Salem, Wisconsin - Since its
release in 2006, the Suzuki LT450R QuadRacer has
been one of the most successful race quads on
the market today. It’s low profile and wider
stance has helped make it an ideal choice for
the motocross track, which is what Suzuki intended.
Now with the release of the 2008 model, it is
apparent, with all the upgrades done to the machine
that Suzuki means business out on the track. Suzuki
recently invited ATVRiders to come check out the
new 2008 Quadracer. Their location of choice…Doug
Gust’s house.
Digger’s place seemed like the perfect
location for this venture. After all, there
is no one else who has logged more hours of
R&D and testing on the Quadracer than Gust,
and the layout of his track was idyllic. The
track boasts several very large jumps including
a 90-foot triple and some good-sized doubles.
There is also a whoops section, long straight-a-ways,
a rhythm section, some off camber turns and
lots of big burms. The outer section of the
track is more outdoor style, open and fast while
the inside section is more reminiscent of a
supercross style layout, giving lots of variety
for putting the ’08 Quadracer to the test.
It was a typical late summer day when we arrived
at Doug’s house. It was warm and humid
with thunderstorms in the forecast for later
that day so we decided to suit up and get down
to business while Mother Nature was still in
the mood to cooperate.
| |
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| Doug
Gust's house is tucked away in the woods,
and it is surrounded by a motocross track.
Doug's playground also has a airplane
runway, rc car track, and a large lake
with a water slide |
Many
of the jumps surrounding Doug's house
are not for the faint of heart including
the massive double named "King Kong",
which launches Doug high enough to clear
his entire house |
Judging by appearances, no one would be able
to guess that the 2008 Suzuki LT450R QuadRacer
has had 100+ upgrades added to it over the 2007
model. In fact, Suzuki was so convinced that
we would be able to feel the changes, they not
only brought a 2008 model, but also a 2007 model
for us to compare it to, which we thought was
pretty cool. We hopped on the 2007 model first
to get a feel for it, then the 2008 to see just
how much better it really was. We have to admit,
the improvements were quite remarkable.
 |
ATVriders.com
Test Rider
WPSA MX Racer - Nick Davis |
“After riding both of them I can tell
that the 2008 is way faster than the 2007. There’s
no comparison.” Stated Gust after several
laps on each machine. “Honestly I didn’t
think it was stock when I first got on it. It
pulled as hard as my ‘07 I have built
for racing.” Added ATVRiders test rider,
Nick Davis. According to Suzuki representative
Rod Lopusnak, the 2008 has a gain of three horsepower
over the 2007, plus something else that Suzuki
refers to as the “ECM Logics System”.
“The Logics System monitors throttle position
and the RPM’s and the speed at which that
throttle and RPM quickness is hit. Basically
it measures how fast the rider reacts.”
Explained Lopusnak. “The ECM adjusts the
spray which helps control traction and doesn’t
allow the wheels to spin quite as fast. There
will still be quite a bit of wheel spin, but
what it does is it slows down the wheel spin
to give you much better traction. This was one
thing that was key and it showed much better
times in the lap times.” Our test rider
definitely noticed how the ECM worked out on
the track. “It was still a controllable
slide but when you really punched it, it hooked
up right away, there wasn’t much wheel
spin, it just bit and pulled really hard coming
out of the corners.” Stated Davis.
