It's flat-out silly season in the world of high-performance side-by-sides, with Can-Am announcing the most powerful supersport UTV in the production gasoline market. The new Maverick X3 X Turbo RR machines now make a touch under 200 hp, and by golly they'll go a bit.
To be honest, we thought the 2017-issue Turbo R Mavericks were a bit nutty when they launched – 172 hp put them way out ahead of the rest of the production pack. But in powersports, as we all know, the correct amount of horsepower is always "more." So 2020 will bring us exactly that.
The RR's three-cylinder, 900cc Rotax engine gets a bigger turbo, an intercooler and a freer-flowing airbox to bump its peak output up to 195 hp and 135 lb-ft (183 Nm) of torque. As before, it puts the power down through a CVT, which has been recalibrated to improve the longevity of the belt under all that power.
All versions of the RR get a good-looking new 7.6-inch digital display, which is notably bigger than the one on the lower spec models and should help you keep your eyes on the trail ahead a bit more.
The Can-Am side-by-side range is notoriously complex – one good UTV deserves a bunch of others in BRP Inc's view – so best as we can tell there are four different editions of the Maverick X3 X Turbo RR. From cheapest to most expensive, there's the US$24,999 DS, the $26,399 MR, the $27,499 RS, and the $29,599 RC.
The King-Dingaling RC earns its spot at the top of the pile with extraordinarily long suspension travel – some 24 in (610 mm) at the rear and 22 in (559 mm) at the front on Fox 3.0 Podium RC2 shocks – and an impressive 16 in (406 mm) of ground clearance for gnarly terrain work. The shocks offer high and low speed adjustment on both compression and rebound damping, giving you more ways than ever before to stuff your handling up, and the RC's also got new mechanical beadlock wheels and bigger 32-in tires.
If you manage to find anywhere this thing can't go, it's got a 4,500-lb (2,041-kg) winch on board that can lift more than twice the RC's 1,811-lb (821.5-kg) dry weight, so if the rope's long enough you should be able to winch it straight up a vertical cliff with driver and passenger strapped into their 4-point harnesses. If you're into that sort of thing.
So there you have it. If you want to turn up and hit the trails or the motocross park with the baddest machine on the market, the Turbo RR series is probably it right now – unless you've managed to get hold of a pre-production version of the 555-hp Nikola electric beast, which takes things to a whole different level of "but why?"
Source: Can-Am