Road-testing new car-motorcycle hybrid.
It’s like a car, mixed with a motorcycle, from the future. Technically, it’s an autocycle
BERKELEY >> The Polaris Slingshot is not for the selfeffacing.
Driving through Oakland and Berkeley, people pointed as I passed, flashed a thumbs up or waved. Children’s jaws dropped. Adults called out to me at stoplights to ask questions: “What is that thing?” “Where do you get those?” “How much does it cost?” “Is that even street legal?”
To answer that last question: It doesn’t feel like it should be. But yes, it sure is. And to answer the question I got from several men: No, I’m not borrowing it from my boyfriend.
I had seen them pop up around downtown Oakland and the Grand Lake area over the past two years, usually not seeing more than one every six months. So, when a public relations company emailed me asking to test drive the newest model, the Grand Touring LE, for a few days, it didn’t take me long to say, “(Bleep), yes! When?”
I had the same questions as many: Is it a car, or a motorcycle? And, what are the rules for driving one?
Polaris first released the
Slingshot in 2014. It was the brainchild of an employee who had submitted the idea as part of an an-
nual innovation challenge at the company. Best known for its snowmobiles, ATVs and other off-road vehicles, Polaris had purchased Victory Motorcyles, maker of Indian Motorcycle, in 2011. But it wanted a fun, three-wheeled vehicle for its street-legal market, said Garrett Moore, a product manager for the company.
“There wasn’t really anything on the market at the time,” he said during a phone interview. “Some smaller companies were making some, but nothing mass-produced.”
Enter the Slingshot, a cross between a car, a motorcycle, and as you can see from the styling, the Batmobile. Technically speaking, it’s an autocycle. That means the California DMV classifies it, for registration purposes, as a motorcycle. But, you don’t need a motorcycle license to drive one. You don’t even need to wear a helmet in California — though the company recommends it (and so would I).
It has a regular, fivespeed manual transmission. But, because it’s a “motorcycle” and not a car,
you can drive in the HOV lane with only one person inside.
That’d be perfect for the commute, except it’s not the gentlest of rides. It’s super noisy, and, even though the quilted comfort seats are quite cozy, you feel every bump on the road. When I took my helmet off after an hour of driving up Highway 101, my ears were buzzing
and my hands felt tingly from the vibration of holding the steering wheel.
There are no doors, which is great when the sun is shining and you’re up in the Berkeley hills, smelling the fresh scent of eucalyptus trees as you pass by. But, it’s less great when the fog rolls in and the temperature drops, and you’re breathing in exhaust fumes
from cars idling in traffic.
Nor is it the roomiest of vehicles. I’m about 5-feet, 2-inches, and even I had trouble not smashing my helmet against the roof. My taller friends, who wanted a chance to sit inside, found themselves staring at the vehicle’s frame, rather than at the road.
That being said, even in traffic and shivering, I was
having fun. I got a kick at waving to people who I caught gawking or snapping photos on their cell phones.
And, when I took it up to the Oakland hills for some test driving, I couldn’t stop smiling. It’s hard not to feel like a race-car driver — or like a kid, riding in a very grown-up go-cart — when you’re ripping through hairpin turns. As a newspaper reporter who has only been able to afford the most basic, commuter cars (aka, a 2001 Honda Civic, and before that, a 1993 Toyota Camry), I didn’t know how much I liked driving until I drove the Slingshot.
I ride a motorcycle to work these days, and I felt like the Slingshot did a good job of combining the thrill and adrenaline of a motorcycle with the comfort of a car. Weighing only 1,749 pounds (when filled up with fuel), with 173 horsepower from a four-cylinder engine, the Slingshot delivered with quick acceleration, responsive braking and excellent handling around hairpin curves.
I’ll be sad to give it up. But, with the price of the Grand Touring LE starting around $30,000, there’s literally no chance I’ll be buying one anytime soon.
I couldn’t help but think, though, in a decade or two when “cars” no longer have steering wheels or brake pedals, and computers are doing all of the driving for us, this may be the future of recreational vehicles. It’s about as close to the authentic experience of driving as you can get.