UTV Racing - a new 4x4 Sport?

[PSwindale]

Recently at Rd 3 of the XWC at Tamworth last October, we previewed The Polaris RZR side by side 4x4. The object here was to see if this type of vehicle might be up to this style of competition and to gauge competitiors reaction to the idea. Well things have progressed and I now believe, thanks to Mike and Wayne Smith, the CCDA have given the idea of a class for this type of racing the green light.

The idea would be to base a series around 3 models. One from Kawasaki, one from Yamaha and of course the Polaris. This could be a very good (and hopefully cheaper) form of racing, but importantly for sponsorship, these type of machines can be very easily kept in a presentable state for sponsors than our big 4x4's.

As we proved at rd 3, there is not much these units can't do that the big 4x4s can and it would not be hard to rejig a series with a little less winching and a little more driving, even multiple stadium racing. Even something like Cliffhanger could be tackled.

Anyway I am just after some feedback, questions or interest to help this series get off the ground and maybe become as big as what it is in the US. At this stage, Mike has plans to launch it in May in VIC, but I am sure he or Wayne will provide better information on this as time goes on.

Phil

[crazy eyes]

all I can say is WOW that polaris was awsome to drive and it evan coped a floging from some of us drivers and navis but it still kept going .
phill I hope it does get of the ground as it would be so much easyer and less pain to the hip pocket in the long run .

cheers crazy eyes

[Mosko111]

Theres a couple of these things getting around on the local island i go to, im yet to convince anyone to let me drive them but i would'nt mind seeing how they go!

what type of price would you be looking at to purchase the vehicle and to mount a winch to one and have it race ready? The other benefit i can think of is these things would be so much easier to transport to events because of the size and weight difference from a full bodied rig.

cheers mosko

[PSwindale]

Right guys on all accounts. The top of the range Polaris RZR S brand new is around $24,000. But thats almost race ready. Add winch, harnesses and maybe some roll cage work (yet to be determined) and you are ready to go. (the 2010 model actually comes standard with its cage ROPS approved for the same price). My one has a turbo, but I am not sure its necessary, especially with a good quality exhaust system. I used my UHF, GPS, recovery gear and lights from my winch truck for the Tamworth round. We are also very determined to keep costings down, we won't allow mass modifications that will see the cost of these things and their winches blow out.

In the US, the aftermarket is huge. Check out www.dragonfireracing.com as an example. But both these and the Yamaha Rhino are now sneaking on to the second hand market at a much much cheaper price, (Rhino's sell for around $10,000 S/H).

Not only that, once you have it set up, it now looks as if (with the Polaris anyway), the Off Road Race Scene is now also going to cater for this type of machine.

Talking with MMM recently he said, "could you imagine a stage with 4 of these let loose at once to race in and out of the gully at Manilla, around a couple of wide open loops for passing and back". Do you think the spectators would like that?

And this was the first comp vehicle that I have ever rolled and been able to hide the evidence from my wife!!! Has to be a plus.

[Mosko111]

Have you had much interest for competing in these rigs mate?
surely with them being a cheaper and fun option there would be many being purchased?

[BEAR 80]

There are 3 currently racing, and 3 more being built in Mackay that run in the Offroad Racing scene.
These are CAMS events, so the cages need to be up to spec. This will be the way forward I think for offroad motorsport due to the price you can get a very competitve vehicle for.

[ROK88]

found this cool video on youtube thought yous might like it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjQMCBb1Gsc

[PSwindale]

Interest is very very good. Polaris are currently sponsoring a winch challenge event in Melbourne on the weekend of the 26th of June for both SXS's and 4x4 winch trucks. They have also launched a special purhcasing programme for their dealers to get them involved in a competition series.

We have also had interest from the guys running the 4x4 Masters series at Eastern Creek, we have been asked to consider options for Cliffhanger and the Outback Challenge and Dave Metcalfe is happy to run them within his Extreme Winch series events. However there is alot to work through to ensure we and the CCDA get the class rules, safety issues and regs correct to ensure the cost factor does not become prohibitive. The two events in Melbourne are still considered trial feedback events to fine tune a potential future series and get competitor feedback.

In short, we have heaps of options being thrown our way and they are the best fun you can have on 4 wheels me thinks.

Phil

[Fredrick]

Phill do you need Paddy Melons to race ?

If so how many

[1MadEngineer]

this is what my 3year old son wants me to build for him!
http://www.trophykart.com/TK_Elite.html

[Harb]

This is great news.......
We have 2 RZR S's that we are taking to the Cape and back from Cairns in a few weeks..... might have to check this out after that.... I must admit I caught them on the offroad show and got pretty keen....good work !!

Harb

[SteelArt]

Having gotten out of racing many years ago as it became cost prohibited, I think as long as you can find a balance between cost, capability and customisation then it will be a very good thing.

If you get a class and stop people modifying things, even cosmetically then it gets boring, but on the other hand if you do allow modifications then it becomes real expensive real quick.
Using something like an RZR might offer a good platform for this to occur on.

Good luck with it, if it happens and there are places etc to drive and compete chances are better than average I would get into it as I have been looking at a clean / safe and affordable style of motorsport to get into with my kid in a few years time, this potentially fits that bill.

[Harb]

Hey harb, at you doing that trio with the bike riding tours? I'm in cq and thinking of buying a rzr s aswell, and think that woul be an awesom trip! So please let me know how you go!!

Will do mate....complete with Pictures

[Mosko111]

Hey harb, at you doing that trio with the bike riding tours? I'm in cq and thinking of buying a rzr s aswell, and think that woul be an awesom trip! So please let me know how you go!!

[Mosko111]

From what phil told me when I got in contact with him about purchasing one,
he said the class would be restricted to no engine performance moifications, and only stock standard winches aswell, so I guess it will remain quite cheap with the cost to fix them very very good,
and there are heaps of aftermarket barwork options that you would want to fit to keep the unscathed and just to make them a litle more individualized.

And then the huge plus is I can get limited use registration for it and take it to the island with an esky strapped to the back and go cruising

[Sic Lux]

this is what my 3year old son wants me to build for him!
http://www.trophykart.com/TK_Elite.html

DO IT, seen them a while ago and don't forget to make it with enough leg room you can drive it

[Modified Toy]

found this cool video on youtube thought yous might like it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjQMCBb1Gsc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Did any one else notice how huge that 5th wheel is in the background on the video

[stuee]

Any more word on this, and rules etc. Going by a more recent thread I pulled this post out:

Final dates will be up when I get back from Thailand.

The Razor Racing Series will only have one Class (this may change when we have a possible field with each group) It is pointless running a Class with one or two vehicles. You also might find that only the RZR's will be coming into Australia in the future.

Round 2 will be in Rocky in late June, while Round 3 will be in Tamworth area in September/ October. There may also be a Teams event & GPS event during the year as well, more on this later.

Looking at some of the reviews around the net it seems like Can-Am have just released a new sxs which is the bee's knee's. Is it likely that any competition formula developed is only going to be open to Polaris or will it encompass all sxs as mentioned above.

I would be dead keen if a controlled category like this got off the ground (if the formulas simple it would probably stand a good chance of coming to WA too ). If you could have a competitive rig for $30k that can be worked on in most double garages, towed with just about any large 4x4 on a standard car trailer it would be quite attractive and I could see myself driving around in a shitter for a while longer to be apart of it.

[PSwindale]

Stuee,

All along we have encouraged other brands of SXS's to be involved in this form of racing, however other than Polaris, the response from the others has been a bit poor. Can-am however are now very keen also to be involved and at this stage, based on a power to weight ratio comparison, we see no reason why they can't run in the same class and under the same rules as the Polaris.

Eventually we would like to think we could get enough SXS's from each manufacturer to have seperate classes based around the different brands but I suspect this will be sometime away.

In addition to Dave Metcalfe's XWC series, keep an eye on any announcements regarding next years Cliffhanger too, plans are in motion.

Phil