UTV Tests

Ryan O’Hara’s Fuel General build By the staff of Dirt Wheels Life isn’t simply about the destination, but the roads that get you there. In our case, that’s the best dirt roads and trails we could ever imagine to find. Adventure riding and driving runs deeply through our souls, just like it does for Ryan O’Hara. Ryan eats, sleeps and breathes off-roading. He is so into our sport that he works for Fuel Off-Road and gets through terrain with their impressive wheels and tires. O’Hara’s dedication to adventure shows in his…

What you need to drive By the staff of Dirt Wheels Can-Am is focused on designing machines that provide the driver with the right tool to get the most out of their off-road experience. Can-Am offers everything from pure-sport powerhouses like the 195-horsepower X3 Turbo RR to the work- and recreation-ready Defender. In between, the line is well-rounded with multiple Maverick offerings. Can-Am sent us out onto the trails with their all-new 64-inch 2020 Maverick Sport X xc that starts at a price of $20,199.…

Fun with friends, family and computers By the staff of Dirt Wheels We were in the room when Honda announced the 2020 Talon 1000X-4 and Talon 1000X-4 Fox Live Valve to the dealer network. There was no mistaking the dealers’ excitement; however, our enthusiasm was somewhat tempered by the announcement that the 1000X-4 siblings would be based on the shorter-travel 64-inch Talon 1000X rather than the long-travel, wider Talon R. A great percentage of long-wheelbase, four-seat sport UTVs are sold where driving conditions…

From a racer backwards By the staff of Dirt Wheels As cool and purposeful as race machinery looks, few people ever bother to drive a race build for recreation. The sad truth is, the restrictions required by race organizations (largely for crash safety) are anything but user-friendly. Assault originally created this General 4 as a racer for a NORRA Baja-based 1000-mile rally-type stage race. While it was hoped the car would make a successful weapon for that one race, the General idea (see what we did there) was to have…

Four-season fun By the staff of Dirt Wheels In this fifth year of the Defender there are nearly 20 variations of the model, and the Limited is top dog. The Limited is a cab model, meaning that it has a fully enclosed cab with sealed doors, glass windows and even a front windshield wiper. Can-Am has other Defender cab models, including six-seat Max models, that all have a heater and defroster. The Defender Limited (in single cab or Max) has a heater, but it also has air conditioning! One of the recent trends in…

Competing in the most challenging and damaging UTV race in the States is no small feat. Hubert Rowland has made a name with informational YouTube videos on upgrading UTVs. Hubert is also known as everyone’s favorite “RedNek” or as we call him the Nitro RedNek, from Nitro Circus and Travis Pastrana’s mechanic. He repairs and upgrades all sorts of machinery to take the hardest beatings imaginable. Subscribe to the print or digital Dirt Wheels Magazine HERE. Rowland knows exactly what parts will survive the toughest UTV…

-- Testing both the two and four seater versions -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels Just one year ago the Can-Am Maverick X3 X rs Turbo R sat at the performance pinnacle for the company’s UTV line. That was then, and the Can-Am Maverick X3 X rs Turbo RR is now. The jump from 172 horsepower to 195 is huge! The difference you feel in the acceleration is much more than you would think from a 23-pony jump. This long-travel, 72-inch-wide flagship truly has it all—speed, style, comfort, suspension and, of course, massive…

-- 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…

-- Looking back at the December 2003 issue of Dirt Wheels -- The Kawasaki Mules, Polaris Rangers and John Deere Gators were tame, utility minded machines designed to help get chores done around the farm. Yamaha was the first to say, "Hey, why don't we make one of those  steering wheel machines with a more sporty attitude and able to get down the trail with the speed of a quad." After building it and testing it, they liked it and decided to sell it. For 2004 Yamaha added the Rhino to its line up and the off-road world was…

-- Single-seat adventure from Maxxis -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels Maxxis Tire race support stalwart Mike Farmer has done a lot of racing and riding on two wheels, and he still owns dirt bikes. But as he says of his fairly recent passion, “I just can’t stay out of these UTVs!” Even though the companies he offers event support for (CST as well as Maxxis) are powerful players in the UTV market, it was seeing neighbors in rural Utah having fun in UTVs that finally motivated him to step into a dealership. He is a family…

-- 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…