2015 Polaris(R) Slingshot Slingshot Sl in San Jose, CA

Polaris introduced 26 new vehicles in 2013 and is on a path to rack up more than $4 billion in sales for 2014. Clearly, the Minnesota-based company is in a position to experiment and have some fun. Case in point: the new Slingshot, a dramatic three-wheeler that goes into production this fall.In development for three years, the Slingshot is not Polaris? Can-Am Spyder. Rather, the 1,666-lb. trike is more akin to the Compagna T-Rex or a three-wheeled car with front wheels situated way out in front of the driver. You don?t straddle the rear-drive Slingshot; you sit way back in it, side by side with your passenger in waterproof bucket seats, and your posteriors are only 11.9 inches off the pavement. With its short windscreen and low-sided open-air cockpit, the Slingshot has the visceral appeal of a sportbike, but it drives more like a lightweight sports car, albeit one with three wheels.Beneath the polymer body panels is a space-frame chassis made of tubular high-strength steel. In back, a large, single-sided cast aluminum swingarm is controlled by a massive coil-over Sachs damper. In front (where the track is a substantial 69.1 inches?some 6 in. wider than a C7 Corvette?s), forged unequal-length aluminum A-arms team with coil-over Sachs shocks and a huge anti-roll bar that is employed to keep the single rear wheel as flat as possible on the pavement. While increased front roll stiffness typically would cause the Slingshot to understeer, or push, Polaris dials in a healthy amount of negative camber, 2.0 degrees, to make sure the Slingshot goes where it?s pointed.