Whats the most revolutionary UTV ever built?
- Thread starter JoeyD23
- Start date
facteryfmf
Looking For a Few Good Men - UTVUnderground Approv
Booger welds and zip ties have been around for a long long time bud...
Heybeerman
Active Member
Not as long as your mom has! Now try and stay focused....
JoeyD23
#utvunderground
Never can go wrong with an old MOM joke... I literally LOL'd
facteryfmf
Looking For a Few Good Men - UTVUnderground Approv
Unfortunately my mom passed away at the age of 52 in March 2014. So yes, they have been around much longer.
#xpwarrior
Active Member
Joey D, you have opened the best thread here ever. There are so many amazing UTV builds out there. The Redlands car is amazing, sometimes it doesn't look like a UTV and has such a form fit design to it that works. The Jimco builds looks so sexy. The newest LSR CanAm is a piece of art especially when needing to hit the pit, the way the body opens to give access is pretty revolutionary.
Out of all the builds of course I love mine (it may not have won a race yet and did catch fire...still it is performing), but I have to say I love the Newest Marc Burnett Monster XP4Turbo. This car has so much in it and I know it was done addressing all the issues he has had over the years of racing UTVs. There may not be a hidden compartment for tools, axles or swing open panels for ease of maintenance but this car is strong, fast and putting in work.
Out of all the builds of course I love mine (it may not have won a race yet and did catch fire...still it is performing), but I have to say I love the Newest Marc Burnett Monster XP4Turbo. This car has so much in it and I know it was done addressing all the issues he has had over the years of racing UTVs. There may not be a hidden compartment for tools, axles or swing open panels for ease of maintenance but this car is strong, fast and putting in work.
motive
Active Member
The most revolutionary UTV?...
If by that you mean the one to change the direction of racing utvs the most I would have to give Weller the thumbs up for that.
If you mean pushing the boundaries of off road technology that farthest you might be surprised by how simple some of the cars mentioned above are. I had a good talk with Rhys Millen and a good look at his car at Laughlin. Although he had some fresh ideas on his car it wasn't anything I would call revolutionary. What it was was the biggest attention to detail I have ever seen to "cut the fat". He was open enough to tell me the weight of his car and I have no doubt he was telling me the truth. (if you are curious, ask him, not me. Its not my place to repeat it) His car obviously plays to different advantages than the Red Lands car but in the right spot that thing will run down any car in BITD, turbo or not.
Same thing with Wayne's Jimco built cars. Simple, clean, everything has its purpose. No fluff. Earth shattering, No. Just an attention to detail, addressing every potential weakness. Application of lessons learned buy decades of combined racing experience from both Jimco and Wayne is the name of the game with this car.
I would even put Cognito, Jagged X, or the Murrays car at the same level. They just aren't the fresh new car on the circuit so they get overlooked in this department. Any of those you can take a close look at and find fresh ideas. Just little jems that most people overlook. The the biggest surprise is how simple they are. Its much harder to make something simple than to make something complicated.
Marc's Reid built BadAssMav defiantly had some revolutionary to it. But it was complicated. The re-engineering of so much of that car was a step outside the box in utv desert racing. The car had its handicaps though. Some of them possibly caused by pushing the boundaries of what can been done to a utv. For example, it ran a steering dampener. An idea that most would have never thought of with an independent front suspension but Reid found ways to make the porker last for 1000 miles at a time. And it took a year to figure out all its issues!
That is probably the biggest problem with "revolutionary" cars. It opens up a can of worms that most people never seam to be able to work through. When we were designing the Red Lands car, we were told story after story of some $100,000+ machine that wouldn't even last 50 miles and would never be seen again. I believe most people thought the same thing would happen with our car. Its not that new ideas are wrong, its just uncharted water. When something fails to live up to high expectations, there is always a line of people willing to say "I told you so!" There is going to be a learning curve, and changes will probably have to be made when something didn't work. You will have push on alone sometimes. Its not the easiest path but it also has the potential for the most reward. So go try that new idea you had. You think you can do it better? Show us! The best ideas are still waiting to be built. To me this is the best part of racing a utv over any other class, There is so much progression to be made!
If by that you mean the one to change the direction of racing utvs the most I would have to give Weller the thumbs up for that.
If you mean pushing the boundaries of off road technology that farthest you might be surprised by how simple some of the cars mentioned above are. I had a good talk with Rhys Millen and a good look at his car at Laughlin. Although he had some fresh ideas on his car it wasn't anything I would call revolutionary. What it was was the biggest attention to detail I have ever seen to "cut the fat". He was open enough to tell me the weight of his car and I have no doubt he was telling me the truth. (if you are curious, ask him, not me. Its not my place to repeat it) His car obviously plays to different advantages than the Red Lands car but in the right spot that thing will run down any car in BITD, turbo or not.
Same thing with Wayne's Jimco built cars. Simple, clean, everything has its purpose. No fluff. Earth shattering, No. Just an attention to detail, addressing every potential weakness. Application of lessons learned buy decades of combined racing experience from both Jimco and Wayne is the name of the game with this car.
I would even put Cognito, Jagged X, or the Murrays car at the same level. They just aren't the fresh new car on the circuit so they get overlooked in this department. Any of those you can take a close look at and find fresh ideas. Just little jems that most people overlook. The the biggest surprise is how simple they are. Its much harder to make something simple than to make something complicated.
Marc's Reid built BadAssMav defiantly had some revolutionary to it. But it was complicated. The re-engineering of so much of that car was a step outside the box in utv desert racing. The car had its handicaps though. Some of them possibly caused by pushing the boundaries of what can been done to a utv. For example, it ran a steering dampener. An idea that most would have never thought of with an independent front suspension but Reid found ways to make the porker last for 1000 miles at a time. And it took a year to figure out all its issues!
That is probably the biggest problem with "revolutionary" cars. It opens up a can of worms that most people never seam to be able to work through. When we were designing the Red Lands car, we were told story after story of some $100,000+ machine that wouldn't even last 50 miles and would never be seen again. I believe most people thought the same thing would happen with our car. Its not that new ideas are wrong, its just uncharted water. When something fails to live up to high expectations, there is always a line of people willing to say "I told you so!" There is going to be a learning curve, and changes will probably have to be made when something didn't work. You will have push on alone sometimes. Its not the easiest path but it also has the potential for the most reward. So go try that new idea you had. You think you can do it better? Show us! The best ideas are still waiting to be built. To me this is the best part of racing a utv over any other class, There is so much progression to be made!
Dont you think most cars with electric p/s could use a steering dampener to help protect the rack? I agree with you on what people are calling revolutionary doesnt really fit the definition.
motive
Active Member
I do not think most cars should NEED a steering dampener. In almost every circumstance its a band-aid. Now I'm not saying its Reid's fault or anything that the Monster Mav needed one. Its a combination of what he had to work with, components that he might not have been at liberty to choose or just the unavailability of a properly size rack, and throw that in with a fast driver that had moved from a truck to a little golf cart! There is simply not an abundance of things like steering racks that are perfectly suited for converting a UTV from a rear steer to a front steer not to mention all the other obstacles involved in the process. Wheels that once fit all the sudden occupy the same space as the steering arms... Without a perfect understanding AND the ability to overcome every consequence of changing the status quo, you are at the mercy of opening pandora's box. Sometimes even with the best engineering and the ability to use or make whatever part you want, you still have to redo things, go a different route, break stuff, and even sometimes band-aid it.
It can be a frustrating and long path sometimes. As "revolutionary" as some people think the Red Lands car is, not many people realize how many times things were redone. How many things are still being improved upon. That is not to discourage anyone. Just reality. I'd love to see more people think outside the box but only if they have the perseverance to keep working on it till they succeed.
It can be a frustrating and long path sometimes. As "revolutionary" as some people think the Red Lands car is, not many people realize how many times things were redone. How many things are still being improved upon. That is not to discourage anyone. Just reality. I'd love to see more people think outside the box but only if they have the perseverance to keep working on it till they succeed.
JoeyD23
#utvunderground
yeah but not revolutionary.. we already had all that in an SR1 essentially..
I believe Reid said he was using the dampener because the electric p/s doesn't have the cushioning affect of a hydraulic p/s. I may have heard that somewhere else but I have seen a couple aftermarket buggy style racks with some pretty torn up gears including my own.
motive
Active Member
Buggy racks are not sealed well at all so they take a lot of wear from dirt and sand. I believe Reid used an end load rack that would have had boots on it. If their is too much kick back to the steering wheel, it's not the electric steering units fault. It's a symptom of too much scrub radius or too little caster.
I talked to Reid about it once and if I remember right they were breaking stuff in the steering system. Damn, we need him to come back to the forum more often. He always added some color and drama around here!
I talked to Reid about it once and if I remember right they were breaking stuff in the steering system. Damn, we need him to come back to the forum more often. He always added some color and drama around here!
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