- 2 months ago
Welcome back to the UTV Driver podcast! This week, hosts Anders Carlson and Jackson Cooper talk 2026 lineups, new UTVs, and getting to drive the all-new Kawasaki Teryx H2 in the desert!
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SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome back to the UTV Driver Podcast. I am content editor Jackson Cooper, and I am joined today by editor Anders Carlson. Anders, how are we doing today?
00:09We're doing fantastic, I'm not going to lie. This is a golden age, a golden UTV age we're living in.
00:16I can't argue with that.
00:17Yeah, we have both been running like a chicken with our head cut off, covering all of the new model year 2026 models that are coming out. It's been very, very busy.
00:26A lot of new rigs to talk about. Quite a few.
00:31It's fantastic. It totally beats, I think you were saying, that the model year 2025, not a lot of new rigs.
00:38No, not one actually, I don't think. I could be wrong about that, but I don't think there was a single new, like all new rig in 2025.
00:452024 was absolutely loaded. You know, we had the Ranger XD 1500, we had the Polaris Expedition, we had the Maverick R.
00:53In 2025, we didn't really see all that much, you know?
00:59No, well, you know, it's an embarrassment of riches, as my grandmother used to say.
01:04So, yay! Yay UTVs!
01:06So, I think we should start with Polaris, right?
01:09The big name, you know, everybody knows Polaris, everybody loves a Polaris.
01:15Tell me a little bit about that, because we saw a brand new rig, the Polaris Ranger 500.
01:19What is that? What is it made for?
01:22Well, it's an all-new rig, and a lot of people initially thought that it was replacing the SP570, and that is not true.
01:29It's actually, and this is, I get excited about this, because it's about market share and sales sheets and everything else like that.
01:36It's a new rig. It's below five figures. It's $9,999.
01:41Oh, so a dollar under five figures.
01:43A dollar under $10,000. And the Ranger 500 is, I think, basically the concept is, if you don't think that you're a UTV owner, the Ranger 500 might change your mind.
01:55It's small, it's very manageable, it's got 28 horsepower. The engine is based off of the SP570.
02:03Yeah, it's the exact same engine, right?
02:04It's the exact same engine. So, internals could be replaced and repaired, borrowed, but it is safely, what's the best way to put this?
02:13It is a very safe and non-threatening rig for someone who might be a personal UTV user.
02:19So, more in line of stuff like a Kubota or a John Deere, maybe.
02:23Exactly. And I think that's the kind of space that Polaris is trying to sort of, you know, eat their lunch.
02:30That might be kind of an aggressive way of saying it.
02:32No, but it makes sense, you know. Polaris was kind of out of that market forever.
02:36And the same thing, like, we were just talking about the Expedition and the Ranger XD 1500.
02:41And most of the flack they got about those rigs was because of the price.
02:46Like, they're both very expensive. And we just ran a post about the Expedition and how they cut every model except for the North Star Edition,
02:54which is the absolute top of the heap. You don't get the Ultimate trim anymore.
02:57You don't get the Premium trim anymore. And that starts at, what, like $43,000?
03:02That's pretty insane. And it's a little bit refreshing to see something like this from Polaris, you know?
03:07Yeah, for sure. Expedition-wise, like we used to say in northern Wisconsin, that's the Cadillac of UTVs.
03:13Oh, yeah, absolutely.
03:14But the Ranger 500 is exciting because, A, you get the Ranger name. Everybody knows what a Ranger is.
03:22And, you know, if you thought, oh, I can't spend $14,000, $15,000 on a rig. It's just, you know, unnecessary.
03:31You know, $9,999 kind of changes the argument a little bit suddenly.
03:37Yeah, absolutely. I mean, people are paying $10,000 for a used car.
03:40And it's the same argument that people have been making forever of, like, why not just buy a farm truck?
03:46Well, I mean, this is about the same price you're going to pay as a reliable farm truck, you know?
03:51Yeah.
03:51So what are some of the features you get on it? Like, what are some of the capacities?
03:55Do they stand up to, like, the Ranger? I mean, not the Ranger.
03:58Do they stand up to the Ranger SP570 at all? Or is it just kind of, like, a new, lower, you know, completely entry-level rig?
04:07Well, it's completely entry-level.
04:10Okay, so here's sort of a side-by-side sort of thing.
04:12Oh, do you see what I said there? Side-by-side?
04:14Oh, yeah, yeah.
04:15Side-by-side comparison.
04:17So, again, 28 horsepower versus, I believe, 44 for the SP570.
04:23I think you're right, 44.
04:24There is some overlap in the models.
04:27But with the 500, I think, you know, it's very safe to use.
04:31It's got VersaTrack. It's got Turf mode.
04:33So it's not going to tear up your lawn.
04:34I do love the Turf mode.
04:36Yeah, and that's a big deal.
04:37And I think that even, like, going through the sales materials, you know, they're talking about the ease of use on your property, go get the mail with it, traverse lawns.
04:48And I think it was pretty telling.
04:50So there's only a 300-pound bed capacity, which is kind of small.
04:55That's low. That's pretty low.
04:56Right.
04:56But the sales sheets were like, oh, well, that's, like, similar to 10 pounds of mulch.
05:02And that's right there is the sweet spot.
05:04This is for bags of mulch.
05:07This is not a heavy lifting.
05:08This is not a farm or ranch rig.
05:10Yeah, you're not going to put a giant hay bale in it, you know?
05:13Exactly.
05:14This is really meant for puttering around your property, your homestead.
05:18This is not really a worksite rig.
05:20But if Polaris' bet is correct and pays off, you're going to be seeing a lot of these, especially once you get out of town.
05:29Start seeing people with, you know, homes in more sort of ex-urban areas.
05:32I sure hope so.
05:34There's a lot of use cases for the Ranger 500.
05:36We're supposed to be getting one in soon, aren't we?
05:38We are.
05:39Yeah, that's exciting.
05:40We're getting one in from Polaris.
05:42And they're sending us a ton of accessories to try with it.
05:44So stay tuned for that video because we're going to see how the accessories actually fit.
05:48Oh, so.
05:49But that's super interesting.
05:50You know, I love a small utility rig.
05:52We've talked about CF motos before.
05:54We've talked about Kubotas.
05:55We just ran three videos about Kubotas and the Kubota sidekick.
05:59And, like, we adore it.
06:00We love a little rig that you don't have to spend $30,000 on.
06:04This is something for the everyman, right?
06:07This is something for someone with an acre or two who doesn't want to spend that much on a side-by-side.
06:12Because they don't really need it, you know?
06:15This is a case of trying to grow the pie rather than fight for market share.
06:18They're really trying to create, like, new UTV users.
06:21And I get excited about geeky stuff like sales sheets and numbers and business problems and all that.
06:27But you, being the youthful, dynamic member of our editorial team, you are kind of more interested in sending it and 10 out of 10 and all that stuff.
06:37I am, which is why.
06:37Do you have any news?
06:38Like, do you want to talk a little bit about the X3?
06:40That is why I want to talk about the Pro-R for a second.
06:44So, Polaris released their 2026 lineup.
06:46And two things were missing.
06:49The Polaris Razer Pro-R and the Polaris Razer XP.
06:52That worries me a little bit.
06:56Because those are two of Polaris' most popular side-by-sides, right?
07:00The XP has been one of the top-selling sports side-by-sides since it debuted in, what, 2014?
07:08Sounds about right.
07:09That is the side-by-side you go to when you want to sport side-by-side, right?
07:13You see them on the trail all the time.
07:16And the Pro-R, that's their staple rig.
07:19That's their wide open.
07:20That's their desert rig.
07:21That's what they race, you know?
07:23They just won, what was it?
07:25They just won Vegas to Reno in it.
07:27So, it doesn't really make sense that it's missing.
07:30But that does bring me to some theories.
07:35The SandSport Super Show, is it about two weeks-ish?
07:38They run it in the middle of September.
07:40It's super cool.
07:41Polaris is always there.
07:43My theory is that they have something special for us.
07:46So, you're going to be the conspiracy theorist?
07:48I am.
07:48You're going to start coming up with all sorts of like...
07:49Polaris, I'm going to sit here.
07:50I'm going to talk about how the government is out for all of us.
07:54But no...
07:55Yes, my favorite!
07:56I love this stuff!
07:57But no, I do think that Polaris has something in store for the Pro-R.
08:01Especially since they have been sitting back since they released it in 2022.
08:06And Can-Am and Kawasaki has been fighting back against them, right?
08:11They started the horsepower race with the Pro-R, with 225 horsepower.
08:15Then came the Can-Am Maverick R with 240.
08:18Then came the Terex H2 with 250.
08:21And I think Polaris wants that title back.
08:23So, I think we're going to see something big from Polaris and the Pro-R.
08:27And I'm pretty excited for that.
08:29Gotcha.
08:30So, you think that shadowy performance UTV interests have a secret in store for us?
08:36Perhaps, maybe.
08:37I think so.
08:38That's my theory.
08:39Don't take it as fact.
08:40But I do think there's something exciting that Polaris is hiding from us.
08:45Gotcha.
08:46Oh, this is great.
08:47I love this.
08:47Shadowy conspiracy theories.
08:49Okay, so, speaking of high horsepower stuff, Can-Am has just unveiled a new trim for the Maverick R.
08:57And that's pretty exciting for me because I am a rock crawl guy.
09:02I like taking it on the rocks.
09:03I like taking rigs down very steep trails.
09:07And Can-Am just gave us a rig to do exactly that in the Maverick R XRC.
09:14That's a mouthful.
09:15It is a mouthful.
09:16It's not as much as Can-Am is used to.
09:18You know, with the turbo RRX, RR, RS, turbo, something.
09:23RR, RR, RR, RR.
09:24A lot of R's.
09:25A lot of R's.
09:26But, yeah, the XRC is something different from Can-Am.
09:31And what excites me the most is that Can-Am put 35s from the factory on this rig.
09:38Ah, see?
09:38That's right.
09:39And, not to be a spoiler and to talk about stuff that's kind of down the road or like whatever, but 35s.
09:44That is the largest tire that comes on a factory rig.
09:48Is that true?
09:48That is true.
09:50We just saw 33s from the Terex H2.
09:53And that was like two weeks ago.
09:55And Can-Am has already beat that.
09:58So, the XRC, the 35-inch tires, beadlock wheels, it comes with an extra low-geared low-gear.
10:06I know I said low-gear twice, but it's tuned.
10:09That's how low the gear is.
10:10Yeah, it's super low.
10:12Low-low-gear.
10:12The low-gear is tuned lower, has a lower gear ratio.
10:16And that helps with low-end torque, right?
10:19When you're trying to get up those rocks, you don't need that high horsepower stuff or that high RPM stuff.
10:25You want something in the low range.
10:27And Can-Am knew that.
10:29Now, we actually took the, not the base model, but the Maverick RX RS to Winrock, our park that's like right down the road from us.
10:38And we tested it to see if it could actually rock crawl.
10:41And the answer was yes.
10:42Like, the base model Mav-R with the 32-inch tires and, like, the active suspension and, like, everything you need to go fast, it will do what you want it to do on the rocks, you know?
10:53But it could rock crawl better, is what you're saying.
10:57And the new RC kind of hits that.
10:58You are correct.
10:59And that is what Can-Am was thinking, too.
11:02This is great stuff because, you know, us here in the lovely state of Tennessee, eastern Tennessee,
11:08we love looking at pictures of wide-open desert spaces, but that is not what our landscape is like.
11:15We do not have a lot of dry lake beds here in eastern Tennessee.
11:18Yeah, the closest you can find is about 1,500 miles away.
11:21And that's not a day trip for us, you know?
11:25That's not our backyard.
11:27That's not what we like to do with side-by-sides.
11:30We like to take them down rutted trails, you know, tons of mud or whatever else.
11:35And rock crawling is another step of that.
11:37You know, we have a video out about doing Trail 15 at Winrock.
11:42And it was actually in a Maverick RX, RS, something like that, Turbo R.
11:48It was an X3, and we fit it with 35-inch tires, and it is amazing.
11:54We love it.
11:55But the Maverick R is just a little bit better because 240 horsepower going up rocks, that's a big deal.
12:02And I think that goes to rival some of these, like, you know, $100,000, $200,000 rock crawlers that these people build that aren't even side-by-sides, like they build them from Jeeps or Toyotas and stuff.
12:13And I think that KM is finally rivaling those people.
12:18Yeah, I think it's exciting.
12:19You know, here we do things a little differently.
12:22You know, we don't have the wide-open spaces, like I was saying.
12:25Here, you point – I think the preferred technique is to point your rig at something that seems impossible and hit the gas.
12:33Yeah, absolutely.
12:34And I think that the new RC, especially with the 35s, is going to make a lot of people happy east of the Mississippi River.
12:42Is my geography right?
12:43That's right, yeah.
12:44Yeah, yeah.
12:44East of – sorry, Midwest guy, you know.
12:47Yeah.
12:48Another cool thing that's on it is it has a steering dampener.
12:51And you're a motorcycle guy.
12:52You know what a steering dampener is.
12:53Oh, I know what a steering dampener is.
12:55If you're going fast, it keeps the front fork steady so you don't get the death wobble and you don't end up, you know, hurling yourself off the side of the interstate.
13:05Yeah.
13:06But on a side-by-side, what that's for is if you hit a rocket speed, it's not going to send your tires going every which way.
13:13It's going to keep them completely straight as you're going up this trail.
13:17And, like we said, you know, high-speed stuff, it does the same.
13:21It keeps the Maverick R even more steady at high speeds.
13:24The tall knuckle suspension that we saw when it came out and that's on every Maverick R does that wonderfully.
13:30You know, we love it.
13:31But a steering dampener helps even more, and we're not going to complain about it.
13:35Sure.
13:35No, absolutely.
13:37Listen, we all love to talk about horsepower and this and that and sending it, but it doesn't really mean much of anything without control.
13:42Exactly.
13:43And I think the steering dampener is definitely going to – you know, it's just one of those things.
13:47It's like, you know, none of these features, like, hit a home run out of the park, but it's all about hitting, like, bunts and singles.
13:52And it's just one more thing that altogether makes for a much more competent and fast rig.
13:59It also comes in a green colorway, which is – that's just an added bonus.
14:02Green is always better.
14:04Green is the best color.
14:05How green is that?
14:07But another new rig that came out from Can-Am is the new generation of Defender.
14:12And I think you know a little bit about that, right?
14:14Yeah, that's in my wheelhouse.
14:15This is kind of, like, geeky inside baseball stuff.
14:19But a new Defender is a really, really big deal.
14:22And the old one was based on the HD10 engine, which was – okay, I'm going to get my short-term recall memory here.
14:31976 cc.
14:32Yes.
14:32And it was a parallel twin Rotax.
14:34This – the HD11 of the new Defender is an all-new engine.
14:38It's a triple, and it's 999 cc.
14:42Full lead.
14:43Yeah, yeah.
14:43And it's a jump in horsepower.
14:46It is – wait a second.
14:47I'm going to look this up here because we're going to get this right because we're a magazine.
14:50It's like 95, right?
14:52It is 90 – yes.
14:54Aha.
14:55Yes, it is.
14:56And I believe that – I think the old one had, like, 82 horsepower.
15:00The old one also had, like, 69 feet-pound of torque.
15:03The new one only has 70, which is one more, which is good.
15:06But the headline here is that not only is the engine all new, but all of the stuff – like, basically, the entire rig has been completely redesigned.
15:15The only thing it inherits from the old Defender, I think, are the tires and some of the suspensions.
15:20Sorry, that's not very super technical and spec-y.
15:25But, you know, the Defender is – it's one of those names that just kind of sells itself.
15:30And the fact that it's an all-new Defender redesigned from the ground up is a big deal, and it's going to draw a lot of interest.
15:35And we've been waiting for this for a while.
15:36Right?
15:36Yeah.
15:36Like, we didn't actually – we've never gotten an actual complete redesign of the Defender.
15:42Right?
15:42Yeah.
15:43Since it was released in 2014, maybe before that, it's kind of been the same rig over and over again.
15:50And we got new trims, like the 6x6 and the Pro, which has the extended bed.
15:54But we've never gotten anything like this.
15:57And the HD11, it excites me a little bit because we love Defenders here.
16:01We've had an HD8 in the shop, and we absolutely loved it.
16:04We used it for, like, two or three years before retiring it to a fire department, and they still love it, you know?
16:11Yeah.
16:12But it's just a bunch of, like, little tiny stuff, you know?
16:14It's like all – it's like LED lights, finally, front and back.
16:19Like, you actually get – and this is, you know, everybody always talks about how UTVs are getting closer and closer to cars, pickups, like whatever.
16:27There is a reverse light, which is nice if you're, like, hauling stuff in the dark.
16:33These are really just, like, small things, but these are things that are going to help the end user a lot.
16:37Yeah, and it's bringing side-by-sides into what consumers want them to be now, right?
16:42Yeah, exactly.
16:44For the most part, as soon as you get a side-by-side, if you're wanting to use it on a road or on a county road or anything like that, you have to put mirrors on it.
16:52You have to put lights on it, reverse lights, and turn signals.
16:55And this is just getting closer and closer to that coming from the factory, you know?
16:59Exactly, and we've – and not to get sidetracked, but, you know, there are a lot of states.
17:04This increasing – increasing amount of states are allowing them to be used on county roads, and whether you modify it to make it street legal or you're just able to tool around in Wisconsin or Iowa on county roads.
17:16All of these things are great and make them safer and all that.
17:20But also, the most exciting thing – so before, Can-Am had an AC HVAC unit that had, like, one knob that you pressed or twisted.
17:29Oh, yeah, we hated that.
17:31It kind of sometimes did what you wanted it to do, but mostly it didn't.
17:35Now, there are three knobs.
17:38Three!
17:38We are living in the 21st century, bud.
17:41I mean, just do the math.
17:42Three is three times better than one.
17:44So right there, that's a huge improvement.
17:46But, no, you're right, because, like, we tested the Can-Am Defender Limited a few months back, and that was our main – or one of our main hates about it is that the AC control was just one little knob that you would spin, and to change settings, you would have to press it a few times, and it was just kind of not very – it wasn't –
18:05It kind of worked on, like, magic, but not good magic.
18:09It worked on, like, bad magic.
18:09It wasn't intuitive at all, you know?
18:11And, you know, blasting down a trail or down your farm, you don't want to look down at your AC and cycle through a bunch of menus trying to find the setting that you want, you know?
18:21Yeah, that's true.
18:22So, but we're excited.
18:24Hopefully, down the road, we are going to see for ourselves and take out a new Defender HD11 and, I don't know, light the wick and see what happens.
18:35Absolutely.
18:36I would love to get my hands on it.
18:37Something we did get our hands on, though, the all-new Kawasaki Terex H2, the most powerful side-by-side in the world.
18:47Oh, gotcha.
18:48You know, all this talk about, like, Defenders and Rangers and other stuff like that, I think we have a bigger story here.
18:54We do.
18:55We have a pretty big story here.
18:57Did you go somewhere interesting and drive a really fast rig?
18:59Oh, California, Southern California, right on the Californian-Mexican border, wide-open desert.
19:07It was amazing.
19:09It was one of the best experiences I've ever had in a side-by-side.
19:12And, yeah, let's talk about the H2 for a minute because I have been dying to.
19:18I think that's what everybody wants to hear, actually.
19:20So, yeah, tell us all about it.
19:21Yeah, so now the most powerful side-by-side in the world, it has 250 horsepower that it makes through a turbocharged 999cc inline-4.
19:31Now, if you didn't know, there were only two rigs before that that had an inline-4, and that was the Pro-R and the Kawasaki Ridge.
19:39But no side-by-side before it has been supercharged, which is exciting.
19:46That's kind of interesting.
19:47So we know all about turbos.
19:49What's the case for a supercharger?
19:51So a supercharger, especially this one, it is gear-driven.
19:55It's not driven by exhaust gases.
19:57It's connected directly to the crank.
19:59So as soon as the engine starts spinning, that supercharger starts spinning.
20:03So it's like power right away, right now.
20:05Instant boost, no lag whatsoever, which is insane.
20:10And that kind of helps with the CVT, because it does use a CVT transmission.
20:15CVTs take a little bit of time to charge up, you know, spin up and get that power delivery.
20:20But the supercharger helps with that in the low RPMs, and you can get a little bit more of a jump off the line, you know?
20:28Yeah, so that's kind of interesting.
20:29So we have, and we're not going to get into the debate right now, but you and I have different opinions on CVT versus PCVT.
20:35We do, we do.
20:37How, so you're getting all that power from the supercharger, like, right off the line.
20:40How, does that work well with the CVT?
20:43Tell us a little bit about that.
20:44It does, especially in the higher RPMs.
20:46So, the engine actually makes most of its power at 9,000 RPM, which is 500 RPM under red line.
20:56That means that you are flat out all the time.
20:59You do not want to lift up on that throttle.
21:01If you want power, if you want that full 250 power, you want to be flat out.
21:07And that's exciting for West Coast people, not so much for East Coast people.
21:13Yeah.
21:14Because we were just talking about rock crawlers, right?
21:17And I don't think the Kawasaki H2 is going to want to do that all too well.
21:23No.
21:23And, you know, it's funny.
21:25I love CVTs.
21:26I think it's the people's transmission.
21:28But in this case, I might actually kind of make an exception.
21:31You know, you talk about how DCT, I think, offers sort of, like, more hands-on control in terms of, like, where you are in gearing.
21:38This, honestly, the H2 might be an example where you are, and I hate to say this, kind of right-ish about transmissions.
21:46Yeah.
21:47And the DCT isn't just for the fun of clicking through gears, right?
21:51We saw that the Maverick R can use an incredible DCT.
21:55It's fantastic.
21:56There's not a lot of power gap when you're swapping gears, right?
22:02It's pretty much constant power.
22:03It's a split, barely a second, of power exchange.
22:08And I just think that the H2 would be better with that kind of DCT.
22:14They made all kinds of cases about how you get constant power with a CVT where a DCT is, you know, going like that with the gears and stuff.
22:23And I don't know.
22:25I wasn't convinced.
22:27They acted like it was a decision to put a CVT in it.
22:33My theory was that they started designing this thing way before the Maverick R hit dealers,
22:39and they didn't really know that the Maverick R was coming out with a DCT.
22:43This thing went into production about three to four years ago, around the time when the Pro-R was released,
22:50which means that they saw that the Pro-R used a CVT, and they kind of had the, if it ain't broke, don't fix it mindset.
22:57Yeah.
22:57Speaking of which, which is kind of the same mindset that they used for the suspension, right?
23:02Had not a ton of innovation with the suspension.
23:05It's actually the exact same setup that's in the KRX, aside from beefier shocks and some other small bits that they added.
23:13But it does still use Kawasaki Electronically Controlled Suspension, which...
23:19Yeah, yeah, Kex.
23:21Which, if you don't know...
23:22I just like saying that.
23:22It is a fun word.
23:25But if you don't know, that's basically just Fox Live Valve, right?
23:29Yeah.
23:29It's a thing we know and love.
23:30It's in Mavericks, it's in Razors, it's in the Honda Talon, and it was in the KRX.
23:37And they used that same suspension setup in the Tarex H2.
23:42Now, I will say, it is a completely new generation of Fox Live Valve.
23:47Yeah, what's the travel on that?
23:49Travel is 24 inches.
23:51And 24 inches in the rear and 23.4, I think, in the front.
23:58Something like that.
23:59It's close.
23:59It's 23 point something.
24:01The new generation of Fox Live Valve.
24:02That 24 inches of suspension, it can now be controlled farther north and farther south.
24:08It has more range of motion for the electronic suspension to actually adjust and to control.
24:16And Fox Live Valve.
24:17It samples the terrain at a thousand times per second.
24:21And it automatically adjusts your suspension to fit those readings.
24:26And it's amazing.
24:27We love it, you know?
24:28And same thing.
24:29If it ain't broke, don't fix it, I guess.
24:31But we would have liked to see a little bit of innovation from the suspension or the transmission at all, right?
24:38Well, maybe it's a case of Cowie not wanting to step on their applause.
24:41I mean, the big headline is obviously the supercharger.
24:43That's the marketing and the performance engineering headline, so to speak, of the H2.
24:50So, I think everything else, you know, like you said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
24:53Who knows what model year 2027, 2028 might bring.
24:57Yeah.
24:57So, yeah.
24:58Yeah.
24:59And, again, it only comes in a four-door.
25:02That's a little bit disappointing.
25:04I mean, I asked the Kawasaki engineer about that, about if a two-door is coming, and what
25:09I got was, which means...
25:13A telling shrug.
25:14A telling shrug, which means I can't tell you right now, which means it's probably coming.
25:21I mean, every time a rig is released, we know that a four-door is coming, and we can kind
25:26of assume the same with the H2 for a two-door.
25:29I'm not going to...
25:30Don't quote me on that.
25:31Don't take that as law, but you can be pretty confident that you're going to see a two-door
25:37in the next year.
25:38I don't know.
25:38As a transportation journalist, that's all I can do is quote people and such.
25:43But, yeah.
25:44Yeah.
25:44I think it's very likely that a two-door is coming out.
25:47Yeah.
25:47We can't reveal any sources.
25:50It's just a rumor.
25:51No idea.
25:53There's no facts.
25:53Kawasaki engineer.
25:55But we know people.
25:58We talk to people.
25:58And it is extremely likely that pieces and trim and other parts are being made for a
26:06two-door Kawasaki H2 Terax.
26:09Maybe.
26:09I don't know.
26:10Maybe.
26:10Possibly.
26:11Maybe.
26:11But until then, we can enjoy the four-door because it has a top speed of 100 miles per
26:18hour.
26:19That is insane.
26:20Yeah, yeah.
26:20So, when I was in the staging area, I heard people talking about a speed limiter at 90
26:24and a speed limiter at 100.
26:26And I wanted to test that theory, right?
26:28I wanted to...
26:28So, what did you get it to?
26:29I got a blip of 100.
26:32Just a split second.
26:33A second or two.
26:35I backed off pretty much as soon as I hit it because 100 is scary in anything.
26:40And a side-by-side going down some of the most demanding terrain in the country is a little
26:46bit frightening.
26:46So, I will say nerves had a part of it.
26:48But, I did run it at 95 miles an hour for about a mile.
26:54And it's pretty incredible.
26:56For the most part of the ride, I was on like 70, 75, sometimes 80 for extended periods of
27:02time.
27:03And it felt like driving a car down the road.
27:05It felt composed.
27:06It was comfortable on the trail.
27:08I wasn't bouncing around in the seat a ton at those speeds.
27:12Because, I will say, at lower speeds, around like 40 or 50, the seats weren't the greatest.
27:19I won't say the seats.
27:21The seats were fine.
27:22I want to talk about the harnesses.
27:25Ah, that's right.
27:26Was it the Inertia Reel harnesses?
27:28Yeah, the Inertia Reel harnesses.
27:30I would have liked to see fixed harnesses.
27:32Fixed, bolt-in, strap-in, you don't go anywhere, right?
27:37Inertia Reel, if they were better, they would be fine.
27:41And I know that's saying, that's, you know, a pretty easy, or I know that's something
27:47easy to say.
27:48If they're better, they would be good.
27:50But that's the truth, right?
27:52Because as you're going down the trail, you're just constantly doing this.
27:57Yeah.
27:58And after a while, that got annoying.
28:00You were bouncing out of your seat.
28:02You were landing on bits that you're not supposed to be landing on.
28:04Yeah.
28:04Uh, and, and, uh, I would have liked to see fixed harnesses because some of the people
28:11I was riding with was like, yeah, you just have to, like, lean forward as you're driving
28:14and, like, just keep them locked.
28:16And I was like, okay, so why aren't we using just fixed harnesses, you know?
28:20That's a, that's a little curious.
28:21Yeah, the Inertia Reel, I mean, that's typically what, uh, in any car that is, that you've, that
28:26you've owned since, like, the 70s, that is typical in a car where, uh, if, if there's
28:31a sudden impact or a sudden change in Inertia, then something really bad has happened.
28:36Whereas in a UTV, that is just kind of par for the course.
28:40Yeah, that's, you, you, you do that 50 times every 30 seconds, right?
28:44Right.
28:44That's why we don't have airbags in UTVs because, uh, for obvious reasons.
28:48Yeah, so you're hitting bumps, you're hitting washouts, you're going from side to side pretty,
28:54pretty consistently, and, uh, the Inertia Reel just doesn't, doesn't work.
28:59I think, I think that's the reason why they kind of lightened that responsiveness for them.
29:04Like, in a car, if you lean forward at a turn too much, it's going to catch the Inertia Reel,
29:09right?
29:09Yeah.
29:09You're going to lock up your seatbelt.
29:11But in this, uh, you have to basically, like, fling yourself forward as fast as you can
29:16to get them to lock.
29:17Exciting.
29:18Yeah.
29:18And, uh, it's just, it's not super great.
29:21I don't, I didn't like them.
29:22Um, well, well, you know, uh, no new product, uh, bats a thousand, you know, there's always
29:27going to be growing.
29:28Never, but a hundred miles an hour, 250 horsepower, that, that makes up for it.
29:33That's really exciting.
29:34So a hundred miles an hour, uh, on dirt, on sand, on undulating landscape, that is terrifying.
29:41I mean, uh, I don't know the math, but a hundred miles an hour, like in the desert on dirt, that's
29:46like 250 miles an hour, I would bet on a track.
29:50So right there, the danger quotient is, is, is, is a lot higher.
29:54But, you know, Fox Live Valve was doing its job and, uh, I, I never, there wasn't a bit
29:59where I felt like, you know, I was in danger or the rig was going to suddenly do something
30:04to make it end up rolling down the trail, you know?
30:07Yeah.
30:07Um, but 95, a hundred is, is pretty terrifying.
30:12Um, well, the main point is that you cheated death.
30:14That's really the important part here.
30:15And I think that's, I don't think I cheated death.
30:17I think death was like riding in the passenger seat with me.
30:19You know, he was just along for the ride.
30:21Like your buddy.
30:21Like, wow.
30:23It's like a buddy movie.
30:24You know, cool.
30:26Just me and death out hanging with the cowie.
30:29Yeah.
30:29Because, and I'm serious about that, right?
30:31Because you think about that and you think about going 95, a hundred miles an hour through
30:36the desert and you're like, wow, that is like, that's trophy truck speeds.
30:39And that's, that's king of the hammer speeds, you know?
30:43Um, and, but in the, in the Tarex H2, you just don't, you don't get that.
30:48You don't get that, that, that frightening feeling.
30:50I mean, you do when you first hit 95 or a hundred, cause you're going 95 and a hundred.
30:54But after a little bit, you're like, yeah, this is stable.
30:57This is fine.
30:58I'm not, nothing's going to happen because the suspension is doing its job.
31:01The tires are doing their job.
31:03Speaking of the tires, uh, all new, they are all new Maxxis Carnivore Pluses.
31:09They're 33 inches, uh, on 16 inch diameter wheels.
31:13And, uh, they're, they're pretty good.
31:15I, I was never a big fan of the Maxxis Carnivores.
31:18I just didn't think they had enough grip.
31:20Uh, but the Carnivore Pluses, they're, they're pretty excellent.
31:23Um, there was only one part where I did break traction in the rear and it, it caught traction
31:28pretty much instantly as soon as I did.
31:30Uh, so I think they're fantastic.
31:33Gotcha.
31:33And for two weeks, they were the largest, uh, factory, uh, installed tire.
31:38Two weeks.
31:39In the, in the UTV world.
31:40For two weeks, they were top of the hill, but then the, uh, the Can-Am Maverick X3.
31:46No, Can-Am Maverick RX, Can-Am Maverick RXRC.
31:51RC.
31:52I'm just going to say RC from now on, cause that's all I can remember.
31:54Yeah, that's fine.
31:55And two extra inches, 35 inch tires.
31:58And I actually want to circle back to that a little bit because we're running out of time
32:02here, but I do want to talk about this for a second.
32:05When the Maverick R was released, everybody was complaining about that tall knuckle suspension
32:10because it sat right above the tires, right?
32:12Yeah.
32:12Like, and so people were concerned about what's the, what's the biggest size of tire you can
32:16put on it.
32:17Uh, there were some people who, who put 35s on it just to see and it fit, but it was,
32:22it was super close.
32:23But there's a difference between that and sticking 35s on from the factory.
32:29Yeah.
32:29And that's just Can-Am being, you know, spitting in those people's faces and being like, here,
32:34take that 35s can fit, you know?
32:37Yeah.
32:38That's kind of funny.
32:38It's a little, uh, little mixed messaging.
32:40Um, but it's exciting that, uh, I mean, it's going to be exciting for, uh, for owners of,
32:44uh, of, of, of already, of already existing, uh, maps to know that 35s do indeed fit, uh,
32:51just right under the knuckles.
32:53Yeah.
32:53And they're fine.
32:54You know, they work, they won't rub and they're, they're excellent.
32:57And I, I love it.
32:58Two big rigs coming out from two of the biggest manufacturers.
33:01We've got the Kawasaki Terex H2.
33:03Yeah.
33:03We've got the Can-Am Maverick RXRC and stuff coming from Polaris soon, hopefully.
33:09Um, so a lot of exciting news about, about side-by-sides, about sports side-by-sides, uh,
33:14two new utility rigs that came out and, uh, it's exciting.
33:18You know, like you said, I think-
33:19We are rich with developing news.
33:21We are rich and, uh, trust me, we, we feel it the most.
33:24We have been absolutely wired trying to get all this news out.
33:28Um, but, but yeah, I think, like you said, we're in a golden age of side-by-sides.
33:33It's a golden age.
33:34I love saying that.
33:35That's just one of my catchphrases.
33:36Well, I, I think, I think you're right about that because you can, you can think back in
33:40like the 60s and 70s when, uh, you know, the car, the car world was just, here's this
33:46horsepower.
33:46This has a hundred horsepower now.
33:48This has 200 horsepower now.
33:49This can hit 200 miles an hour now.
33:52And I, I think we're, we're seeing that in the side-by-side world.
33:55We, we are, we are before the era when they're going to be regulating these things like super
34:01harshly.
34:01Yeah.
34:02We've already seen some regulations obviously coming out of California and some government.
34:06Damn government.
34:07What's that?
34:08It's a damn government.
34:09I mean, sort of, but for, for the most part, uh, manufacturers kind of had free reign to
34:15do whatever they want right now.
34:17Um, it is, it's a, it's a wild west sort of space and it's exciting and obviously the
34:22landscape is probably going to change in the next couple of years.
34:24But like you said, when there's, when there's a horsepower war, when there's any kind of like
34:28sort of performance war, whatever you're talking about, UTVs, cars, muscle cars, performance
34:33cars in the eighties and nineties, like whatever the consumer wins, uh, you know, and it's,
34:37it's, and you know, golden age is, is kind of a cute sort of phrase, but this is a really
34:42cool time.
34:42And I think that in a couple of years, we're going to look back and we're going to be like,
34:46it's going to kind of beg belief.
34:47It's like, you did that.
34:48Oh, sorry.
34:48I can't say that.
34:50Holy anyway, but it's, it's going to be really exciting.
34:53And, you know, even if, even if you are not the, the, the end beneficiary of a rig with
34:59250 horsepower, the fact that all of this development is going on and the fact that
35:03the fact that it just exists, exactly.
35:05The fact that they're, they're, they're like digging deep to get to your wallets and get
35:11to the consumer dollar and offer the maximum amount of UTV, um, you know, uh, is, is exciting
35:18and it's, it's great for anyone who's in the market, uh, and anyone who's in the market
35:23for a rig.
35:24Yeah, absolutely.
35:25I think you're, I think you nailed it, but that has been everything from us from UTV driver.
35:32This has been the UTV driver podcast.
35:34Thank you so much for watching.
35:35I am content editor, Jackson Cooper joined by, joined by editor.
35:39Anders T. Carlson editor.
35:41Joined by editor Anders T. Carlson.
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