Can the three-wheeled Polaris Slingshot drift?

OCTOBER 12 UPDATE: Enjoy watching Dai Yoshihara attempting to drift the three-wheeled Polaris Slingshot? Then click below for more bonus footage, shot from right behind the wheel...

1618

“I’ve never done anything like this on three wheels. It’s going to be interesting. It could be difficult to make the Polaris Slingshot go sideways, but I will try and make it happen…”

 Dai Yoshihara, Formula Drift Champion 

Welcome to the first installment of Run The Coast: a whirlwind drive from LA to Seattle, covering over 1200 miles on some of the best and most iconic driving roads in the world. Ten incredible days taking in the sights, sounds and smells, the ride, the excitement, and the reactions of everyone along the way. And all behind the wheel of the three-wheeled Polaris Slingshot…

The Slingshot’s journey starts in LA – or 87.4 miles outside LA, to be precise. As the journey up the coast began, it was time to christen the road trip – and the Slingshot – with a unique opening challenge. Simply put: is it actually possible to drift this three-wheeled machine?

For that, you need two things. First: a track. Fans of the Top Gear TV show may well remember Willow Springs in California, once host to a high-octane game of laser-quest between three supercars and two roaring fighter jets in the baking California desert.

Well, tucked in the hills and canyons above the main Willow Springs racetrack is Horse Thief Mile: eleven tight corners, huge changes in elevation, and a history of hosting the most extreme drift tests in the USA. Perfect…

Next, a driver. And if you’re looking for someone based close by who lives life in a perpetual state of sideways, there’s only one choice: Mr Dai Yoshihara. Dai learned his drifting trade in its spiritual home of tyre-smoke and curves: from the age of 18 he was in the winding mountain roads above Tokyo, behind the wheel of a 1985 Toyota Corolla Levin.  

Following a move to America, he began competing in the fledgling Formula DRIFT series in 2004, and has appeared to great acclaim every year since, finishing championship winner in 2011. These days Dai runs his very own drifting team out of LA, driving the Falken Subaru BRZ in the 2015 Formula DRIFT series.

If anyone can drift a Polaris Slingshot, it’s this man. And you can find out how he got on right now, in the first episode of Run The Coast above…

Formula Drift footage courtesy of www.gtchannel.com

-----------------------------------

WHAT IS AN ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE?