Words: Anthony Doman. Article from Popular Mechanics Magazine May 2015.
What in the name of henry Ford is that? It’s the polaris slingshot, and it’s street-legal.
The first time you see the Polaris Slingshot coming at you, it looks like the set piece from some big budget Marvel movie – this is a mode of transportation for someone with a secret identity and super powers. There’s that wide arachnid front end skimming the pavement with spats and spoiler and open wheel fenders, a prototype racer from the future. Then the rest of the machine comes into view and it gets even wilder.
The back end tapers to a point, where a hefty twin arm carries a carbon-fibre-reinforced belt that drives a single tyre. From the front seats forward it’s like a car: bucket seats, steering wheel, GM Ecotec four cylinder hooked to a five-speed manual transmission. From the rear its a giant mutant motorcycle. And that distinction makes all the difference; the Slingshot’s odd wheel count both defines its identity and allows It to exist in the first place.
Because the Slingshot has three wheels, the US government classifies it as a motor-cycle. That means, depending on the state, you might need a motorcycle licence and a helmet to drive it. Of course, it’s not really a motorcycle, but it’s certainly not a car either. At any rate, the motorcycle designation gave Polaris, maker of snowmobiles and off-roaders called side by sides, the freedom to design a machine with no doors, no roof, and no windscreen (it’s an option). There’s no climate control, no airbags. This is a minimalist trans- portation experience: 783 kilograms and the wind in your face. The Slingshott makes a Lotus Elise look flabby and decadent.
Whether or not you think the Slingshot is quick depends on your frame of reference. By car standards, it’s got a great power-to-weight ratio with the 2.4-litre four-cylinder putting out 130 kilowatts Zero to 100 is probably around five seconds, and with traction control disabled the Slingshot soil light up its rear tyre. That said, Ducati riders accustomed to 10-second quarter mile: won’t find that sort of thrill.
The handling, as you’d expect is somewhat different from a car’s. Without the stabilising effect of dual rear wheels, turn in is instant, but a given miner could require a few steering corrections. Still, the body stays flat, and the ride it remarkably supple.
Potholes, though, are a peril. When you straddle a crater between the front wheels, you can feel a mule kick from the back a moment later as the centrally mounted tyre drops in. Such Is the price of three wheel locomotion. The actual price, however, is surprisingly reasonable: in the US, around R220 000 to start. That seems like a bargain for a machine that delivers so much visual impact and sheer visceral entertainment. Whatever the slingshot is, there’s nothing else like it. – Ezra Dyer.
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