Can-Am Turbocharges the Maverick X ds
- Updated: November 3, 2014
Can-Am recently gave us the keys to their brand new turbocharged 2015 Maverick X ds, and for two full days let us roost all the sand we wanted at the Glamis Sand Dunes. Never before has a UTV come stock with a turbo, so we were pretty pumped to mash down on the pedal and see for ourselves if the new Maverick really is the fastest machine money can buy at your local dealership. We were a bit skeptical to tell the truth. Was this new sexy-bold-looking-Maverick with Turbo-branding more of a marketing-scheme to sway potential buyers out of Polaris dealerships, or would the new Maverick Turbo pack a punch equal to its bad-boy looks?
Besides the black and can’t-miss-florescent-green color-scheme, (also available in white and gray) the newest member of the Maverick family resembles the current Maverick 1000R, but there were a good bit of improvements made. So rest assured, Can-Am didn’t just bolt a turbo on their old Maverick and call it good-to-go. We’re happy to report that the new X ds Turbo version of the Maverick has engine and CVT changes to cope with the added ponies. It also has a four inch longer wheelbase, and a few suspension changes definitely worth noting.
In the front of the machine, they moved the shock mounting location and redesigned the A-arms. Combined this gave the machine an impressive 15 inches of wheel travel, up an inch from the old Maverick. The rear of the machine received much more changes than the front. The rear differential is now back four inches more and the X ds Turbo’s Torsional Trailing Arms locations were changed, this gave the machine a longer wheel base (88 inches to be exact) and an improved 16 inches of travel. Rounding out the suspension package is a set of four Fox Podium X 2.5 RC2 HPG Piggyback shocks, which feature both high and low speed compression adjustments as well as full rebound and preload adjustment.
On to why you’ll probably purchase this machine, the engine and it’s ability to make a class-leading 121 ponies. It does this with a 976cc fuel injected electronically-tuned turbocharged engine! Can-Am claims it makes a whopping 40% more torque than the competition and 10% more horse power. If you’re like us you’re probably concerned that the power might be too much for the rubber band (CVT belt driven trans). Well good news, Can-Am new this would be a major area of concern so they improved air flow to the CVT box by 68%.
14” Aluminum beadlock wheels are mounted to 28” Maxxis Big Horn 2.0 tires, which seemed to be a nice tire and wheel package, but if your considering this expensive machine for dune riding, go ahead and get paddle tires to assure that you’ll be the king of any and all race-able hills.
The Verdict
We put about 15 hours of seat time on the new Maverick X ds Turbo and got to know the machine quite well. We thought the turbo would make the vehicle fast by spooling up the engine’s ability to make more top end power than a non turbocharged engine, like most aftermarket turbo kits tend to do. On the contrary, the machine made excellent power from bottom, mid and top end, with no sign of turbo-lag whatsoever. Nail the throttle and you’re instantly pinned to your seat and gone. It’s by far the fastest bone stock Side by Side money can buy! Boost pressure is electronically tuned and varies from zero to only eight pounds. This doesn’t sound like all that much, in fact you can barely even hear the turbo working, but we’re here to tell you it works, and, hold on tight because man o man, does it work! There’s never an instant where you’re waiting for power to come on like we assumed before our ride test. You can probably even increase boost with some aftermarket help, but Can-Am recommended not to. More than eight pounds would probably start tearing up engine and transmission components.
There were a total of 28 of us beating up on 14 test vehicles for two-straight days in 96 degree temps. Other than a few dented front grab bars, each and every Maverick performed flawlessly. This is something we were pretty impressed with. That 68% increase of air flow to the CVT must be pretty accurate because, we raced up hills, roosted bowls, and hammered through whoops in the hot sun all day long with no issues. We would have thought someone would have broken at least a belt but it didn’t happen.
As for suspension, our Maverick X ds Turbo did need some shock therapy for the kind of hard core dunning we were trying to get out of it. Since Can-Am had the guys at FOX Racing Shocks on hand we took them up on their offer to fine tune the shocks. After increasing the rebound nearly all the way our machine went from soft, bottoming and rear-end swap-happy to precise and racer-like. After we dialed in the shocks, we really started to like the machine, as opposed to day one when we were loving the engine but hating the ride. On day two we were dialed in and actually impressed at how well-planted the machine felt. With little body roll and a good stable feel, we were able to rail through corners with confidence. Also worth noting was Can-Am’s Tri-mode Dynamic Power Steering (DPS) with a quick-ratio steer unit that allows the machine a lock-to-lock ratio of a turn and ¾ . Tri-mode means you can select from three modes, max, which was our favorite as it allows for the easiest turning, while medium and minimum stiffen up the machine’s turning ability, this would be used if you do a lot of high speed fire road driving and want more of a sports car feel.
Ergonomics are as nice as the looks of this machine. The seats were very comfortable, gauges were readable and right in front of your face. There was plenty of leg room, nothing restricting and no sores or blisters the next day. Our water stayed in the cup holder and there was plenty of room for camera equipment in the large glove compartment. What we didn’t like were the headlights. At $20k for this machine a set of HD LED lights would have greatly helped night time visibility.
Conclusion
Can-Am just kicked the door off its hinges with the first turbocharged UTV. We were very impressed with this never-been-done-before machine. After some shock-tweaking it handled well enough to make this rocket-ship of a UTV a pleasure to drive. Make no bones about it, there’s no doubt, the Maverick X ds is the absolute fastest Side by Side you can buy off the showroom floor. We can honestly say this because we found a guy with a brand new 2015 bone-stock Polaris RZR XP 1000 and raced him several times. Races were conducted from a dead stop with both vehicles in gear and running. Time after time, on flat ground and hills alike, the Maverick left the RZR out of the hole and continued to pull away from bottom end through mid range and flat out walked further away at top end. We even switched drivers and the X ds Turbo still won with ease each and every time. We got the machine to 73 mph in the sand, but we’re sure it would go another ten mph on hard-packed terrain.
Kyle Chaney and Chris Bithell used a Can-Am Maverick 1000R to win the 2014 GNCC XC1 National Championship. Will Turbochargers be allowed in GNCC racing now that they come stock from an OEM? We shall see.
If you’re considering purchasing a new Maverick and don’t plan on doing much dune riding, we can’t help determine if this would be the best choice or not as our test was in nothing but sand, but looking at the success that Can-Am has recently had in GNCC racing, which offers the most demanding terrain of any race series, might lend an example as to how this machine would fair on cross country trails and race tracks. Things sure have seemed to change in the right direction for Can-Am and their mighty Maverick in a very short period of time. Last year it seemed rare that a Can-Am won a single GNCC overall race, while Polaris won every GNCC class championship. Fast forward one short year later and Can-Am just went 1,2,3 at the last GNCC and won the 2014 GNCC XC1 and XC2 championships. Will turbocharged engines be allowed on race tracks? Is that fair? That remains to be determined, so if you’re considering buying this to race, we would suggest waiting to here the official word from the race series you have in mind. But if you simply want the fastest UTV currently available there’s no need to wait, the 2015 Can-Am X ds Turbo is available at your local dealer now.
For all the specs, more info and a zillion available accessories click to can-am.brp.com
