reviewed by bajabuggin of SDR Motorsports on Glamis Dunes
Last Tuesday I was invited out to the sand dunes to ride and drive the new XP 900 4 seater. Having owned a Commander for the last year and driven plenty of XP900 in the dunes I was anxious to get behind the wheel of the much anticipated new four seater. I arrived Tue. Morn to perfect dunes and perfect weather, a tough day at work for sure!
First impressions were that it looks big. We have done a few stretched XP 900 sut for whatever reason the production version just looked bigger. Maybe it was just the higher ground clearance? the next thing I noticed was the massive 2.5 Walker Evans shocks out back. Other than that its pretty standard RZR stuff and the same as the existing XP as far as ergonomics and cab layout.
It was time for the first ride out and I had my reservations about a few key things, 1. How would it handle in the turns? 2. Would clearance be an issue? 3. How is this thing going to dune? 4. Will it be underpowered? Jon threw me the keys and said I’m driving, so let’s get down to business!
We headed straight out of camp into the smaller dunes just off the flat camping area and I was prepared to see how this thing turned and mixed it up in the tight stuff…. right away I was amazed at how well the car did. I could toss it around and fly through the tight twisty dunes. clearance never became an issue and the suspension…well, more on that in a second…
After flying through the small choppy dunes headed towards olds we hit sand highway and pinned it! With zero adjusting of the shocks the wheelbase and 2.5 Walker Evans shocks really stood out. The car was about as good as it gets through some pretty nasty whoops and with a little tweaking on the clickers, would be pretty sweet!
Now into the dunes…. This is where the car really shined. It was nimble and easy to drive and took transitions and g-outs with ease. I was having so much fun that I almost forgot I was working! The power was plentiful and there were only a couple of spots where it felt it could use a little more. In the big bowls over by Osborne we could easily run the tops and transition from one to the other with plenty of speed. The chassis really works well in the big stuff, no more bucking from a short wheelbase and bottoming on the g-outs.
Through some big transitions we were carrying so much speed we blew the front hood center section off (sorry about that Jon!)
Overall I was super impressed. So much so that I cant wait to pick mine up next week and get started on the new SDR shop car!
Now for a few things I didnt like or had to get used to:
Power steering: maybe its just me not bieng used to EPS but at speed it seems a bit much, plus you really have to be on your game if the rear end starts to slide in a turn since the power steering requires you to turn it back instead of just slipping the wheel in your hands. Once I got the hang of it it wasnt that bad, but there was a few pucker moments getting the hang of it. The trade off is nice in the tight stuff and around camp though. effortless steering for sure!
Length: This is a huge plus and minus for me. The extra wheelbase is a huge bonus in the rough stuff and didnt really feel to “boaty” in the turns but you gotta be smart about going over stuff straight. Sure if you wanna fly off a razor back your good to go, but for just rolling over them you need to be careful and its easy to get stuck or high centered. That bieng said, its really no different than a sand car but its worth noting.
Room: This is probably my biggest complaint. I cant tell you how many times I bumped elbows and knees with my co-driver. I am 5-11 so it was tight to the dash but nothing I couldnt live with, With aftermarket seats or bieng Much taller though and it could get tight quick. On our shop car we are building it as a two seater so I can move the seat back a bit more but man I sure wish this car had the interior width of the commander!
I want to thank Jon Crowley from www.UTVGuide.net for inviting me out for the day and letting me mob around the dunes in his brand new car!
Stay tuned for a build thread on our new shop car soon…
