On a Scale of 1 to T Rex Reviews
Okay, so it's got a steering cycle and saucepan seats, but it's classified as a motorcycle in many states, and we weren't going to turn down a chance to bulldoze a lightweight iii-wheeled car powered past a vi-cylinder engine from BMW'south K1600 touring platform. That, as it turned out, was a smart choice, as the T-Rex is i of the nigh exhilarating motor vehicles you tin aim downward the road – the twistier, the better.
In fact, if anyone ever reviews ane of these and doesn't take it on a really twisty road, their findings will be worthless to anyone with a sporting bone in their torso. The visually arresting T-Rex isn't applied or cheap, only driving it is the well-nigh fun you tin have on three tires while holding a steering bicycle.
Of course, like all great things, there's a price to pay for the privilege. The MSRP for the T-Rex 16S starts at $57,999, and it's a wild-looking vehicle (autocycle is the latest descriptor and a term adopted by 40 states, says Polaris' Slingshot crew) powered by BMW's wonderfully whooping inline-six-cylinder motor claiming 160 hp at its crankshaft from its 1649cc. We tested the 16SP version, which adds adaptable dampers with remote reservoirs, a shorter-turn rack-and-pinion steering rack, uprated brakes and special wheels for an MSRP of $63,999. Those who saw my recent review of the latest pinnacle-line Slingshot SLR volition notice it's half the price of the T-King.
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To those who decry the Slingshot's PWC-like build quality and pedestrian powertrain, here's the retort – and its attendant surcharge.
The back end of the T-Male monarch holds BMW'south lusty and sonorific Six sending 160 horsepower to a 275/40-18 rear tire via BMW'due south half dozen-speed sequential gearbox and a chain bulldoze. Torque is rated at 129 lb-ft at 5250 rpm. Dual mufflers are straight from the K1600 to proceed it EPA-legal. Optional Givi side cases add welcome stowage space to an interior that has well-nigh none.
The other price to pay for a higher-performance three-wheeled sports car is its dedication to lightness, which mandated a tidy footprint and, hence, a tight cockpit, though not nearly as cramped laterally as the Morgan 3-Wheeler we tested a couple of years ago. Merely while the Morgan offers relatively like shooting fish in a barrel ingress due to its roofless design (and the Slingshot even more than so), the T-Rex challenges limberness by forcing a body to climb through and under a roll cage.
Polaris Slingshot Vs. Tin-Am Spyder F3-South Vs. Morgan 3 Wheeler
The T-Rex was originally designed by Daniel Campagna, a friend and former mechanic for Gilles Villeneuve when the F1 driver was racing snowmobiles. Campagna'due south racing roots forced a low center of gravity, resulting in the T-Rex'south stated elevation of just 42 inches. That'southward nearly half a foot shorter than a Ferrari 458, meaning generously sized drivers might want to hit a yoga class earlier trying to become behind the (removable) wheel. Tall people who alive in states or countries that require helmets in three-wheelers might have problem fitting comfortably. Me, at a thin 5-foot-eight, slid right in, and no helmet is needed in California.
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Instrumentation is direct from the K1600 BMW, as are most of the controls, including admission to ride modes, a trip computer and an Alpine sound organization delivering 180 watts to four speakers. A smartphone can be connected via Bluetooth, USB, line-in or a 12-volt plug. Carbon fiber trim over the fiberglass body are accessory pieces. Check out the shifter, which toggles gears merely like a motorbike gearbox because it is. The button on top triggers a mechanical reverse gear added to the BMW tranny.
In one case inside, the driving position is as racy every bit a street-legal car can be. Butt cheeks are just inches off the basis, and legs are only a scattering of degrees away from horizontal. Drivers of various sizes are accommodated by the trio of pedals being adjustable for reach, while the seat back has an alterable rake bending.
Punch the engine-kickoff push button, and ears are greeted by the wonderful whirring snarl of the BMW motor, and a jab on the throttle pedal results in an instant bound in revs due to negligible flywheel effect. It's racy engine is stimulating in ways the Slingshot's 4-banger and the Morgan's V-Twin but can't arroyo. But the motor's absence of a flywheel combined with a narrow clutch-engagement zone makes smoothly pulling away from a stop a challenge. It tin exist frustratingly difficult to primary until figuring out the technique of leaving the throttle alone until the clutch begins to bite, and then delicately applying the gas pedal while feeding out the clutch.
Movements of the 205/45-16 forepart tires are controlled by fully adjustable Elka interruption, with front shocks featuring both high- and low-speed compression damping. The air intake travels from the roof through flexy hoses to the engine compartment and is probably unnecessary but absurd, kind of similar the T-Male monarch itself.
Campagna'south Engine Evolution
The first production T-Rexes in 1995 were equipped with Suzuki GSX-R1100 engines, with Campagna ownership complete bikes and harvesting the motors. Over the side by side two decades, Campagna went through several different powertrains in search of improved performance equally well equally steady supply. In 1999, the T-King switched to a Kawasaki ZX-xi engine, adding a ram-air intake to the scroll muzzle above the seats. After Kawasaki replaced the ZX-11 with the ZX-12R in 2000, Campagna followed suit in 2002 with the bigger engine.
Excluding a express run of 10 vehicles in 2003 that used Due south&S V-Twins, Campagna stuck to Kawasaki engines for several years, replacing the 1200cc engine with the ZX-14'southward powerplant in 2007.
A year after, Campagna was purchased by Cirbin Motors, another Quebec visitor that built three-wheelers helmed by André Morissette and David Neault. The conquering merged the two brands, with the Cirbin V13R adopting the Campagna brand and production relocating to Boucherville, Quebec. Cirbin had an engine supply agreement with Harley-Davidson for the liquid-cooled V-Rod Revolution motor, receiving whole powertrains from Milwaukee. This provided a steadier and more efficient source of engines than relying on ownership whole bikes.
In 2013, Campagna signed a bargain with BMW, securing a supply of six-cylinder K1600 engines that power current T-Rexes. BMW provided support by sending engineers to Quebec to help Campagna integrate electronically selectable ride modes and also supplying the K1600'south digital musical instrument panel. The engine supply agreement runs through 2018 with an option to renew every five years. —Dennis Chung
Once underway, the BMW powertrain is a veritable gem, erupting in a wonderfully stimulating whoop as information technology races toward its 8500-rpm redline. With but about 1200 pounds for 160 hp to acquit around, the T-Rex is a seriously fast auto. Campagna says it can scream through the quarter-mile in 12.6 seconds, and information technology feels that quick from the behind the wheel. The Slingshot is a total 2nd slower, which is the departure between merely quick and seriously quick.
The BMW 6 is a sonic delight, but the gear whine and other unfiltered noises that brand their way to ears is at times oppressive and makes one wish for a helmet and/or ear plugs. Gearshifts are snapped off quickly, only the tranny would exist fifty-fifty more pleasing if it incorporated clutchless upshifts and motorcar-blipping downshifts every bit is available on the latest K1600s. Finding neutral at a stop is sometimes challenging. Wilwood four-piston calipers and braided-steel lines provide bite commensurate with the speed capabilities of the T-Rex 16SP.
Cupholders? We don't need no stinkin' cupholders!
The ultra-distinctive T-Rex delivers major-league excitement when aimed at a twisty prepare of corners, at to the lowest degree for a vehicle that leans the wrong manner into them, non that it leans inappreciably at all. It's inches shorter than a Mini but inches wider than a Corvette. With its 1.65-liter engine placed backside the seats, Campagna says the 'Rex has 57% of its weight distributed to its forepart when saddled with 2 people, which is surely more effectively distributed than the front-engined (2.four-liter) Slingshot.
The experience of driving the T-Male monarch on a mount route is something quite singular and memorable. Searching for potential analogs, I'd judge this trike might experience similar a lowered Lotus 7 with a iii-quarter-scale one-time Jaguar Vi motor within. The flat-bottomed and alcantara-wrapped Sparco wheel feels secure to white-knuckled hands, delivering plentiful feedback unfiltered in a fashion no traditional car tin. Everything is so unattenuated that information technology makes a Miata experience like a Bentley.
There are other sacrifices to T-Rex ownership. Protection from the elements is incomparably minimal (bring eyewear!), minimal footing clearance makes every curb and speed bump an obstruction to carefully overcome, and rain grooves on California freeways cause some front-stop hunting. Quibbles include the stereo's left-side tweeter that interferes with a driver's leg, and the upper section of the seats don't provide as much lateral support as the car can deliver. Oh, and it's a fairly major sin for such a sporty car to not exist equipped with a dead pedal for the driver's left foot.
Skidpad testing has shown the T-Rex can pull a neck-snapping 1.3 G in steady-state cornering. Zero to 60 mph in a brief 3.9 seconds, purportedly.
Equally a performance enthusiast, I've thus far full-bodied on the details and driving impressions of the T-King and mostly neglected the alluring elephant in the room. Just put, the sight of this car will cause smartphones to draw quicker than the Rawhide Child could unholster his six-shooter. The Slingshot also receives much attention, but it seems to exist more often than not of the what-the-hell-is-that… diversity rather than pure admiration of the design.
The T-Rex, on the other manus, receives appreciation for more than its novelty gene. Information technology's a lovely piece of machinery that has flowing lines and a real sense of purpose. It tin exist appreciated past race-car engineers and septuagenarian ladies and everyone in between.
Amid people, kids are the least focused on practicality, which makes pretty much all of them honey the T-King.
Naturally, in that location will be political party poopers who will signal out that autocycles like the T-Rex are encumbered past the negative aspects of both moto and auto: dissonance and lack of creature comforts of a bike; doesn't lean into corners and can't split lanes like a four-wheeler. Machine zealots will bespeak out that a Miata makes for a much finer and more versatile automobile at most half the cost.
Those things are true, merely let'due south not be besides Consumer Reports-y well-nigh this. If you lot've ever grinned while doing a wheelie or dragged a knee joint, then you already know how intoxicating and valuable the feeling of fun can exist, and I'll bet you'd come away from a ride on a T-King with a poo-eating grin and a wild await in your eyes. That kind of feel is worth a ton. Whether it'due south worth $50k depends on the depth of both your wallet and your garage.
More than info at the Campagna Motors website.
| Campagna T-King 16S | |
+ Highs
| – Sighs
|
| 2017 Campagna T-Male monarch 16S Specifications | |
|---|---|
| MSRP | $63,999 |
| Engine Type | BMW water-cooled Inline-6 engine, DOHC, four valves per cylinder |
| Deportation (cid/cc) | 1649cc |
| Diameter and Stroke | 72mm x 67.5mm |
| Compression Ratio | 12.ii:1 |
| Horsepower | 160 HP at 7750 rpm (claimed) |
| Torque | 129 ft-lbs at 5250 rpm (claimed) |
| Engine Modes | Rain, Road, Dynamic |
| Manual | Six-speed sequential shift with electronically-activated opposite |
| Final Drive | Chain |
| Chassis | Tubular steel frame with roll-cage |
| Suspension | Coilover shocks with adjustable preload |
| Brakes | Wilwood iv-piston calipers with cross-drilled rotors |
| Front end Tire Type | BF Goodrich Comp-ii 205/45ZR16 |
| Rear Tire Type | BF Goodrich Comp-ii 275/40ZR18 |
| Overall Vehicle Height | 42 inches |
| Overall Vehicle Length | 135 inches |
| Overall Vehicle Width | 78 inches |
| Weight | 1157 lbs. (claimed) |
| Wheelbase (in/mm) | xc inches |
| Fuel Capacity | seven.iv gallons |
| Fuel Economy | 28.0 mpg (claimed) |
| Audio Arrangement | Four 180W Alpine speakers with Bluetooth, USB and audio line-in |
| Warranty | i yr/20,000 km (12,427 miles) |
Source: https://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/campagna/campagna-t-rex-16sp-review.html
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