![]() ![]() In most states, all you need is a standard driver’s license (Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, and Wisconsin require a motorcycle license). Not that safety wasn’t a concern: The Slingshot has a structural roll hoop, crumple zones, electronic stability control, antilock brakes, and seat belts. That got it out of meeting the most rigorous crash standards, so Polaris could sell a vehicle without, you know, doors or airbags. Polaris wanted a vehicle that blended the experience of a motorcycle with the stability of a car, and a three-wheel design kept the Slingshot to a svelte 1,700 pounds-light enough to qualify, officially, as a motorcycle. Turns out, putting more fun in starts with taking one wheel off. ![]() ![]() In most states, all you need to drive it is a standard license. The Slingshot may not have doors, but it does have a structural roll hoop, crumple zones, electronic stability control, anti-lock brakes, and seat belts. The founding premise, says Garrett Moore, the Slingshot product manager was, “What is the most fun that we can put into a vehicle?” Of course, that’s not why Polaris, the Minnesota-based maker of ATVs and snowmobiles, made the Slingshot. And as humanity moves away from the idea of individual car ownership and even human driving, it might just be the future of driving. Every once in a while, on a particularly hard corner, I get the single wheel in the back to slide just a bit, and I let out a whoop. Constant shifts between second, third, and fourth gears keep me engaged, and I hardly mind when the occasional bump in the road knocks me into the roof. During the entire hour of aimless, aggressive driving, I can’t keep a grin off my face. On a Saturday afternoon, I take the three-wheeler into the Berkeley hills, a land of tight turns, narrow lanes, and sudden elevation changes. It’s not until I get out of my daily routine that the Slingshot proves its worth. ![]()
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