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.
The mounting points for the rear Fox
bypass shocks differ from the RZR XP
1000 models. A single built-in clamp
holds the reservoir to the cage.
These vents on top of the bed are
nearly double the size that they were in
2016, and they are now double-sided!
That helps performance and gets fresh
air to the CVT case.