The Elk Test

[thirdcrank]

There's been a fair bit on here recently about the need to drive to be able to stop within the space that can be seen to be clear. It seems that the Elk Test is designed to ensure that if a moose or similar animal "appears" in front of a car, then it should be capable of swerving around the beast without rolling over - always assuming the beast has the presence of mind to stand still and not attempt an avoidance manoeuvre of its own

The last time this came into prominence was when the Mercedes A Class failed the test and the manufacturers were embarrassed into redesigning its suspension etc.

It now seems that a current version of the Citroën Berlingo type van-with-windows (and Peugeot / Fiat lookalikes) faces the same issues.

http://www.facebook.com/SundayTimesInGear



IMO this is the time to quote the tennis brat himself. It seems to me that the way to avoid hitting anything is to drive only at a speed etc. Anybody driving like that demo but on the open road and managing to roll a car over is in need of a long driving ban.

As an aside, once upon a time the used to say that the suspension of the Citroën 2CV was so soft you could scrape the roof on the road with all four wheels still on the road

[Yorkshireman]

In my (mis-spent)youth I managed to get one of these

'up on two wheels' with a bit of effort (transverse leaf springs - what ), but I dont think they rolled easily - swayed about a bit perhaps .

[mw3230]

[quote="thirdcrank"
It now seems that a current version of the Citroën Berlingo type van-with-windows (and Peugeot / Fiat lookalikes) faces the same issues.

http://www.facebook.com/SundayTimesInGear

:[/quote]

I've watched the video and the vehicles shown are not the Berlingo range but the smaller range of vehicle offered by the manufacturers (Nemo and Bipper). Don't want to upset Berlingo owners (like me)

[goatwarden]

A mate of mine used to build sporty kit cars serially, drive them for a few months, then sell them and start again. To get him about whilst he was building, he had a 2CV. The Citroen was great fun and I remember us desperately trying to roll it through hooligan driving and inappropriate passenger positioning but we never managed it. Strange since he did once manage to roll one of his Fiesta-based kit cars.

[GrahamNR17]

Been trying to roll my Blingo for ages, but it just won't go

[Yorkshireman]

Been trying to roll my Blingo for ages, but it just won't go

I think that there may be a knack to it (or you don't try hard enough) .

[GrahamNR17]

Been trying to roll my Blingo for ages, but it just won't go

I think that there may be a knack to it (or you don't try hard enough) .

Maybe I need an Elk to aim at

[reohn2]

I once owned a Reliant van(there I've admited it,and in public )I could get that thing up on two wheels and scrape the door cills on the road without much Elk intervention!

[MikewsMITH2]

I once owned a Reliant van(there I've admited it,and in public )I could get that thing up on two wheels and scrape the door cills on the road

My late father in law rolled his. Damaged the door handles and scraped the door - that's all!

[MikewsMITH2]

I think that there may be a knack to it

Graham if you really want to do it. This is what you do. Swerve hard in one direction then hard in the other to simulate avoiding the elk. The compressed springs will help flip you over!

[MikewsMITH2]

Or you could try this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGYXW-6Er24

[goatwarden]

There was o bloke used to race a three wheel Reliant in the seventies who regularly ntoppled onto his side, stuck a gloved hand out to push the car upright and carried on.

[xpc316e]

I fail to see why people get upset over this elk test issue. Why should anyone expect a people carrier to corner like a sports car? I remember when the Suzuki SJ 410 4x4 used to be criticised for falling over when cornering hard - drive it like it is a 4x4 and you will not have a problem. Nobody criticised normal cars for getting stuck too easily when they went off-road because of lack of ground clearance, and it is no different.

Why do people want to be nannied through every step of their lives?

[hubgearfreak]

Why do people want to be nannied through every step of their lives?

is it because traction control allows you to drive faster and with less attention?

[Greybeard]

Why should anyone expect a people carrier to corner like a sports car?

I imagine those people who buy the 180+bhp minibuses (or is it minibi ) for taking the kids to school expect to outperform everything else on the road irrespective of their choice of transport. Wasn't there one company (Vauxhall) who even suggested that the school run shouldn't be boring ? I'd suggest that if there simply has to be a school run, then that's exactly what it should be

Steve (who thinks that 100bhp for any car is more than enough - even for towing)

PS Drifting slightly off topic - did you know that Alex Issigonis who designed the real Mini, reduced the engine size of the 1000cc pre-production model to 850cc because he thought they were otherwise too powerful for the average motorist ? - how perceptive of him He also said that no front wheel drive was capable of handling over 2000cc safely and that he deliberately designed car dashboards without space for a radio because they were a needless distraction He must be spinning in his grave - although at much lower revs than is now the norm