UTV Tests

More storage, more cargo, more beef, it's all in the specs of the impressive new 2020 Can-Am Defender Pro. An overlander's dream!

-- Raiding the fast parts shelves with an employee discount -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels Let’s say that you work at an aftermarket company that makes excellent and very cool products. Imagine that the company is Assault Industries. Further suppose that you just bought a Polaris RZR Turbo S. Tom Cavish faced this exact scenario, and he needed to make decisions about his RZR Turbo S build. The Turbo S is no bargain-basement ride. It comes with 15-inch wheels, ITP Coyote 32-inch tires, four-point harnesses and an…

-- Testing Yamaha's  180 horsepower kit -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels, Photos by Adam Campbell The exhilaration of speed is an addiction off-road addicts just can’t seem to shake. Yamaha is one manufacturer that fuels our passion for going fast with their pure-sport lineup of machines. They also have a dedicated team of engineers that keep the fire burning with go-fast parts under the title GYTR (Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing). We recently spent time in the vast Imperial Sand Dunes riding area known as Glamis in…

-- 2019 performance UTV test -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels Polaris’ RZR XP Turbo S made advancements in stability and suspension travel that gave the RZR line the weapons needed to do battle with its closest competitors. Before the release of the S in 2018, Polaris had nothing to match the 72-inch, long-travel Can-Am Maverick X3. The Maverick X3 X rs Turbo R is a fast, smooth and exceptionally suspended machine. Can-Am sales spiked, and the RZR XP line wasn’t getting the attention that Polaris was accustomed to…

-- BFD Off-Road cages the beast -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels BFD Off-Road lays claim to being the number-one manufacturer of high-performance sand cars and UTV accessories in Southern California. What we know for sure is that it makes some radical-looking sand cars, and that sand car style is carried over to its UTV parts. The signature BFD Off-Road part is the Can-Am X3 bolt-on cage and matching contoured composite roof. The cage offers race-car strength and safety, and it is a very nice piece, but the roomy…

-- Why it remains a winner -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels Kawasaki has the longest history of any Japanese manufacturer when it comes to UTVs. Starting with the early Mule models and progressing to the evergreen Teryx line, Kawasaki has been a continuous and serious player in the category. It has been a while since there were major upgrades to the Teryx platform, but we have a lot of respect for this machine. After spending time ramrodding the 2019 Terxy4 LE through a gauntlet of Moab trails at the infamous Rally on…

-- Testing Honda's Jackson Racing Turbo kit -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels Elsewhere in this issue is Honda’s surprising announcement of year 2020 products, including two Talon four-seater models, and updated Pioneer 1000 and 4x4 quads that are significantly changed. Two additional announcements from Big Red concerned a 2020 racing effort in the Pro UTV Turbo class for Best in the Desert and SCORE off-road races. Honda has a long history of racing efforts that promote new sport products, so the fact that the company…

-- PROJECT UTV -- Polaris’ General, particularly the General 4, has been very popular ever since its introduction. Even though they sell very well as sport/utility vehicles, the General 4 isn’t the first machine you think of as the basis for a wide-open-spaces race car. But that is the beauty of a company as multifaceted as Assault Racing in creating such a project. Naturally, they wouldn’t have picked a General if they didn’t think it could be a contender, but this machine is both a racer and a showcase for Assault…

-- And it can still be hauled inside a van! --  By the staff of Dirt Wheels - This could be the lowest-budget UTV project that we have ever covered in Dirt Wheels. Derek Hunt and his brother Chris spend their days creating incredibly exotic electric bikes for their company, Hi-Power Cycles (www.hi-powercycles.com). Don’t tell anyone, but despite their penchant for things electric, the brothers harbor a fondness for things powered by gasoline. Very few of their high-end electric bikes cost less than what Derek forked…

-- Maverick X RS test -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels When it comes to the Can-Am sport UTV line, the Can-Am Maverick X3 X rs Turbo R sits right at the top. 2019 is the third year for the long-travel, 72-inch-wide flagship. It was truly ground-breaking when it arrived in 2017 It didn’t just raise the bar for sport UTVs, it bent, spindled, folded and mutilated the bar with more power, more suspension and more high-performance features than any other machine. Those who love and crave horsepower numbers will remember…

-- The most reliable workhorse is a Mule -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels Kawasaki is a titan company that builds amazing two-wheeled machines that can soar off massive jumps or propel you past 160 mph. It also offered the highly impressive KFX450R ATV, created the stand-up watercraft game and generates excellent UTVs like the sport-inspired Teryx. Their workforce machines are quite popular, too. The Mule Pro lineup is so popular that a few dealers we checked had already sold their current 2019s and were waiting for…

-- Testing Can-Am’s best 64-inch car with no-brainer mods -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels: Can-Am continues to have a huge presence in the UTV market with multiple iterations of the Maverick X3 platform. The X3 is available with a 64-inch track width and a 72-inch width. Of the 64-inch machines, the $25,399 Maverick X3 X ds Turbo R is the best equipped. Key among the updates are the premium Fox 2.5 Podium RC2 piggyback shocks with dual-speed compression and rebound adjustments. The X ds also comes stock with…