Ok! So here's my big fat review!!!
That SUCKED.
Admittedly I went into this with some high expectations, shame on me. I got into Moab late friday, all was good. Saturday morning I went to dirtseeker and was looking at the 2 X units they had for rent. One looked good but 2 of the tires had huge gashes in the sidewall, waiting for someone like me to finish them off, that same unit also lacked a roof which was a bummer considering it was mid 90's. I knew heat would be an issue but a roof? C'mon. The second unit was in a little worse shape cosmetically but hey, these are rentals so... That unit had a roof, but it also had a completely bald set of bighorns. I went inside and talked to the owner who was great. A very nice guy but extremely opinionated like most brand specific dealers I have met, no biggy. I was willing to take my chances on either of the units, but then he informed me that the one day rental was actually only until; 5:30pm!!! That was about 9 hours away. I had about 4 other guys in my group planning on a evening/night ride so this was just a huge blow.
I walked 200ft across the road and rented a xp1k for 24hr (also was about $30 cheaper). The XP was already at their satellite store out at the trailhead where we were heading, Perfect! The Rzr Rental place directly across from Dirtseeker was great. The two ladies were sweet as could be, and the mechanics were friendly. They also spent about 30 minutes showcasing their baja 500 XP1K sitting at the store. I had a bajillion questions and they were great. I went out to start the day and found my next surprise. The satellite store was actually 3 zircons, no big. Out came my XP and it looked great, from 50ft. This thing had at least 3 different bodies on it, some with graphics some without. The dealership put on 28" hancook truck tires on all of their machines because the stockers wear out within a month. My particular unit had again, COMPLETELY bald tires (pitbulls actually). They also had about 20psi and made the ride un-godly. More on that; I fired it up and DAMN! They sound better than on You-Tube. It had some serious ASS behind it on the highway, which was about a 1/4 mile leg to the trail. I was getting excited. I met my buddies and off we went. About 1/2 mile into the trail (Gemini Bridges) i was thinking, "huh this thing is kinda rough," and i hadn't even left the forest road. As soon as some bumps showed up I lost all hope. I have never been in anything in my life that felt so rough. My F-150 handles trails better. Im not exaggerating when I say that when the suspension would drop to a certain point it sounded like i was bottoming the belly on a rock. Even better was when I went over a whoop, at full droop there was NO REBOUND, and the shocks just smacked into full extension, it was an awful feeling. Making matters worse was the the steel roof on the XP. No rubber or teflon, just clamps. It was so noisy at different RPM's. I couldnt talk with my wife from 5500-7300 RPM. Then the tires, I aired them down to 10 but they wouldnt grab on anything other than slickrock. I almost slid off the road at 20mph. I kept all this to myself as we had a long trip ahead of us.
We went from Gemini to Rusty Nail, turned around at some crazy climb, then hit Goldbar Rim and took that all the way to Golden Spike. From there we linked up with Poison Spider and saved some french dude's life. He was out of water on a mountain bike, postured up and in rough shape. Apparently he took a detour from his group, and was about 4 hours late to their rendezvous. Meanwhile, we had just encountered sand, and all the ponies in the world wouldnt get my XP to move. So i called the rental place and told them the deal. They were friendly and said if i made it back by closing they would get some other tires on the car. So I left the Frenchman with my allies (they had an extra seat in the XP 1000 4 seater). I had about 3 miles to go on Poison Spider and 30 minutes to get to the rental place in town. Needless to say I flogged that damn thing on the way back, or maybe it flogged me? Either way those of you who know Poison Spider will understand how the beginning of the trail, opposite of the direction we came, has TONS of rocks. At the trail head I encountered Frenchie's wife and in-laws, who flagged me down. I told them he was alive and ok and would be down soon with the others, Instant water works from the wife, it was really emotional.
My wife and I sacrificed our kidneys and made into town with 10 minutes to spare. The mechanic was waiting for me, with the brand new set of BFG MT's on Raceline Beadlocks from the Baja car I looked at earlier, SWEET!! He had them on in 10 minutes and I headed back to the condo. Later that night we went to M&M (Moniter and Merimack)? It was a joy to be out without the sun and the HID's on the 1K's were really great. The new tires were lovely! I felt so much more confident, the smaller rocks didnt hurt my back so bad, and the traction made me smile for once!!! Despite that radical change, the suspension was still garbage. I cycled through the gauge and found that the RZR had 5600 miles on it!!! On a 2014!! That many miles on stock bits in one of the worlds roughest places with 80% Goobers driving it like a bat out-a hell! No freakin wonder. Regardless we finished that ride and i gave it back the next day. Now heres the informative part. One guy in our group had a 1K with less than 200 miles. We did part of the same loop later on and man what a change. That being said, Brand new tires, and fresh suspension still left me wishing for a smoother ride. It deflected hard of the rocks and bucked in the whoops. We played with the clickers but without a rebound adjuster your hosed on really getting that rear end to sit down.
I'll be the first to admit that the power in that 1K is just flat out Nasty! Much like a 450 motocross bike however; most people cant use it to its potential unless you are at the dunes. I can think of one time where i gave it all she had for more than a few seconds. For that reason alone, I was longing for the demo Wildcat X i had recently tested. Will you lose in a straight line? Yes. Its been said a thousand times on this forum and ill admit that I was thinking it was people being biased and trying to justify their toys. BUT, with few exceptions, handling is where it is at. I would have gave up 40hp for a smooth ride because my Ass my back and everything else in that general area was angry. I ended up talking to the same mechanic later, and he admitted that his personal unit is a wildcat X. He raved about it's ride and climbing abilities over the XP. He also thought that the XP for the motor alone is enough reason to use it for a race car, considering all the suspension bits get changed out.
I do apologize, I realize this has been long winded, but I hope it helps the next guy who has the same dilemma. Basically, rental units are not a good representation of a car's ability and i think both Artic Cat and PoPo would be embarrassed by some of the units in circulation. Secondly, truck tires last for ever but man are they rough. Bighorns felt like marshmallows in comparison. Third, no amount of power will make you happier than a smooth ride will, trust me and my hematuria. Lastly, do some digging on these rentals. After it was all over i found another dealer down the road with new 1K's with less than 2k miles and they ran bighorns... UGH
Thanks to those who have helped with this trip, I wish I could have done the shootout as planned, but dirtseeker really put the squash on that. By the way the reason they don't rent over night is courtesy of 7 different DWI occurrences with their customers. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
