Rewaco RF1 GTS Turbo - 2009 |
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    There’s something a little bit daunting about climbing aboard a trike that you know makes 140bhp and, to paraphrase the late great Edward Turner, looks like it’s doing 100mph when it’s standing still.The Rewaco RF1 GTS Turbo is just such a trike. It’s powered by a fuel-injected and turbocharged 1.6 litre Ford Zetec engine running through a five speed gearbox to two massive billet split-rim rear wheels and, even when it’s just ticking over, the engine burbling away to itself unobtrusively, it still manages to extrude an air of watchful menace. It might be finished in a bright friendly orange colour scheme and drip with shiny polished bits, but this thing has something about it that says, ‘just you watch out, sonny, I bite’. Mind you, it’d’ve still taken extreme physical violence to get me prised off of the seat of it, I can tell you, ‘cos I was really looking forward to riding the thing. You see, ever since I saw a video on YouTube of a Zetec-engined Rewaco being thrown round a race track in a manner The Stig would surely approve of, sideways with smoke pouring off the tyres, I’ve wanted to have a go on one, and the chance occurred last year when, over at the factory in Germany, I was handed a set of keys (I know, I know, the mad, mad fools!). The road up to and down from the factory is a trike-rider’s idea of paradise, as I might have mentioned before I believe, and even with my inherent kak-handedness when it comes to car gearboxes (I don’t drive, you see, and H-pattern ’boxes are an utterly alien concept to me), within two or three minutes of releasing the clutch pedal I was revelling in the trike’s almost go-kartesque handling and grinning like someone who’s just been told that The Saturdays are all going to perform sexual favours on him at the same time. Okay, so the back lanes around Rewaco UK’s base in Harlow aren’t quite in the same league as the perfect stretch of twisty blacktop that leads up to the factory in Germany (they’re a damn sight narrower for a start!), but they’re still enough fun to give you a big daft grin all over your face … especially when you manage to get a couple of corners ahead of the trike’s owners so that they can’t see you riding (driving?) it in a manner in which they would certainly not approve.    What makes the RF1 GTS (that’s the 140bhp version, by the way – the GTR, the next model up, makes 185bhp!) so good is the fact that it has been designed to be ridden hard. Most trikes, it has to be said, are cruisers – out and out speed and performance isn’t what they were conceived for. The RF GT series, though, are the complete opposite – these things are made to go fast, to brake hard, to tear round bends. They come with huge disc brakes all round, a low centre of gravity and enough rubber on the tarmac to grip like a Lottery winner as the last numbers are called and, from the moment you drop your Aris onto the almost bucket seat-like front … umm … seat really and take hold of those fat, no nonsense, aggressively positioned ‘bars, you instinctively know that what you’re riding wasn’t designed to be mollycoddled along like an old Morrris Minor – no, these things want, nay demand, to be ridden, as the old saying goes, ‘like you’ve stolen it’.Don’t get me wrong, you can easily just pootle about on one if you so desire – the engine, ‘box and clutch are almost indecently smooth and bimbling along with nary a care in the world is absolutely effortless – but, in the same way as you wouldn’t buy a supercar to go shopping in or an RPG launcher to go clay pigeon shooting, buying one of these amazingly competent trikes and never giving it the berries would just seem to be a criminal waste. So what makes the GTS stop, go and handle like it does then? Well, as I’ve said, the powerplant is a straight-from-Ford four cylinder 1596cc Zetec motor with  electronic fuel injection that’s been specially mapped for Rewaco and it comes in a choice of three options – 115bhp non turbo, and 140bhp and 185bhp turbocharged. The 140bhp model, this one ‘ere, makes a colossal 136 ft-lbs of torque at 4170rpm with a torque curve that’s flatter than a steam-rollered ironing board, and the five speed ‘box (six if you include reverse) is light, slick and smooth and barely needs more than a nudge to get it up or down the ratios. There’s a foot clutch, again light and positive, foot brakes (linked all round via the pedal on the right), and an easy-to-read rev-counter and speedo mounted just below the ‘bars so that you don’t really have to move your head to look at them (always a good thing not to have to take your eyes off the road). The front end is made up of a chunky trapezoid (which, contrary to popular opinion, isn’t something dreamt up by Isaac Asimov to work in a circus) girder fork with a high quality Bilstein shock absorber and a fat five inch wide seventeen inch wheel with a ZR (high speed) rated 180 tyre. Braking is by way of a single four pot caliper (trikes don’t need that much in the way of front brakes, remember, or you risk locking the wheel as there’s not as much weight on it as there is on a bike) that’s linked to larger discs and four potters at the rear.And speaking of the rear, the axle is made up specially by Rewaco to suit the Zetec drivetrain and features top spec Bilstein shocks and an anti-roll bar to keep the ten inch wide seventeen inch split-rim wheels with their 275/40/17 (again, high speed rated) tyres firmly planted on the road surface. It sits inside a beautifully designed body, with a useful-sized boot and a racy-looking spoiler, with built in air scoops to duct air into the engine etc tucked away underneath. The GT series is a two-seater (the LT series seats three) and there’s a roll-bar for the passenger and big chunky grab-rails (which they’ll need when this thing is motoring!), and the driver gets even more chunky side-impact rails that also serve to bulk out the trike forward of the rear section and give it an even more imposing presence. Twin headlights up front light the road, but you can also have an extra four driving lamps on a light-bar if you so desire … in fact, given that the option list for the RF1 runs to a decent-sized booklet on its own, it might be easier to list what you can’t have, okay? You can’t have a helicopter landing pad, all right? Or a green baize snooker table. But, apart from that, pretty much anything else is available – more lights, different paint schemes, sound systems, fatter wheels, seat options, towbars and electrics, the lot. So, the $64,000 question – what does a trike like this cost then? Well, not that much for a start … No, this one ‘ere sold a few months ago for £28,500 but, as you can spec’ them up or down depending on your wallet, it’s worth having a word with Rewaco (the number’s round here somewhere) and discussing exactly what it is you want from your trike. They’ve currently got an 140bhp LT-series (the three-seater) as a demonstrator – why don’t you ring ‘em and book yourself a test-ride?  Engine: Ford Zetec 1.6 fuel-injected turbo, 140bhp, 136 ft-lbs torque, five speed gearbox with reverse Chassis: Rewaco Trikes RF1 GTS Turbo Axle Set-Up: Rewaco RF1 GTS Turbo axle/ diff/disc brakes, Bilstein gas pressure shock absorbers, 10x17” wheels (11x18” option), 275/40ZR17 tyres (285/35ZR18 or 335/30ZR178 options) Front End: Rewaco trapezoid steering fork with Bilstein gas pressure shock absorbers, disc brake & caliper, 5Jx17” wheel (optional 5.5Jx17”), 180/55ZR17 tyre (optional 200/50ZR17) Dimensions : Width 1880mm, length 3410mm, height 1060mm, empty weight 590kg, maximum load 210kg, fuel tank volume 40 litres Performance : Top speed 192kph (120mph approx), 0-100kph (60mph) in 5.6 seconds Options: Endless, see dealer Rewaco Trikes UK are based in Harlow in Essex and their ‘phone number is 01279 730695, while their web address is www.rewacotrikesuk.co.uk Words: NIK Pics: KING RAT Article reproduced from TRIKE MAGAZINE with their kind permission
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