A narrow-track vehicle is a vehicle that leaves a narrow ground track as it moves forward. Narrow-track vehicles may have lateral stability when stationary but usually lean into turns to prevent falling towards the outside.
Narrow-track vehicles have unique dynamics that, in the case of wheeled vehicles, may be similar to bicycle and motorcycle dynamics and that may include countersteering. Narrow-track vehicles can roll on wheels, slide, float, or hydroplane. The narrow profile can result in reduced aerodynamic drag, increased fuel efficiency, and reduced pavement requirements. These types of vehicles have also been described as "man-wide vehicles" (MWV).
Generally, cars with a static stability factor ( where = car width and = height of the center of gravity) of less than 0.6 are considered to be narrow cars due to physical reasons. Non-narrow vehicles (those with a higher static stability factor) are more safe against rolling over while turning because they begin to skid before they can undergo enough turning acceleration to roll over; however, this is not always true for narrow vehicles.
where 
= car width and 
= height of the center of gravity) of less than 0.6 are considered to be narrow cars due to physical reasons. Non-narrow vehicles (those with a higher static stability factor) are more safe against rolling over while turning because they begin to Gallery
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See also
References
- Mike Hanlon (November 19, 2009). "Narrow track vehicles - the convergence of the car and the motorcycle". New Atlas. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
- J Jubin Antonya; K Jayabal (2016). "Rollover Dynamics of a Narrow Tilting Three-Wheeled Vehicle". International Conference on Mechanical, Manufacturing, Modeling and Mechatronics. doi:10.1051/matecconf/20165101002.
- Jeffrey Too Chuan Tan; Hiroki Arakawa; Yoshihiro Suda (2016). "Steering Dynamics of Tilting Narrow Track Vehicle with Passive Front Wheel Design". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 744 (1): 012218. Bibcode:2016JPhCS.744a2218T. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/744/1/012218.
- ^ Pauwelussen, J.P. (1999). "The dynamic behaviour of man-wide vehicles with an automatic active tilting mechanism". TUDelft. Archived from the original on 2018-11-12. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
- Macy Jenkins (February 20, 2018). "Narrow Track Cars Being Touted As Solution To California's Road Congestion". CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
- ^ Tang, Chen; Khajepour, Amir (2019). Narrow Tilting Vehicles: Mechanism, Dynamics, and Control. Synthesis Lectures on Advances in Automotive Technology. Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-01501-4. ISBN 978-3-031-00373-8.