HCR Racing Maverick 1000 X rs DPS Project UTV
Can-Am did a great job of improving its extremeperformance Maverick 1000R for 2014, adding triple-mode EPS and Visco-Lok QE (Quick-Engagement) front differential to two new performance packages: the 1000 X rs DPS (tested November 2013) and the 1000 X xc DPS (tested October 2013). We were stoked with both 1000Xs and had a blast ripping around the New York countryside at the introduction of the Hilltown Riders OHV (March 2014). The 14-inch-travel X rs DPS, with its high-end Fox Podium X 2.5 shocks and high- and low-speed compression and rebound adjusters, improved ride quality, while the new X xc DPS sported a foot of travel via Fox Podium X 2.0 shocks with adjustable compression and preload only. Both steered beautifully in the tight woods and rocky trails, but we didn’t really get many chances to test the brilliance of the Visco-Lok QE, as there weren’t many nasty hills or rock-crawling sections to tackle. While the Maverick 1000 X rs DPS is a huge improvement, it doesn’t have the overall travel of the Arctic Cat Wildcat 1000 or the new Polaris RZR XP1K, both of which have 4 more inches of travel and 6 more than the Maverick X xc DPS. In more wide-open terrain, the Maverick doesn’t have the same terrain-gobbling capabilities as the XP1K or Wildcat. HCR Racing is dedicated to getting the most out of the Maverick, which has a stellar 976cc engine, with awesome torque, great ergonomics and creature comforts, balanced handling, and grippy tires and brakes. We got a chance to try out the HCR Racing Maverick 1000 X rs DPS at the King of the Hammers, like we did in 2013 too, and here’s what we found.
WHAT’S HCR RACING’S LTS KIT LIKE?
Since switching from Hardcore Racing and making titanium components for the Traxxas T-Maxx R/C truck, HCR Racing was formed to bring long travel to the Rhino, Prowler and Teryx. Their philosophy has always been one of durability with box-section A-arms (instead of tubes) and lasercut, CNC-bent and hand-Tig-welded I-beam construction. Box construction allows inner and outer welds, and much computer-assisted-design (CAD) testing has increased durability big time. HCR Racing’s Maverick/Max LTS kit uses 4-inch-longer arms to increase travel to 18 inches, and the four front arms add 2 inches of wheelbase, while the rear TTA arms add another inch. That brings the Maverick to 72 inches wide with a wheelbase of 87.3 inches. Ground clearance is also increased, depending on how much preload is used. Beyond the heavier and longer arms, the LTS kit includes longer and stronger Summer Brothers Racing 4340 axles and King Racing 2.5 remote-reservoir shocks with adjustable compression damping (30-percent range). Made in the USA (Utah), HCR arms use chromoly mounting points for strength and stock ball joints and torsion bars. They cost $5999. HCR Racing also trades out stock components to lessen the sticker shock.
HCR Racing tested dual-rate springs early on with the Maverick but went to straight-rate coils. The King Racing 2.5 shocks sport 200-pound springs, front and rear. And, although both the Maverick 1000 X rs and X xc DPS sport 12-inch beadlock wheels, rock crawlers and desert racers want taller tires, so the 27-inch Bighorn 2.0 tires were replaced with Motorsports Alloy M21 Lok (beadlock) 15-inch rims shod with EFX Motoclaw 28x9R15 DOT-approved rubber. Both have a 1000-pound load limit, and the eight-ply Motoclaws are all-terrain terrors. Other changes are purely cosmetic, and the magic V-twin was left stone stock.
WELCOME TO THE WILD, WILD WEST
We tested the HCR Maverick in the dunes, rocks, whoops and cross-grain terrain of Johnson Valley OHV Area, home of the King of the Hammers, and the HCR Racing Maverick 1000 impressed us in all conditions. Whoops don’t upset the chassis nearly as much with the long-travel kit and added wheelbase, so Maverick can attain much higher speeds with more control and confidence and run with the Wildcat and RZR 1000s. In fact, the centralized mass of the HCR Maverick makes it more stable than the XP 1000 over rough ground, and it can be thrown into corners much harder than any stock-width 1000. Can-Am’s Tri-mode EPS lets you tune how much assist the EPS unit provides, and the extra-long King Racing shocks allow a lot of ride-height adjustment. Photos show the HCR Maverick in a more relaxed configuration that you see with short-course Trophy Trucks in CORR, LOORRS and TORC racing. It rides low for optimum cornering, and the suspension extends fully over jumps to soak up the landing. Or, jack up the preload for maximum clearance for rock crawling or mud whomping.
In fact, the bulging front fenders and hood remind us of a Trophy Truck, and the throaty OEM dual exhausts add to the Trophy Truck feeling. The 101-horsepower V-twin has plenty of torque for keeping the front end light at speed or ripping around corners in a big slide, and the suspension makes it feel like you’re floating over the desert floor. Jumping the HCR Maverick is plush as well, and the mid-engine machine flies much better than the XP 1000. Although there are fewer available adjustments on the remotereservoir King Racing shocks, they’re dialed to deliver a plush, balanced ride, and any bottoming can be dialed out with the compression adjusters. We also liked the ride and handling of the EFX Motoclaw tires and M21 Lok rims. The long-travel suspension and tires upgrade the overall Maverick handling to great. As much as the Maverick was upgraded by the DPS and Visco-Lok QE, the HCR Racing LTS kit makes the Can-Am much more effective, especially in the wide-open West. It’s still a little hard to heel/toe the throttle and brake in sensitive rockcrawling situations, and the slight lag with the fly-by-wire throttle takes getting used to, but the added clearance and articulation of the HCR Racing LTS kit make it an excellent rock crawler.
THE AFFORDABLE TROPHY TRUCK
With the 2014 Maverick 1000 X rs DPS retailing for $18,799 to $19,599 (red), the $5999 HCR Racing LTS kit brings the total to $24,798. A basemodel 1000R converted with the HCR kit would be $22,298, but you wouldn’t get the magic DPS or Visco-Lok QE differential, nor would you get as much trading in or selling your OEM arms, shocks and axles.
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