NARO is a fully enclosed, two-seat four-wheel vehicle with the banking action of a motorbike to prevent it tipping over when cornering. The vehicle has the footprint of a motorcycle yet is taller than most MPV's — this provides the driver with the visibility to see and plan ahead when moving through traffic. This ability to plan, together with a significant road presence, greatly improves the safety of the vehicle.
NARO is one third the weight of a typical European saloon and has half the frontal area. Hence its power demand is a quarter of that required for today's passenger cars resulting in ultra high efficiency.
The fully enclosed cabin provides passenger-car levels of safety protection (e.g. airbags, ABS, etc) and comfort.
The NARO Executive Commuter provides the ultimate door to door transport for the city commuter.
On leaving home, your NARO Executive Commuter will transport you in safety and comfort at normal motorway speeds. As the traffic density builds, you pass by your colleagues who, in their conventional passenger cars, slowly see their progress reduce as you maintain your speed.
On arrival at your destination, parking will be easy since your NARO Executive Commuter occupies a third of the space of a conventional passenger car. You will also be happy in the knowledge that you have consumed less than half the fuel used by your colleagues.
Global automotive technology developer Prodrive has developed an exciting vehicle concept that can best be described as a four wheel motorcycle. The "Naro" is just 2.5 metres long, the same as a Smart car, but the width of a motorbike and the height of an MPV. Its high centre of gravity means that it must be leaned like a bike to go round corners, but unlike a bike it has four wheels and the two occupants (one driver and one passenger) sit enclosed within a body with all the comforts of a car.
Weighing only about 300kg, less than a third of most city cars, it is expected that the Naro will be powered by a small petrol or diesel engine giving up to 100mpg or by a new generation of fuel cell engines running on hydrogen. While designed primarily for the city, the aerodynamics of Naro means that it would be more than capable of motorway speeds.
Prodrive licensed The Narrow Car Company to develop the project in mid-2004 and already a number of businesses have shown interest in the design. The Narrow Car Company is a technology developer and niche manufacturer which will bring the Naro concept to the market, though a great deal of development can be expected before the Naro sees action on the streets of London.
"Previous urban concept vehicles have been low to the ground to maintain stability, but in traffic this can leave the driver feeling very vulnerable," said Damian Harty, Prodrive chief dynamics engineer and creator of Naro. "Recent taller, leaning designs have used three wheels. However, we believe that if the motoring public is to accept such vehicles that four wheels is the best way forward."
A keen motorcyclist, Harty has incorporated the advantages of two and four wheels into one machine - the comfort, security and weather protection of a car, plus the height, economy, and narrow road "footprint" of a motorcycle.
Interestingly, Harty is unsure of the most user-friendly steering mechanism for the driver and his thoughts are particularly well documented in an excellent article at Engineerlive.com
The problem is that when steering a bike, few people realise they momentarily push the handlebars in the opposite direction to begin turning into a corner. As Naro is leaned by the driver in exactly the same way, with no power assistance, it has a special steering and leaning mechanism to allow it to corner. This system is more complex with the need to steer two front wheels rather than one.
Working with Coventry University's Art and Design course, Prodrive developed the Naro as a solution to urban congestion, and envisages one of the first applications could be as a traffic-busting single passenger taxi. it has four wheels and the occupants sit enclosed within a body with all the comforts of a car.
"As traffic congestion increases and fuel costs rise, I think vehicles like Naro could soon become a familiar sight on our city roads and, who knows, you may soon be hailing one of these rather than a black cab," said Harty.
Dimensions
Length - 2.50 m
Width - 1.00 m
Height - 1.70 m
Dry weight - 300 kg
Performance
0-60 mph - 12sec
top speed - 85 mph
fuel consumption - 100mpg
CO2 emissions - 60g/km
Powertrain
engine - single cylinder, 4 valve, gasoline
capacity - 400 cc
max power - 20bhp
transmission - automatic - CVT
Suspension
free leaning design with patented roll and adaptive
steer system
front: double wishbone rear: independent trailing link
Safety
extruded aluminium passenger cell mounted on a carbon fibre platform
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