I first reviewed the Polaris Slingshot R exactly a year ago, and it was a weird, fun, over the top stick-shifted three-wheeled anomaly with no roof, no windows, almost zero storage capacity, and no heating or cooling for the occupants. It essentially had no reason to exist, other than to entice normally reasonable drivers into fits of hooliganism. I drove it every chance I could.

Now, the Slingshot is back in my driveway in SL trim with a few new tricks and tweaks, and really, I can’t think of a better fun machine following covid lockdowns, wildfires, and all else that’s afflicted the Northwest and the world in general.

The $26,699 black and red SL version is a kinder, gentler Slingshot now, although it still looks like it escaped from a Batman movie – and generates about as much attention.

Biggest changes? The shifting can now be done with a five-speed automatic, something Polaris pretty much had to add since it seems no one is teaching the kids to drive stick these days. Drivers can still wrest control of the gearbox by way of steering wheel paddles (above), but the third pedal is gone. Important note: Yes, you can still get a Slingshot with a manual gearbox, thank goodness.

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But I did the manual shift thing last go-round, and part of me wanted to see if this automatic-shifting Slingshot had learned any lessons at charm school, and indeed it has. While the driving experience is still out in the wind with no doors, no roof and the raucous 204hp 2-liter Polaris inline-4 pushing around just 1,600-odd pounds, creature comforts have also appeared.

The SL seats have improved comfort and included both heating and cooling controls on my test machine. The “cooling” is just forced air through the seat fabric, not actual A/C, but it’s better than the zero amount of cooling on the last one I had during a hot stretch of August weather. The SL’s minimalist windscreen is now larger and more effective at protecting your head from suicidal bugs.

The stereo now features Rockford/Fosgate drivers, and there were small, soft, case-like cubbies in front of each seat for phones and such and another larger one between them as well. Clever lockable bins hidden behind each seat will hold an overnight bag or a bag of groceries and 12-pack of cans, making the latest Slingshot just slightly less practical than your average minivan.

Right. Let’s go drive this thing.

Ease waaay down into the driver’s seat (remember: no doors), fire up the willing engine, and then step on the brake… er… set the seats to Cool as the temperature builds on a hot August day. A center console with big waterproof pushbuttons queues up Drive, Reverse, Manual or Neutral. Pick Drive, ease into the gas and the Slingshot ticks through the gears as cleanly as your Bentley. OK, maybe not quite that cleanly, and especially not if you pop the drivetrain into Slingshot Mode via the center Ride Command touchscreen and get aggressive with the gas pedal. Now, the Slingshot’s “AutoDrive” transmission, which Polaris says “is an automated manual transmission,” holds revs closer to the 8,000rpm redline. Sound and velocity to match quickly result, and the transmission bangs out precise shifts as the center LCD speedo digits quickly ascend.

Take over with the paddles heading into a turn and as you gear down, the AutoDrive system rev-matches for a clean downshift, but it won’t let you over-rev or lug the engine. But that’s rarely an issue and making haste on my test route has me hooting in my helmet, because in Oregon, you have to wear a helmet to legally drive a Slingshot. Your helmet rules may vary.

Despite the three wheels, the Slingshot feels glued to the ground, unless you tick that little traction control button to “off” under the center screen, which will allow you to spin up the fat rear tire on demand and fulfill your drifting fantasies, or just do some donuts in a parking lot (Forbes.com reminds you to always drive responsibly).

Classic Sammy Hagar pouring from the powerful if less than sonorous speakers, I made my way along the Columbia River along Marine Drive, the roar of Sammy’s guitar barely drowned out by the roar of airliner jet turbines as they came in for landings at Portland International. It was hot out but I didn’t care, the seat cooled my core while the sun baked every surface in the black interior. Airplane watchers pointed and waved as the Slingshot SL rolled by, it was probably the strangest/coolest vehicle they’d seen all day.

Verdict? I prefer the immediacy and feedback of the manual version of the Slingshot, but I completely understand why they added the AutoDrive version; not everyone drives stick these days, and it opens up the Slingshot to many more drivers. So have at it, paddlers, you will be greatly entertained. The Slingshot is still the multi-faceted grin machine it’s always been, still uncouth, only slightly more practical now, and just as outrageous as a supercar. I can’t wait to see what they do with it next.