Dirt Wheels - February 2017

cases and axles to ensure reliability. We drove almost exclusively in AWD, and we didn’t have any problems at all with the drivetrain. For suspension, Polaris stayed with proven A-arm front suspension and trail-ing-arm rear suspension with stronger and lighter tubular radius rods. Fox Podium internal bypass shocks are used on all four wheels. Internal bypass shocks use bypass holes in the shock body where the shock piston travels. Initially, at the beginning of the travel, all of the bypass holes are open, so the action is smooth. As the shocks move deeper into the travel, the shock piston closes off more of the bypass holes for more damping control. If the shaft speed demands more oil flow than the bypass holes can manage, oil is forced through the shock valving with added oil control. Once the shocks are deep into the travel, the piston goes past all of the bypass holes, and the shock piston ports and shims control all of the damping. By using this design, the shocks have damping that is both speed- and position-sensitive. With 18 inches of rear travel and 16 inches in the front, Polaris has done an amazing job developing suspension that can handle sand whoops at speed, as well as rock crawling in low range.

STOP IT

Finally, with added power and
speed, comes the need for better
brakes. We can say that the brakes
are vastly more powerful, but since
most of the test was in sand, we didn’t
have to punish the brakes much. We
are looking forward to some traction
that will let us enjoy the braking
power more.

THE TEST

Our test was conducted over two long days in the infamous Glamis sand dune area. It was a busy weekend with plenty of whoops and chop to challenge the suspension. Glamis dunes are also a fine test of bottoming resistance, since some transitions from dune to flat are quite abrupt. The doors open easily and close crisply, and the shoulder belts work fine, though a harness system might make more sense in a car this capable. The engine fires instantly and settles easily into a smooth idle, and that trait never changed no matter how hard we ran the car in the dunes. Like all CVTs, the XP Turbo isn’t absolutely smooth when taking off easily, but the engagement is nothing you can criticize.

As soon as the Turbo is rolling, you can feel the new steering system that requires less effort and less rotation lock to lock. The result is that you rarely—if ever—need to hand-over-hand the steering. And with this sort of performance, keeping two hands on the wheel is prudent. If anything, it feels like Polaris made the power smoother and easier to control at low throttle openings. For technical riding and rock crawling, that should be a bonus. But once you stand on the gas, things start to happen in a hurry. The acceleration feel is just stunning, and

2017 TURBO

34 www.dirtwheelsmag.com When you have the room to get the Turbo ripping where you can feel the power and let it blast dune bowls, you feel like you are on the banking at a Superspeedway.

There are a lot of exciting changes hidden under the XP Turbo’s skin, but we do like the tough-looking larger grill opening. It looked obvious to us, but very few people noticed that we were in a 2017.