Quadro 4: scooter review | Motoring
WheelsMotoring This article is more than 8 years oldReviewQuadro 4: scooter review
This article is more than 8 years oldThe Quadro is a scooter with four tilting wheels. You can say goodbye to falling off on sharp corners
Price: £8,499
MPG: 70
Top speed: 85mph
Something strange is happening in scooter land. They can’t decide how many wheels they need. For decades, it was two, évidemment! But then some sprouted an extra wheel at the front. Now some of these three-wheelers have grown another wheel, this time at the back. Pedants will be thinking: “Four wheels. Engine. Seat. Brakes. Isn’t that a car?” In fact, it’s a Quadro: the world’s first four-wheeled scooter. In a pub-quiz twist of nomenclature, it is also the world’s first four-wheel tricycle – the two back wheels are so close together they are classed as a single unit.
Why would you want a scooter with four wheels? In a word: grip! Masses of it. Four wheels on the tarmac gives you twice the adhesion. The problem has always been that with four wheels you can’t lean over properly and thus can’t corner at speed. You end up driving around as if you’re on a lawnmower. The Swiss-designed Quadro has a Hydraulic Tilt System (HTS) which allows all four wheels to tilt simultaneously. As you lean into bends, or bounce over speed bumps and pot holes, each wheel stays planted on the road. I even rode sideways down a wide flight of steps and felt as composed as an old man dozing on a Stannah stairlift.
If you’ve ridden a bike at speed, you’ll know you can lean so far into corners you almost graze your knee. The bizarre thing about the Quadro is that you can tilt it right over even at very low speeds – it’ll lean up to 45 degrees at crawling speeds. You’ll fall off it well before it falls over.
It takes a while to get used riding. I found myself forgetting to both lean and turn at the same time, but within an hour or so I was slaloming through traffic like a pro. You can use it in bus lanes, so the city suddenly becomes a lot smaller. It has a meaty 350cc 4-stroke engine and once you are on the move it’s nimble and responsive. It’s a twist and go with no gears to change. At slow speeds it felt heavy, especially when trying to manoeuvre it out of the garage. But then I read it is only 257kg, which is light for a motorbike. Maybe it’s just in comparison to my usual office commute – a bicycle that weighs 10kg.
With its aggressive hornet-like design, the Quadro looks like a jet ski that’s been kitted out for the road. Sit on its large seat and its sturdy body feels immediately comfortable. The step-through frame and flat platform for your feet mean you can hop on and off easily. You don’t have to worry about wrecking your clothes. Ride it in your suit or office skirt and high heels if you like. When you get to work, stick your helmet in the handy locker on the back and walk straight from the scooter to your desk.
You don’t need to take a bike test to ride it, your driver’s licence covers it, and legally you don’t actually need to wear a helmet (you’d be mad not to).
At £8,000 it’s double the price of a regular scooter. But you get double the wheels and double the chance of surviving your commute. A bargain, I’d have thought.
For more information, go to quadrovehicles.com
Elvis is in the building: win tickets to see Presley’s pink Cadillac at the O2 in London
Elvis’s pink Cadillac has arrived at the O2 and we have five pairs of tickets to give away. One of the world’s most iconic cars, the King’s Pink Cadillac is on display at Elvis at The O2, having been shipped over from Graceland especially.
Bought by Elvis on 7 July 1955, the car was originally blue with a black roof, but he had the body painted pink to replace his first pink Cadillac, which was destroyed after the brake lining caught fire and set the car alight while Elvis was driving back from a gig on 5 June 1955.
With over 300 artefacts from the Graceland archives, the exhibition includes other automobiles, personal items, historical documents, stage costumes, guitars, photography and gold and platinum records.
To win one of the five pairs of tickets, send an email with your name and address to martin.love@observer.co.uk. The first five to arrive will be the winners.
The exhibition runs until 10 January 2016, from 10am to 8.30pm, seven days a week. For more details and to buy tickets, go to elvisattheo2.com
Terms and conditions available on request.
Blue Bird celebrates 90th anniversary record
Pendine Sands came alive last weekend as hundreds of spectators watched a commemorative run of the iconic 350hp Sunbeam, on the 90th anniversary of Sir Malcolm Campbell’s World Land Speed Record of 150mph.
The National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, marked the anniversary with a demonstration run in the restored Sunbeam with Sir Malcolm’s grandson Don Wales at the wheel.
Don Wales and the Beaulieu team also recreated two iconic pictures from the original run.
Don, who is also a Land Speed Record holder, said: “I was thrilled to be given this amazing opportunity to sit at the wheel of my grandfather’s car back at Pendine where he set his record. It was an honour both to follow in his footsteps and to drive this iconic car on such a special occasion.
The Sunbeam, renamed Blue Bird by Campbell, holds three World Land Speed Records, the first achieved by Kenelm Lee Guinness at Brooklands in 1922 with a speed of 133.75mph. Campbell then purchased the car, had it painted in his distinctive colour scheme and in September 1924 achieved a new record speed of 146.16mph at Pendine, raising it the following year to 150.76mph.
Campbell then sold the Sunbeam and it passed through a number of owners and was in a poor condition when purchased by Lord Montagu in 1957, for his ever expanding motor museum.
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter@MartinLove166
Explore more on these topicsShareReuse this contentncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKyVmLWvu8uonrJnYmV%2BdnvJrqNoamdkvratw6umZmxdqLCwu9OeqWaqlau2psM%3D