Our test vehicle’s stereo was preloaded with a cassette of Asian music, possibly left there inadvertently by Wildfire’s director of quality control, whose philosophy on fit and finish might well be. Visibility is 360-degree superb. The rear seats offer the sort of legroom you’d expect in a Lincoln. And in our hands, the Wildfire returned 56 mpg—24 mpg better than our Smart Fortwo Passion and 45 mpg better than our Bugatti Veyron. If fuel continues to cost $4 a gallon and you drive 12,000 miles annually, your Chinese three-wheeler could save you enough to buy a Bugatti in 410 years, right when the American economy begins to recover.Question: If the Wildfire is a motorcycle, how come no oncoming Harley riders waved at us?
Initially, the Wildfire will test your patience because you keep comparing it with a car, which it isn’t. In the end, though, it’s more like the seventh day of a Jamaican vacation, at which point you’ve stopped expecting things to happen quickly or reliably or even at all, and your most pressing concern is those daunting trips from the beach to the nearest source of liquor, a task for which the Wildfire is well suited. (Load capacity is 800 pounds. That much alcohol will require some sort of permit.)
In at least one respect, the Wildfire resembles the Bugatti. Whenever you stop, you’ll be mobbed by onlookers asking questions, and they’ll all be wearing huge smiles, as if you’re their long-lost Uncle Virgil who smelled like either Old Spice or Old Crow and always asked you to pull his finger. Know what? That’s not all bad.
For more info, contact Wildfire Motors, 11 Technology Way, Steubenville, Ohio 43952 (www.wildfiremotors.com). Steubenville, you might recall, is the home of Dean Martin.
Wildfire WF650-C made in China. Our tech department had no trouble telling them apart. The one that produced 975 fewer horsepower also sported one fewer wheel.
The three-wheeled Wildfire is licensed as a motorcycle and is thus exempt from a lot of safety regs such as airbags and side-impact beams. It doesn’t have a lap belt, either, but it does include a shoulder belt and three features the Bugatti failed to offer: a cigarette lighter, an ashtray, and a pop-up skylight whose leading edge, oddly enough, performs the popping-up part. In that position, it scoops up all of the ventilation you’ll ever need, as well as all of the bees you’ll ever need, every last one of which has had its anger receptors presensitized by, first, a violent collision with Chinese glass and, second, a violent collision with your forehead.
Here are the basics: The Wildfire WF650-C is one foot longer than a Smart Fortwo Passion but weighs more than 1000 pounds less. It is powered by a 650cc, liquid-cooled four-stroke two-cylinder whose output—identical to a Sears Craftsman 27691 riding mower’s—is funneled through a four-speed manual transmission whose linkage is uncanny in its ability to drop flying monkeys on third gear, banishing it to the skies of Oz. (A CVT might have been more useful.) The warranty is two years or 24,000 miles.
السيارة الاقتصادية المصرية بالتكييف ! ليس لها توكيل بمصر!!
Our Wildfire covers the quarter-mile in 27.3 seconds at 48 mph. It cruises most happily at about 40 mph—roughly where third gear tops out—which takes 17 seconds to attain. There’s no tach. You just shift when revs stop climbing. We once got the Wildfire up to 65 mph before it was time to pause for lunch, a meal made less palatable by a trike trait you probably never considered: When you have wheels at both sides and one in the middle, it is tricky to avoid dead animals. Plus, which wheel do you aim at any particular corner’s apex? (That experiment, by the way, warrants caution, inasmuch as the Wildfire lifts its inside rear wheel like a beagle at a fire hydrant.) Another odd habit: With only one wheel responding to steering inputs—and it’s a 12-incher at that—bumpy roads cause the Wildfire to wander like Al Sharpton in a financial debate. Ride? Think, here, of a Jeep Wrangler with one missing shock.
600cc Mini Car with 1,855mm Wheelbase, 20L Fuel Tank Volume and Economic
- Maximum speed: 95kph
- Economic speed: 60kph
- Fuel consumption: less than 3.7L/100km
- Grade ability: 20°
- Turning circle diameter: 7.5m (minimum)
- Track: 1,105mm
- Wheelbase: 1,855mm
- Ground clearance: 160mm (minimum)
- Net weight: 640kg
- Rated passenger number: four persons (includingdriver)/300kg
- Front wheel specification/tire pressure: 145/70R12/250kPa
- Rear wheel specification/tire pressure: 145/70R12/250kPa
- Dimensions: 3,100 x 1,685 x 1,530mm
- Engine type: two cylinders, 4-stroke, and water-forcedcooling
- Bore x stroke: 72 x 72mm
- Maximum power: 26kW/5,500rpm
- Rated power: 25kW/5,500rpm
- Maximum torque: 52Nm/3,000 to 3,500rpm
- Minimum stable speed without load: 1,000 ± 60rpm
- Swept volume: 600mL
- Compression ratio: 9.5:1
- Fuel brand: 93#
- Starter: electric start
- Lubrication: forced splash lubricating
- Ignition: CDI
- Spark plug: PK06G
- Oil/brand: 5W 30, 10W 30SG and above
- Steering: left position/gear pitch
- Clutch: dry
- Transmission: four gear, constant mesh gear
- Fuel tank volume: 20L
- Battery volume: 47Ah
- Colors: red, yellow, green, white and blue (optional)
- 40ft HQ: six units
- 20ft GP: two units
Contact Supplier
Shandong Jindalu Vehicle Co. Ltd
Address: Lingxian Economic Development Zone, Dezhou, Shandong, China (252000)Tel: (86 534) 8625669Fax: (86 534) 8625669
Wildfire WF650-C
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