wipe the inside of the windscreen; I was woken rather unpleasantly from my homeward bound snooze when we hit a kerb with a helluva bang, the driver had dozed off too...

 

[JumbleDuck]

When I worked at BLMC Cowley plant it was known as the ADO76.

A pedant writes ...

The Allegro started as the ADO67. The ADO76 was a sports car.

 

[savageseadog]

The wheel. Pattern copied from an idea by Salvador Dali

 

[dom]

To my mind the most efficient wheel is probably round.? So what's this all about.

It's actually quite a cool idea in that it (a) is large enough to reach the sides for easy helming position, (b) you can see over it when standing behind wheel and (c) provides a great visual representation of how much rudder is on and (d) is a designery cool carbon item for a bit of one upmanship perfect for the bar after!

When I looked at your link I also clicked on this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6gMDlTTN6A

Daring or dumb?

 

[charles_reed]

followtheboat.com say no more - the repository of zany ideas. 9 knots in no wind....

In fact those steering wheels are becoming increasingly common on new boats in the Med.

 

[JumbleDuck]

It's actually quite a cool idea in that it (a) is large enough to reach the sides for easy helming position, (b) you can see over it when standing behind wheel and (c) provides a great visual representation of how much rudder is on and (d) is a designery cool carbon item for a bit of one upmanship perfect for the bar after!

A further justification might say "When reaching the helmsman will generally be at the high (windward) back corner. Since well mannered boats have weather helm, s/he is more likely to need to steer away from the wind than into it. That means that the bottom half of the wheel is likely to be used more than the top half, and mechanical advantage will be of more use there."

However I think that the more likely argument is your last one: Steering wheel? Boring. Carbon fibre steering wheel? Everybody has one of them. Squashed carbon fibre steering wheel? COOOOOL.

The next phase will be twin squashed carbon fibre steering wheels and then, following the lead of Apple, the same thing but in ... gasp ... white.

 

[dom]

COOOOOL...

...is the key word for sure; but you still have to know how/when to use the device.

About ten years ago a girl I knew in the was invited by some City traders for a drink. One of them, a flashy yachty showoff -- replete with America's Cup sailcloth jacket etc -- produced a Breitling watch and informed her that if she touched the red button a 121.5 MHz beacon would be activated, a coastguard helicopter would track it and would soon be fluttering overhead. She asked him if the crew would not notice that they were over Knightsbridge! Poor chap is still ribbed about that

 

[rotrax]

A pedant writes ...

The Allegro started as the ADO67. The ADO76 was a sports car.

Dyslexia Rules KO!

Sorry.It was a long time ago..........................

 

[TSB240]

A pedant writes ...

The Allegro started as the ADO67. The ADO76 was a sports car.

Wasnt it the Allegro that potentially could go faster backwards as drag was lower!

 

[JumbleDuck]

Dyslexia Rules KO!

Sorry.It was a long time ago..........................

I did say it was pedantic!

30 years ago I went to a wedding with a group of student friends in the Allegro Estate owned by one of them. It went very well, cruising easily at 90mph on the M1 with two in the front, two in the back and two in the boot. Ah, happy days.

 

[rotrax]

I did say it was pedantic!

30 years ago I went to a wedding with a group of student friends in the Allegro Estate owned by one of them. It went very well, cruising easily at 90mph on the M1 with two in the front, two in the back and two in the boot. Ah, happy days.

Must have been the Maxi engined one-they were quite good donks and had a sensible gear ratio.

We got involved during testing of those engines in the early Maxi's. They were burning oil badly.

It turned out that the oil pressure relief valve shot a jet of oil up-IIRC-No. 3 cylinder when the spring lifted.

A simple fix-almost a bodge-got that one somewhere near right.

If the bore and stroke were a bit more like todays engines instead of being a long stroke it would have been a cracker.

The gearboxes,made by-again IIRC-Burman were ****e.

 

[hartcjhart]

I did say it was pedantic!

30 years ago I went to a wedding with a group of student friends in the Allegro Estate owned by one of them. It went very well, cruising easily at 90mph on the M1 with two in the front, two in the back and two in the boot. Ah, happy days.

ahh the days of wearing only brown underpants

 

[Seajet]

The gearboxes,made by-again IIRC-Burman were ****e.

Talking of gearboxes and ratios, I'd like to meet the freak who chose the ratios on the Sherpa van ! We had a few at BAe Dunsfold for transporting unfortunate workers between there and Kingston, and around the airfield; one fell on its' side cornering in exactly the spot where Richard Hammond was to do the same with a Rascal van decades later.

But those Sherpa gear ratios !

It wasn't all British Leyland though; on a Harrier trial in Scotland we had 6 hire Sierra's when it was a brand new, controversial car; every one had a markedly different gearbox, most of them dreadfully highly geared considering it was supposed to be all about MPG.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Must have been the Maxi engined one-they were quite good donks and had a sensible gear ratio.

No, just a 1300, but it was one of the last A+ engines which I think had a bit more oomph.