2016 Yamaha Wolverine R-Spec Ride Review

The big gear selector and e-brake fit nicely within the oversized sports-car-like center console. Check out the extra space right near the 12 volt plug, this is a perfect place to charge your phone. Also seen here is a set of deep cup holders so your drink stays where you put it.

The Wolverine allows more leg room than the Viking does, and both driver and passenger get a nicely placed outer foot platform that allows you to brace yourself so you’re not just relying on the seat for support. The dash is simple and straight forward with big fool-proof knobs for 2wd, 4wd, dif-lock and lights. A well-placed center mounted digital LCD displays a speedometer, odometer, dual trip meters, hour meter, clock, fuel gauge, gear position indicator, and four-wheel drive setting so both driver and passenger can see it. If you need to charge your cell phone, or whatever else you might need to plug in, a standard 12V DC outlet is provided and placed in a spot that makes sense. Also a hard plastic sun top is standard equipment. Why isn’t it on all UTVs?

Here you can see the adjustable passenger grab bar and shoulder support, supplied for both driver and passenger. They help to keep you planted in the vehicle and away from the outside elements. Also, this image shows how the short hood area dives down to allow excellent visibility.

The Wolverine’s tailgate can easily be placed to the front of the bed, an added feature that will surely come in handy.

Unlike the metal bed found in the Viking, the sportier Wolverine uses a lightweight and durable injection-molded composite cargo bed, which features six steel tie-down points that are mounted to the chassis, not just screwed into the plastic. And someone sure did their homework at Yamaha. I love the removable tailgate. It can easily be stored and secured in the front of the bed if needed. There’s also a built-in one-inch divider. The bed is rated to haul up to 300 pounds of gear and supplies, while a two-inch receiver hitch is rated to haul an additional 1,500 pounds of weight.

Check out those big meaningful shocks! Also seen here is a 2″ tow receiver that comes stock with the Wolverine, notice how it’s purposely tucked in very close to the rear axle.

I did none of the maintenance duties, but I can tell it would be pretty simple to service the machine since coolant, engine oil and gear oil drain holes look to be easy enough to get. As is the battery and marine-grade electrical components under the removable hood panel.

Nit-Picking
As you can tell by now, I’m pretty impressed with the new Wolverine, but to write a fair and honest review there are a few things that I’m not in love with. For one I would have liked a tilt wheel, but I will say the position it’s in didn’t bother me whatsoever. Also having to unbolt the seat to move it to another position makes it hard for your short wife to drive the Wolverine, but maybe that’s a good thing though, just kidding ladies.

The doors are a little low and dont do all that well to protect from mud and water, but they’re not meant to, the main objective is to keep the person’s legs inside the vehicle and they do just that. The door hinges and latch system work very well.

The sharp-looking and very useful fender flairs offer nice added mud protection, but they’re an add-on accessory, where I feel they should come with the vehicle, but then again Yamaha includes a nice hard-top at no extra cost, which is pretty much unheard of, so I guess I’ll take that trade off. Another gripe for me is the low doors, the hinge and latch work as well as the one on your car, but I would have liked a higher door to prevent mud and water from splashing into the cab. Rumor has it, if the doors were indeed higher people would use them as an arm rest and end up hurting themselves. So if I get a few wet pant legs in trade for saving some poor uneducated soul’s arm from getting broken I guess I can accept that. Unfortunately since the door is low the door handle is also low and tends to collect roost from the front tire, so I noticed most of my fellow editors just stepping over the door each time we stopped and got out. Hey at least the doors make it impossible for someone’s leg to come out of the vehicle while they’re seated and that’s really what Yamaha’s main objective was, so all in all, the doors that are used are appreciated. If you want more protection I’m sure a set of aftermarket doors will be available soon. Speaking of getting wet, there were a few water crossings that I didn’t let up for, and this revealed the need for a better seal where the upper and lower floorboards meet one another. If you’re going to be driving through a lot of mud and water, do yourself a favor and get some black duct tape and seal this area up better while the machine is still new and easy to work on.

Lastly I’m a bit apprehensive about welded-on skid plates. I couldn’t really tell because I didn’t spray wash the machine when we were done for the day, but I would imagine mud could gather between the skid and the under carriage and be hard to remove. I like the idea of unbolting a skid plate to remove gathered mud, leaves, sticks and rocks, but I will say the welded-on steel skids do drastically increase the strength of the frame.

Summary
As the innovator of the Side-by-Side sport vehicle, with their Rhino back in 2004, it’s about time Yamaha added something sportier to their line than their Viking, which is really meant as more of a work vehicle.

Like my simple, trusty, nimble, go-anywhere, lightweight 450 Wolverine ATV, the 2016 Wolverine R-Spec accomplishes quite the same thing but in a UTV. If you ask me, Yamaha couldn’t have named it better. The Wolverine R-Spec is most similar to the Kawasaki Teryx 800 (click the link to read our review), yet different if that makes any sense. With its single-cylinder 708cc engine, it’s not quite as fast, although not far off the Kawie’s pace, but its suspension and handling are far superior. The suspension seems to allow the tires to fall down onto the terrain like a rock-crawling vehicle, and it’s short wheelbase let’s you slip through the trees effortlessly. Being secured into the center of such a well handling machine that soaks up the terrain like a Cadillac while being able to easily see what’s in front of you makes this machine a fantastic choice for an off-road newbie.

The 2016 Wolverine R-Spec is available in Yamaha dealerships nationwide. Standard models feature a hard sun top and come in Steel Blue and Hunter Green. The new camo Wolverine R-Spec will be the first ever SxS to feature Realtree Xtra Camo. MSPR for non-EPS models starts at $12,199 and for EPS models starts at $13,199. Yamaha currently has more than thirty-five accessories for the Wolverine R-Spec, so before you head to the dealer, click over to www.yamahawolverine.com and play with the nifty “Build Your Own” (BYO) interactive tools to get an idea of what accessories are offered and how they fit and look on the machine.

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