Pat McArdle: Hey, Pat McArdle back for another episode of Shop Talk where today we are going to do a little compare and contrast on the new Pro R versus the new Maverick R and tell you a few of the things we like about each vehicle. You know, maybe some of the things that are a little different and just to be clear, I am 100% a Polaris employee, I am a RZR guy, so I am going to be definitely a little biased here. So these are my opinions, just want to make sure I am upfront with everybody from the get-go.
Pat McArdle: So from an exterior point of view, obviously you can see the style of these two vehicles is dramatically different, right? This Pro R looks like a lot of the top-end RZR models between the Pro XP, the Turbo R and the Pro R. The style has been out for a couple years now, it was a little polarizing when it first launched but more and more people have been liking this look as the power, the performance, the capability these machines have grown.
Pat McArdle: As we look at the Maverick over here on the other side, the Maverick R, it does carry some of the classic X3 style lines that we have seen in the past but the front end is much more compact on this vehicle. It is a lot wider. So it looks a little more snub-nosed on the front. Obviously, the suspension bits sticking out are very visual cues in the front end. It is kind of a like it or hate it, I will say in person I like it a little less than I did when I first saw it online just because of how snub-nosed this thing is.
Pat McArdle: I think as we look at roll cages, the one-piece fully welded cage on the Pro R, this is the strongest cage we have ever put on a RZR. Yes, it bolts to the chassis but from this body line up, this is all one weldment, the entire roll cage. So it is a super stout, super strong cage. Styling is great on it and it is covered by a metal roof so we have got an aluminum roof on the RZR here as well. So really stylish, nice and sleek, kind of curves back, is it that nice Fastback look.
Pat McArdle: When we go over to the Maverick R over here, this is a bolted together cage. So it bolts to the main frame like most, but if you can get your camera up, you might be able to see where it bolts kind of on either side where the center structure goes across, these side parts. So that cage does bolt together on the Maverick R which is different than the Pro R. Poly roof on this one so plastic roof obviously gets the ability to get some styling cues into it. But it does look a little bit bigger.
Pat McArdle: One of the other things while we are here on the Maverick R that is not my favorite is these giant intakes that are behind the seats. So if you look at this, this blocks a hell of a lot of the view coming off your rearview mirror when you are trying to see somebody behind you and even when you are trying to turn your head over for backing up, you cannot really see much of anything out behind the seats. You are kind of reliant on the rearview camera here to see what is behind you and it is very difficult when you are not used to it.
Pat McArdle: When you come over on the Pro R here, we have actually got an intake under the hood that is drawing fresh air up for the front as well as the intakes in the back here. So you get a nice wide open view to see behind you when you are sitting in the driver's seat. And same deal, there is also a reverse camera on this one with Ride Command. So it is pretty easy to be able to see behind you and if you turn your head, yes, some of your view gets blocked by this panel but you can at least see kind of around it a little bit. So backing up is easier, at least from my point of view on the Pro R.
Pat McArdle: All right, so I jumped in the interior of this Pro R and obviously I am used to this seating position, it fits me like a glove. I got the seat adjusted, I have my harness strapped in. I have got the steering wheel tilted and pulled toward me like I like it. Everything is within reach, that is really what I love about this RZR interior. Right, I got headlight, all-wheel drive switches here, got my drive modes that I can get to. Shifter handles are easy to get to. Steering wheel buttons so I do not have to take my hands off when I want to adjust the audio or my ride or my Dynamics and we will get to that in a little bit.
Pat McArdle: But the other big one for me is my ability to store stuff in the interior here. So I have got a nice center area that I can drop a phone in the back. I have got a USB cable I can charge. I can fit a few other things like my spare gloves in there. I got another box over on the passenger side that I can fit my toolkit from the factory along with other things, it is a pretty nice big area. I have also got a center console one here so I have got another 12-volt port here. I have got an ability to fit a few other things along with a pair of cup holders here in front of the shift handle. You can see I got some more room here that I can grab another couple things to go on the trail and then on the side of this console there is actually a whole another cubby on the passenger side that I like to throw things like a tow strap or stuff I do not use very often but it is handy to have with me.
Pat McArdle: So when you look at the interior, there is a lot of storage on the Pro R and everything is ergonomically set to be right where I need it, so I am going to be super confident as I ride. Pedal location is good, I got a dead pedal and a throttle that are aligned so my hips stay in plane. I mean, overall this interior is really nice on the RZR. So with that, let us jump over to the Maverick and check that one out next.
Pat McArdle: So getting in, there are a couple things that I really do not like about getting into this thing. Now clearly I am not wearing a helmet because we are inside and just showing a few things off, but when I am actually riding, I have a helmet that sticks out from my head. I smoke it on this cage almost every time I get in and out. And this hard plastic on the edge of the seat is really very uncomfortable because I ended up having to sit on it every time I get in, even when I got the steering wheel kind of as far out of the way as possible. So you notice even when I try and get my butt all the way in, I am literally right on that hard seat edge. And I got to kind of lift up to get myself in and around it.
Pat McArdle: From a harnessing perspective, you probably noticed that I was wearing six points on the RZR. So I had hips and thigh straps which secure you into the machine a bit better. Here we just have four-point harnesses. So you got hips and then retractors on the shoulders. So the shoulder retractors are similar, this has got one on each. The RZR actually has one single one down low to keep it from unwanted engage. Tilt and telescoping is the same on both, basically you have got some buttons on the steering wheel here as well, we will talk about that in the technology section.
Pat McArdle: One of the other things that is, we talked about just a little from the interior, is just like the visibility. Yes, this one does have a mirror so you can see behind you, but it gets blocked by all the stuff back up in here. So it is very hard to see behind it and when you try and back up and look out like you really cannot see anything back out over your shoulder. You are highly reliant on the rear camera on this one.
Pat McArdle: From a storage perspective, there is really not a ton. You got a little bit of storage here along with some outlets. I think this piece of foam is probably so you can stick a phone in there, but eventually I am guessing I am going to lose that. There is also a tiny little box over here that really only fits the factory toolkit and I do not know if this one is missing a latch or it came out but this thing kind of just flops around on the trail when you drive this sucker. So that is a little disheartening as well. There is a little bit of center console storage in the middle here as well, kind of like we talk about a spot for a strap but it is a little smaller on the Maverick R versus the Pro R.
Pat McArdle: The rest of the things that you need to reach out and touch, some of the switches on the dash, the center stuff, all that is in pretty good reach. So I think from an ergonomics layout perspective, where my legs and feet are, my right foot is a little farther to the inboard side on this Maverick than it is on a RZR. So I do feel like my hips are always a little out of place where the steering wheel is right in front of me but my throttle pedal is kind of inboard a little extra. So it does get me a little cocked off in that regard. But overall, I do not think I would mind that for short rides, maybe all day long I would feel a little hip tension from driving around like that. But overall, from a seat angle perspective, this one is a little more laid back. Now we have got this one in the furthest most upright position right now and I still wish it was a little more upright. There is not another hole that I can adjust. The RZR is actually at the midpoint and that is pretty good so you can actually rock that seat forward or back. So you get a little more adjustability out of the tilt angle on the RZR than you do on this Maverick.
Pat McArdle: So I think we kind of talked about those things from a sight lines perspective. It is actually pretty good over the hood on this. They are, I will say, close to equal. I think with enough time I would get a sense of where that front passenger tire is. The front driver side, both of these you can look out and actually see where that one is tracking. So that is not too bad. But overall, the other thing I will say that is pretty nice is the size of the steering wheel. Both of these have pretty small compact steering wheels and the ability to operate the buttons without having to let go of the wheel is pretty nice as well for changing some of the modes that this vehicle has that we will talk about in the technology section.
Pat McArdle: All right, since I am already sitting in the Maverick R, we are going to dive into tech next. So let us start out because some of this stuff was a little new to me trying to figure out the first time I jumped in this thing. So from a shift perspective, we have got a lever here for reverse and drive. Park, neutral, low and high are all push buttons and the override to go backwards, this is actually pretty easy to use, I will give them props, this is not bad, not hard to use. The one area I do not like it is when you get in a really technical slow speed crawl like you are going up something and you got to jam it to reverse quick because you have to put your foot on the brake to be able to shift. You cannot do that maneuver quickly. And normal trail riding that is not a big deal, but if you are getting in real highly technical like rock crawling areas, being able to just grab that shift lever and slip it back, or being able to even shift it without holding the foot down on the brake can be a big deal at times in some of those gnarly areas.
Pat McArdle: The other one, this center screen, it is a big 10-inch display, it is a very widescreen format. It does look nice, but I will tell you one thing I do not like is the fact that I have to download this BRP Go app, plug in my phone to be able to even get navigation to show up. So one area I do not like is all around navigation. The other one on all these different modes, the buttons are very close to each other for the throttle modes, the steering, the driveline, the front diff lock and the combination one. You pretty much need to set this stuff before you start driving because if you are going any rate of speed, even though you can do some of it on the steering wheel, you can tap the buttons to be able to navigate through this takes a lot of mental effort until you get used to it. So I think the learning curve on this is a little higher than I would love to see personally. But I also am biased because I know Ride Command really well, so I am used to the controls on a RZR.
Pat McArdle: From an audio perspective, it looks as though you would find audio controls when you toggle through some of these menus like this where I have audio up and down, but this vehicle does not actually come with any speakers built in. So unless you got a Bluetooth headset, there really is not audio from the factory on this rig like there is on the RZR and we will show you that in just a minute. But overall, I will say reach tech, from that perspective, like the shifting is actually pretty easy to do. So I think let us go over to the RZR and do a quick dive on that one too.
Pat McArdle: So bounced over and we are talking tech and interior on the RZR. So you can see nice bolstered seat, I do not have a big piece of plastic coming up to bang me in the leg every time I get in and out. Both of these seats hug you fairly well. Obviously I like the upright seating position a little more in this one. From a Ride Command perspective though, and a mapping, you can see I am able to pull up a map here even without having my phone connected. I can see where all the trails are, makes it really easy to be able to get around in that regard. I have got some buttons, this is really intuitive. We have done other episodes on this, easy to get. My suspension is right here in the steering wheel, so I do not ever have to take my hands off to be able to adjust up for those different modes. From a drive modes perspective, I have got a separate switch for throttle modes with my right hand. I have got headlights and my drive modes on my left hand. So I can separate those things out mentally if I need to adjust that on the fly while I am going. I can do a quick reach down, flip that switch and keep boogieing down the trail.
Pat McArdle: Shifting pattern, again we talked about that. The nice thing about this straight throw is if I am climbing up something and I need to go a quick reverse, I can easily pop that shifter into the gear I need. The other thing that is cool here is I actually have the ability to listen to factory audio. So speakers and amps are built in on this. We have got a nice Rockford sound system with our partners there on RZR. I do not have to let go of the steering wheel. I can adjust that, I can tune that up. I can listen to different sources, AM/FM, Bluetooth, USB, whatever you want. Whereas on the Maverick that is actually an accessory just to put speakers in, none of those come with them. Whereas all these Pro Rs are set up right from the factory with built-in factory audio. So it is a nice add that we have got on the RZR side. So I think from the tech side, mapping is easy, audio is there, switch locations are easy and intuitive. It is really a simple package, makes it easy to get in, turn the key and go.
Pat McArdle: Next, we are jumping into suspension and obviously this is an area where we have got dramatically different looks on these two vehicles. So if we start with the Pro R, we have built this front end to be super beefy and super capable. Obviously this is our version with the Dynamics active suspension and we have got these huge 3-inch bodied shocks up front. So you do get the biggest front shock on the RZR versus the two and a half on the Maverick R. You can just see how much beef is in these arms, especially this lower one, with the shock mounting down to that, this thing is built to take some abuse. And those lower arms are super capable assuming you do not run into gigantic fixed obstacles that are not going to move like a boulder on the trail. This thing is also really capable of taking some square edged hits. So if you go through a little washout that is a little bit wider than the wheel, the RZR is going to dance right through it and it is going to be super confidence inspiring and capable as you go.
Pat McArdle: Now obviously this upper link is very dramatically different looking on the Maverick R. The one thing I will say that surprised the heck out of me is the tire actually rubs on this upright here and I do not know if you can see that on the camera, but kind of on both sides, not quite enough clearance between the sidewall of the tire and that big aluminum casting or forging there. I think from a steering, you know, side of view, both of these have the ability to have adjustable steering. Tie rods are obviously really beefy looking on the Maverick where you can see them, but when you get closer into the rack assembly, they do neck way down. So their failure point is smaller and closer to the rack and pinion itself.
Pat McArdle: And if we come to the back, we also do have this Max Link suspension on the Pro R. So where you see through the rear trailing arm here, we have got this different colored link that is actually controlling the toe, the steering angle of the rear tire basically. And that is adjustable if you ever get one that gets, you know, you got to readjust because it has got some wear, you took it apart and put it back together, it is pretty easy to do. You can string it up or take it to an alignment shop.
Pat McArdle: If you go over to the Maverick R on the other hand, they also run a toe link in the back but it looks in the rear of the machine. So to adjust that, you basically loosen one of these up, spin the bar and that can adjust the rear toe on this thing. So just a different way of doing it. Again, they have got this highly visible third link, this is the equivalent of the upper radius rod on the RZR. But other than that, both are trailing arm suspensions, both are running 3-inch body shocks in the back and both are really highly capable to be quite frank and big bump compliance.
Pat McArdle: The Pro R is awesome. I mean, you can dance with this thing at high speeds through little chatter bumps all the way up to really big stuff. The Maverick does pretty good on those big bumps as well but when you get in a little chatter, it gets a little more upset and the front end tends to feel numb in the steering. So I tend to like having really high levels of assist so that I do not get fatigued throughout the day. But the Maverick actually gets a little numb in the front end and you cannot always tell where your wheels are. The other thing I do not love about this package right now is that it is a little bit wider. It is about a little over 78 inches wide versus 74 on the RZR. And when you are going down trails that have been grooved out from all the 65 to 72 to 74-inch machines, the Maverick tends to dance back and forth as one wheel drops in the wheel groove and the other one is always fighting that. So when you are out in the sand, probably not a problem, but for normal trail riding, the RZR actually does a lot better because it fits those grooves that are out in the desert in wide open areas.
Pat McArdle: So overall I think from a consistency of handling perspective, both of these machines actually do really good. They are both point and shoot like we are used to, turn that wheel and hold it, it is going to track to it. But it is a little more numb feeling on the Maverick R than it is on the Pro R. I do like kind of how both operate, I will say. But it took me a little getting used to going through the trails to really turn in and then sometimes I had to wait for the Maverick before it would react where the RZR pretty much starts pulling right away. So part of that might be due to the drive mode you are in at the time. The RZR, I know when I flip it to all the way four-wheel lock, all four wheels are pulling. Whereas with the electronic front end of the Maverick, that trail active mode, it is engaging and disengaging the clutch packs on the two front wheels. So it is not always as consistent as I would like but it does work pretty good, I will give them props there.
Pat McArdle: All right, so the fifth thing we want to talk about is all about engine and power delivery, how that engine power is connected to the wheels. So on this Pro R, we have actually got an inline four-cylinder 2-liter engine pumping out 225 horsepower. The beauty of it being naturally aspirated is you have got instant throttle control. The instant you tip in, this thing will get moving. And again, you do have the ability to switch those throttle modes. So you can make it a little lazier or a little more performance-oriented depending how you like to drive. This has got a rubber belt CVT drive up in front of the engine that connects back to the gearbox here in the back. And again, you have got a manual shift linkage coming back for that park, reverse, neutral, low and high. So you always command the gear that you are in.
Pat McArdle: The clutches, the beauty of the CVT system on this is that it always keeps the engine in that sweet spot of operating band. So you kind of just ride up into the torque peak and you do not have to think about what gear you are in, it handles that for you. So whether you are on off the throttle, whether you are pulling big runs up olds out in the dunes, this thing kind of always is in the right location and you do not have to think about it. You shift that thing into gear, stomp on the pedal and away you go. Makes it really easy to drive, it is very predictable. And it is kind of always in the power band that you want it to be in and it is very snappy, it is very responsive with this inline four.
Pat McArdle: Now if we move over to the Maverick R, I will actually give the Can-Am guys props on this new DCT transmission. They put a dual clutch in this thing and it actually honestly works pretty good. So they have got a turbocharged three-cylinder engine pumping out 240 horse and they have got three different modes. When you are in the normal mode, it is pretty sluggish, you do notice the turbo lag. But when you bump it up into the Sport Plus, it bangs the idle speed up to like 2,200 RPM, does some other tricky electronics tech to be able to spool the turbo and they do a really nice job of eliminating the lag. So in that regard, depending on which of those drive modes you are in, you can go from pretty laggy like you expect in a turbo to almost no lag at all.
Pat McArdle: When you are in the automatic modes for the driveline here, it actually does a pretty good job of figuring out what gear you want to be in. The only place that it got confused on me was when I was in really on-off hard throttle areas with a lot of tight corners. There were times where I would come into a corner, be a gear higher than I wanted and I would have to manually grab the lever to actually downshift to be able to hold that gear through a corner and not feel like I was lugging the motor down. But overall straight line acceleration runs, it is a snappy shifting, that part does pretty good. But I do not think I would use the paddles honestly very much at all, just downshifts once in a while in tight terrains. The one thing I do not like though is for that technical driving, the low gear makes it nice for rock crawling, so you can get up with a lot of slow speed control. But when you get in those spots where you are going up and you got a quick shift to reverse or vice versa, yes, the shifter is set up to be just be driving reverse, but because you got to hold the brake pedal down and it takes a bit to clunk its way to the other gear, that is the one area that really do not like this setup for us. So I think if all you are doing is running wide open high speed, you are going to be happy with the way the driveline performs here. You are going to be really happy with the way the RZR performs as well. But I think for some of those slow speed really technical rock areas, I give the tip to the RZR for sure because I have the ability to switch directions really fast and be able to get myself out of a jam.
Pat McArdle: So overall my pick of these two machines for sure is the Pro R. Obviously I am a Polaris, I am a RZR guy. But when I think about those five areas, exterior, interior, suspension, tech, technology, engine and driveline, we pointed out the areas that I like a lot about the RZR. The one-piece cage, the better seats, the six-point harnesses, the fact that I do not need my phone connected to see the maps. The live valve, the super beefy lower control arms, the suspension performance and the fact that when I shift this thing into gear, I can quickly move to other gears if I need to in technical terrain. And that CVT always compensates and keeps me in the power band right where I want to be and I do not have to worry about thinking about slapping a paddle to get myself in a different gear. So overall my pick for sure is the Pro R. Hope you guys, maybe learned a thing or two. Make sure you like, comment and subscribe. Let us know what you want to see, maybe let us know what you agree with and what you do not. See you next time.
