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Vandenbrink Carver

Lean machine

If you need to get through town in a hurry, everyone knows four wheels is bad while two wheels is good. So does a machine with three offer the worst of worlds? Dutch firm Vandenbrink thinks it has found the perfect compromise with its tilting Carver trike - so we took to some crowded streets to find out if the company is leaning in the right direction.

By Martin Sharp

February 2003

If you need to get through town in a hurry, everyone knows four wheels is bad while two wheels is good. So does a machine with three offer the worst of worlds? Dutch firm Vandenbrink thinks it has found the perfect compromise with its tilting Carver trike - so we took to some crowded streets to find out if the company is leaning in the right direction.

Stepping into the Carver's cockpit, the seat is comfortable enough and the controls familiar, with a steering wheel, manual gearshift, handbrake and three pedals. The tandem seating arrangement makes for a rather cosy cabin with two passengers on board, and inside there's no room for any luggage. Before setting off, Tim Hodgetts, European business development manager, gave us a few tips: "It'll feel strange and twitchy to begin with, but once you get the hang of the lean you'll be fine."

He wasn't wrong. Heavy traffic on a wet afternoon is never an enticing prospect, but it's more worrying first time out in a Carver. Cornering is a weird sensation as you turn the wheel and the whole body tilts. Your instinct is to straighten up, which is where the twitchy steering comes in. But once past this initial feeling, the Carver is great fun. The combination of steering like a car yet leaning like a motorbike offers a truly unique experience which not only turns heads, but makes driving entertaining.

While the ride is a little harsh - the suspension wasn't set up for potholed and uneven city roads - the acceleration is fast, with a 0-60mph time of 8.2 seconds claimed, and the five-speed gearbox delivers the power smoothly. Housed over the rear wheels, the 660cc engine is made by Daihatsu and can be found in the forthcoming Mira. The four-cylinder, 16v turbo generates 65bhp, and propels the Carver to a 125mph top speed. Disappointingly for Londoners, though, Mayor Ken Livingstone doesn't look kindly on three-wheelers, and this car won't be exempt from the city's congestion tax.

However, the Carver is not actually suited to a busy city centre, even if, at 21.5cm narrower than a Smart, it has some traffic-weaving potential. It is far more fun to drive on open roads, where you could make the most of the handling and avoid the constant stream of questions from onlookers. But even if the Carver was suddenly allowed into central London for free, its price would put people off. For ΂£25,000, you could buy a sensible family car, a scooter for commuting and a larger motorbike, too.

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FIRST OPINION

    The Carver is great fun to drive, once you get over the strange sensation of leaning into corners. It can leave you feeling vulnerable in city centre traffic, but has plenty of power and speed once on the open road. The price will ensure it remains a rarity, though.
 

AT A GLANCE

    Carver seats two people in tandem, one behind the other
    Unique hydraulic tilting mechanism means it steers like a car, but leans like a motorbike
     
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