It may surprise some to learn that Polaris has a serious research, development, and testing facility. One that rivals the kinds of equipment and know-how found at many full-scale automotive manufacturers. I got a full tour of the place, along with a dedicated test track that I got to use later.
In the wee hours of the morning, I left my home in Wyoming and traveled 900 miles to Wyoming. It was then I learned that there is a town in Minnesota named Wyoming. It’s also where Polaris has its headquarters for testing, and it was celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Slingshot three-wheeled autocar.
I’ve driven the Slingshot several times. Back when it had an engine provided by General Motors, and now with an in-house engine made by Polaris. The Slingshot is a fun two-seater with a high-revving engine, tadpole-style three-wheeled design, and a belt-driven rear tire that provides endless fun.
Going to Minnesota, I learned that the engineering behind this two-seat autocar is pretty intense.
I met with Jake Stock, senior project manager for the Slingshot and its development. He gave me a tour of the R&D facility that Bombardier Recreational Products – the parent company of Polaris, Ski-Doo, Indian Motorcycle, and several other brands – has set up in Minnesota. Areas dedicated to 3D printing, shaker testing, repeated manipulation tests, emissions compliance, electronic interference trials, high-resolution X-ray imaging, sound mitigation, and more are all part of the facility. Hundreds of engineers all work to ensure that BRP’s vehicles all meet the high expectations given them.
We started in a small presentation theater where an overview of the company’s focus at the facility as well as the Slingshot’s history was given. The concept for the three-wheeler started in 2010 and went to production in 2014. Polaris went from a GM-supplied engine to their own in-house 2.0-liter engine in 2020. An automatic transmission option was added soon after. The Slingshot began with two models and has expanded to four with over 100 accessories now available. The machines are built in Spirit Lake, Iowa and Huntsville, Alabama.
After the presentation, the tour of the facility started. Cameras and recording devices were stowed as everything we were about to witness was top secret. The mixture of products, from two-wheeled motorcycles to three-wheeled Slingshots to four-wheeled recreational utilities was not surprising, given BRP’s breadth of brands. Stock told me that BRP has learned that more lab time results in less failures for the consumer.
The most obvious and visceral of the lab testing happens in the emissions and manipulation areas. The emissions booths used for testing motorcycles, UTVs, ATVs, and autocars are familiar. These booths are found in most automotive manufacturing facilities, with enclosed rooms measuring the output from vehicles as they run on dynamometers.
Nearby, shaking and manipulation tests repeatedly put vehicles through extreme on-road rattling, door slamming, hatch opening, and more. These tests are designed to put the vehicle through thousands of hours of repeated abuse to test integrity, build quality, and durability. I saw a Slingshot frame being “driven” over rough roads, a RZR having its hood latch smacked repeatedly, and a motorcycle having its brake lever pulled over 20 times a second. These tests, and many others like them, ensure that joints, hinges, springs, and other components can stand the test of time. Years of abuse are piled into a few days of rapid fire repetition.
Next, we passed through 3D printing to get to metallurgy. The industrial and desktop 3D printers allow engineers and designers to prototype parts and pieces for fit and design. Some parts can be printed to closely match finished product materials for further testing. This hastens the design process and allows engineers to trial different solutions to problems in a faster, cheaper way.
In metallurgy, parts taken randomly from production as well as trade-in models can be tested for warranty approval and process quality assurance. Sometimes, a warranty or other claim may lead to a series of tests to find out of the part was, in fact, the point of failure or not. Often, I was told, BRP will find that though the warranty may have been covered, the part in question was not to blame. “Closer analysis sometimes finds abuse, improper installation, or other issues that were more likely at fault.” When the part is found to be the culprit, a full analysis of it will be undertaken to find out why it failed, and how it can be remedied. Many of the recent changes to the RZR in its new generation, for example, are direct results of this kind of testing.
Down the hall from metallurgy is the X-Ray lab. Passing through several vehicle testing bays, where engine and drivetrain components are put through rigors, we found ourselves in front of a huge, room-sized X-ray machine. Objects large and small can be placed inside for high-resolution imaging. Naturally, on the wall, was a poster-sized capture of someone’s smart phone. After calibration, the team had to “check” the machine. So someone put their phone in it. As one does.
Not far from the X-ray lab are a twin pair of labs behind thick, almost vault-like doors. These are the sound and EMR labs. In the sound booth, which is large enough for any of BRP’s machines to fit, an array of equipment tests for various types of noise and vibration. Eerily quiet without anything running, the room can carry a whisper wall-to-wall, but not back again. Next to this room, and accessible through it via a man door, is a similar lab.
This is the electromagnetic lab, which tests interference levels from various electronics inside and outside of BRP’s machines. A Polaris RZR in military configuration was poised in this room with various antennae straight out of the 1970s pointed at it. These TV antenna from my childhood are tuned to pick up emission signals in a very broad spectrum of bands. Testing both from and towards the machine can be done to find out if or how various signals might interfere with the vehicle or other equipment it might be used around.
While the military’s interest in this would be obvious, it’s also important for regular consumers who don’t want to find out that their iPhone’s Wi-Fi signal is rudely interrupted by their Polaris ATV’s starter motor. While that’s an extreme example of something that could happen, it’s possible for things to collide, wavelength-wise, and cause hiccups.
Finally, of course, after the silence of the sound lab, we headed out to the test track for the loudness of high-revving engines at high speed. Key here being high speed. The Slingshot is an amazingly fun machine with a squirrelly, but not too squirrelly, back tire for propulsion – paired with the inherent balance of a tadpole-style three wheeler. High speed, slalom curves, and some donuts to top it off are all probably not technically part of the Slingshot’s track testing. But it’s fun. And I’m not a test driver on BRP’s payroll.
In all, I was pleasantly surprised at the breadth of testing that Polaris and parent company BRP put into its products. Much of it is unnecessary, one would think, but it makes sense as the market moves towards emissions testing for off-road vehicles and as consumer expectations for durability and reliability continue to rise.
Stock pointed out to me that these products are finding more new buyers who aren’t coming to them with experience with “how it was” and are more likely to compare their Slingshot to their Civic in terms of usability and reliability expectations. “We are seeing a growing trend of new demographics entering our consumer metrics,” he said. “These include a lot of people not previously associated with the kinds of outdoor recreation we provide for.”
With the Slingshot, for example, a large number of buyers are women and younger adults who see a way to get the same motorcycle-like fun without special licensing or the dangers involved. Anyone who can drive a car can drive a Slingshot, no special jacket or training required.
The markets for motorcycles, UTVs, ATVs, and other vehicles are moving away from the hardcore-only scene and into the mainstream. One no longer has to cosplay as Marlon Brando to ride a motorcycle or have a crazy Monster Energy-fueled haircut to drive a UTV. Old guys with “I own a typewriter and use the word manifesto” beards and T-shirts with nerdy slogans on them can ride too. I’m proof of that.
To see firsthand how these machines are developed and the kind of engineering that goes into their testing was amazing. But not wholly surprising. Off-road machines like the RZR are no longer homemade roll cages with an LS engine installed in them. They’re sophisticated machines that are all the more capable for it. Road-going options like the Slingshot are loads of fun packed into a well-designed package that anyone can enjoy. It’s a great example of how accessibility eventually comes to every market.
