“It never bottomed out. Not even once.
It also landed pretty smooth. It’s still
a little nose heavy, like all side-by-sides,
but if you’re landing on the downside
of jumps, it was incredibly smooth,” stated
Baron, who took flight as often as possible,
and looked like he was having a great time doing
it.
| |
|
Beau
Baron launched the Polaris RZR XP 900
over the jumps on the track with ease
as he charged his way through the pack
|
|
| The
RZR XP 900 has an impressive 13"
of ground clearance, which came in handy
at Lake Havasu with its deep sand ruts |
The bigger 27x9-12 front tires and 27x11-12 rears
gave us extra ground clearance that was helpful
in the sand where big ruts were prevalent. “I
liked the bigger tires for the extra ground clearance.
I think it helps to keep from getting high centered,”
said Baron, who also liked the addition of the
cast aluminum wheels that help keep the weight
down, which is a solid 1,190 lbs. dry weight on
the RZR XP 900.
The steering of the RZR XP 900 is very responsive
and felt good while out on the track, but as
with any larger machine, it could really benefit
from power steering that we hope will eventually
be included in future models.
The four wheel hydraulic disc brakes worked
great and gave us the stopping power we needed.
“This one guy got sideways right in front
of me and I had to lock up the brakes so I wouldn’t
hit him and it stopped really well,” said
Baron.
The redesigned seats of the RZR XP 900 were
incredibly comfortable, even in the roughest
parts of the track. The machine also felt safe
and stable the entire time we were racing and
the positioning of the hand holds were good.
| |
|
| Beau
Baron caught & passed all the racers
in the front row |
Beau
Baron shadows Keenan Rogerson to the checkered
flag |
So how did the 2011 Polari RZR XP 900 stack
up against the competition? Well, we think the
results speak for themselves. Even in its bone
stock form, Beau Baron was able to take the
Polaris RZR XP 900 to the podium as he finished
not only second in his class, but second overall
out of all the UTV’s after starting on
the second row.
|
| Beau
Baron finished an impressive 2nd Overall,
but he paid the price when a rock hit
him in the face early in the race, which
left him blood stained at the finish line |
“I didn’t even know I had caught up
to the lead guy. I thought he was a lapper otherwise
I would have really pushed it for the win,”
said Baron, who was still impressed by the RZR
XP 900 and its incredible performance out on the
track.
Overall we really like the Polaris RZR XP 900.
It handles incredibly well, has excellent power,
even in stock form, and is a very capable machine
for either racing or if you just want a high performance
machine for the dunes or trails. Now that we have
our first race out of the way, we can’t
wait to do a few modifications to this machine
and see what happens the next time we take it
out on the track.
