SideXSide Action - April 2008 - (Page 13)

We had the opportunity to spend a day behind the wheel of the Brand new Kawasaki Teryx. Kawasaki invited us to test the new Teryx at Sand Hollow State Park just outside of St. George, UT. Sand Hollow is a fairly new riding area that has a little bit of every type of terrain to throw at you. We drove the Teryx through sand dunes, down gravel roads, up steep hill climbs, and through tough rock crawling sections. All in all, we were very impressed with the performance of the Teryx. There were a few key areas where it really excelled. One area the Kawasaki excelled in was the suspension. It is obvious that Kawasaki R & D spent a lot of time tuning the suspension. The Teryx comes standard with adjustable reservoir shocks in the rear. The A-arms are reinforced both in the front and rear to add extra strength along with the reinforced suspension mounting points. The Teryx drives nicely through the different types of terrain at different speeds. We noted how well-balanced this Side X Side was. We were unable to tip or roll it - no matter how hard we tried. When rock crawling, we had it so tight in a notch and at such an extreme angle that the top of the passenger side roll bar was only two inches from the slick rock, yet it still kept on climbing and felt very stable. While playing in the dunes, we found a sweet jump that had about an 8-foot tall ramp with a nice fade-away landing. We must have hit this jump 50 times during the day and it really impressed us how well it handled. The Teryx landed smoothly and level each time. It didn’t matter how hard our foot was mashed on the gas, it was always stable. Next, let’s move on to the motor category. How do you argue with a Vtwin motor in a Side X Side? This Kawasaki Teryx: Editor’s Review motor has a ton of potential to be unleashed by the aftermarket. My first reaction driving the Teryx was, “Wow!” The power is there, but it could definitely use more. To compare it to a current Side X Side, I would put it in the same category as the Rhino. It’s got enough power to get you out of trouble but not enough to get you into too much trouble. So now that we’ve told you what we love about it, what would we like to see changed? The first thing would be the emergency brake release. It’s under the dash, hard to see, and not quite as comfortable as some of the other models in the class. Because of this, it’s easy to miss and forget to release. There is a light on the dash indicating the emergency brake is on, but it needs to be brighter. I also felt that the pedals were too far to the left. More than one time I hopped back into the Teryx and went to put my foot on the gas pedal and I missed it completely. I was exactly one foot width too wide to the right when I would put my foot down. It’s not that the pedals were uncomfortable where they were, it’s just I had a hard time finding them. Also, as with the Polaris RZR, the hood and dash are one piece. A flipup hood would have been a nice addition. There is nothing that is vital under the hood to service on a regular basis (battery and CDI are under the driver’s seat), but it would make it easier to service the radiator, shocks, or suspension. All in all, Kawasaki did an outstanding job putting the Teryx together. As I mentioned earlier, Kawasaki spent a lot of time doing their home- work building this new unit. Purchasing a new Teryx would be money well spent. Kawasaki offers or will soon offer these great new accessories: 2" Hitch Drawbar, Hard Top - Plastic Hard Top - Aluminum, Soft Top, Full Windshield, Brush Guard Bumper, Rear Bumper, Skid Plates, A-arm Guards, Winch Mount, Bed Liner, Cab, Hard Doors, Hard Half Doors, Soft Doors, Soft Half Doors, Windshield Wiper, Heater, Half Door w/o Cab, Rifle Case Mount, Headlight Guards, Bumper Cover, Taillight Guards, Camo Seat Covers, Tilt Bed Kit, Cover, Cargo Bed Mat, Nerf Bars, Bed Rails, Overfenders and much more. Check your local Kawasaki Dealer for Details. WWW.SIDEXSIDEACTION.COM 13 http://WWW.SIDEXSIDEACTION.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SideXSide Action - April 2008

SideXSide Action - April 2008 Contents Mailbox News Tips & Tricks Race Interview Next: Bobcat Soldier Meadows Win a Rhino CORR Season Wrap Up Race Year in Review Built For It: Rath Racing Prowler Product Review Shock Adjustments Tech: CDI & ECU Boxes Company Spotlight: Legend Off-Road Wheel Buyers Guide SXS Shoot-Out Gallery Shot New Products On The Go Photo

SideXSide Action - April 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.