Per the recall notice, "If the steering pinion gear disengages from the steering rack, a loss of steering control could result, increasing the risk of a crash." Polaris is not a carmaker, but right now it's learning that NHTSA has certain expectations for street vehicles, like ensuring that they steer.Īssuming all the important parts remain bolted together, the potential for vehicular mayhem is somewhat limited by the Polaris' humble powertrain. And you'd want to have strong roll hoops if you experienced the defect announced the next day, which involves a bearing in the steering rack.
20 Polaris issued a recall concerning the roll hoops, which might not meet specifications for hardness. However, as a street vehicle the Slingshot still has to pass muster with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and its rollout was marred by two significant recalls. It's not really a motorcycle, but it's certainly not a car either The Slingshot makes a Lotus Elise look flabby and decadent.
This is a minimalist transportation experience-1,725 pounds and the wind in your face. 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 windshield (it's an option). Of course, it's not really a motorcycle, but it's certainly not a car either.
That means, depending on the state, you might need a motorcycle license and a helmet to drive it. 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.īecause the Slingshot has three wheels, the federal government classifies it as a motorcycle. From the rear it's a giant mutant motorcycle.
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. The back end tapers to a point, where a hefty swing arm carries a carbon-fiber-reinforced belt that drives a single tire. Then the rest of the machine comes into view, and it gets even wilder. There's that wide arachnid front end -skimming the pavement with spats and spoilers and open-wheel fenders, a prototype racer from the future. The first time you see the Polaris Slingshot coming at you, it looks like a set piece from some big-budget Marvel movie-this is a mode of transportation for someone with a secret identity and superpowers.