All eyes are on us as we pull into a Tim Hortons an hour east of Toronto on a stifling hot day.
We park, step away from our vehicle and watch as the lunchtime crowd gawks at the alien-looking machine.
In minutes, dozens of people are asking questions and asking if they can hop in for a photo.
“Hey, Terry, come check this out,” one gentleman yells to his friend across the parking lot.
The vehicle – a Polaris Slingshot – looks like it leaped from the pages of a Batman comic and it is something few people have seen before. It has three wheels, no roof, no doors and a optional tiny plastic windscreen.
The Slingshot is like a reverse trike, but with 173 horsepower and 166 lb-ft of torque instead of two little legs. Powering it is a 2.4-litre Ecotec engine, the same one that was under the hood of the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky.
Polaris first introduced the Slingshot in 2014, but it is a new vehicle to Ontario. In March, the province introduced a 10-year pilot program that allows three-wheelers like the Slingshot on the roads.
It is classified as a motorcycle, meaning a helmet is mandatory, but the seats are side-by-side and it has a five-speed manual gearbox like a car. You need a G licence to drive one and can’t if you only have a M licence. It isn’t classified as a car, but doesn’t feel right to call it a bike, so we’ll just stick with ‘vehicle’.
“We received our first batch on April 10 and around the middle of April we did our first delivery,” says John Flowers, sales manager for Spoiled Sports in Bowmanville, Ont. “They have been popular with people who are 27 years old to 70. They come in, they love them and they want to take them home.”
The Slingshot isn’t just cool-looking, it is a ton of fun behind the wheel. It accelerates from 0-100 km/h in about 5 seconds, about half as fast as the new Tesla and slower than most motorcycles, but still fast enough to get you in trouble.
Its light weight and low centre of gravity means you can, well, sling it around. But push too much power through the one driven rear wheel and it’ll snap out on you. But that kind of exuberance is easy to catch and control through the right foot, so you can feel like a a hero without ending up in trouble.
Sitting this low to the ground, it feels like sitting atop a rocket – even when you are only going 80 km/h. The shifting feels mechanical, not silky smooth, the steering a bit loose, especially at higher speeds, and the windscreen cuts through your vision if you are short. This is not a vehicle where you can afford to lose focus.
As speed rises, so does the noise. Every clank, groan and whine from the powertrain is heard or felt. Conversation is almost impossible.
When driving a Slingshot, wear a helmet that keeps your mouth exposed – so other drivers can see your big grin. Zipping past minivans and pickups makes you feel like a predator among sheep, a member of an entirely different road-going species.
However, while the car is a hoot, it is wildly impractical. The interior can get wet – getting caught in a downpour would be awful – it’s minamalist and more like a wakeboarding boat with plastic seats.
And there is no heat, nor air conditioning. It was 33C with humidity the day we drove it and we were sweating profusely under our helmets.
So who buys the Slingshot?
“People that are not wanting to be on two wheelers any more or couples that the wives or partners are afraid of the two wheels. so they go for something with three,” says Flowers.
The pilot program runs until 2026. Even if it is discontinued, Slingshots already purchased and on the roads will be allowed to stay.
Back at the Tim Hortons, a woman passes her phone to a friend and asks if she can hop in and put the helmet on for a photo. For less than $30,000, the Slingshot is receiving more head turns than a Lamborghini 10 times the price. Dollar for dollar, you won’t find another vehicle that gets more attention.
Vehicle provided by Spoiled Sports in Bowmanville, Ont.