Ride Along: 2021 Yamaha Wolverine RMAX2 1000 Limited Edition

UTV Driver
UTV Driver
  • last year
We take you up Windrock OHV's Trail 22 in the Yamaha Wolverine RMAX2 1000 Limited Edition.

Check out the story at https://www.utvdriver.com/story/news/2021-yamaha-wolverine-rmax2-1000-limited-edition-ride-along/

Yamaha RMAX2 Buyer's Guide: https://www.utvdriver.com/story/buyers-guide/2021-yamaha-wolverine-rmax2-1000-buyers-guide/

Yamaha RMAX2 Review: https://www.utvdriver.com/story/reviews/2021-yamaha-wolverine-rmax2-1000-xt-r-review/

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Transcript
00:00 Hey guys, Kevin Ray with UTV Driver. We're here at Windrock today on Trail 22 and
00:08 we're gonna do a ride along with Yamaha's brand new R-Max 2 1000 Limited
00:18 Edition. I'll walk you around real quick and then we'll go for a ride.
00:23 So on the front you get a winch and skid plate included. All lighting is LED on
00:38 this unit. Limited Edition comes with this rad Yamaha blue color. You get
00:48 Limited Edition two-tone polished aluminum wheels. I don't know if you can
00:57 see that. You get IQS Fox suspension front and rear which is controlled from
01:05 the dash right there.
01:15 Rock sliders are included. Yamaha will sell you covers, aluminum covers for
01:21 those. Coming around back you get a two-inch, a standard two-inch hitch.
01:27 Little two, two thousand pounds. And a hydraulic lift bed with tailgate. The
01:36 cargo box is an accessory that Yamaha offers and the bed does dump right there
01:45 with that handle.
01:48 Seatbelts are included with adjustable ratcheting systems.
02:00 Coming inside, shoulder restraint, nice bolstered seats, Wolverine
02:16 embroidered across the back. Four-wheel drive, diff lock, that's the front diff
02:24 lock. No headlights, headlights and brights. You get a nice touchscreen unit
02:36 that's actually removable. You can pull it out, Magellan makes it. This whole unit
02:44 pops out and you can take it with you. There's even a little camera over here. I
02:48 know it's bright right now. You get all sorts of fun stuff like mapping and gauge
02:56 control. The limited edition comes with again the ability to control the
03:01 suspension, the Fox suspension. Three settings, comfort, medium and firm. You
03:08 can ship that on the fly and you get with the limited edition an included
03:14 stereo, SSB works stereo. Let's see, you get cigarette lighter,
03:23 some auxiliary ends down here, USB charger and a decent sized glove box.
03:35 Moving to the transmission, low, high, neutral, reverse and you do get a hand
03:43 brake and a tiny little glove box.
03:48 All right, so with that in mind, what do you say we go for a spin? All right guys,
04:04 safety first, buckle my seat belt, got my helmet, my goggles, my gloves on. We're
04:12 going to start out in two-wheel drive. I'm going to put it in trail mode for
04:17 normal throttle control.
04:20 Start her up.
04:24 We have previously had the XTR version of the R-Max
04:33 and this limited edition seemed to be a little bit quieter, exhaust note wise,
04:39 which is welcome. I'm going to turn the radio off for now.
04:46 Okay, let's do it.
04:53 So right off the bat, let's talk about the engine. 999 CC twin, parallel twin.
05:07 As I understand it, it's brand new for Yamaha, developed for this
05:14 side-by-side specifically.
05:18 I'm going to guess it produces somewhere around 100 horsepower,
05:26 but Yamaha does not provide any specs.
05:33 It feels good, plenty of power, always on tap. You can spin the wheels whenever you
05:38 need to. Low gear is very torquey.
05:44 That power transitions through a
05:52 CVT style transmission, not unlike a lot of the other side-by-sides on the market.
06:01 What Yamaha has developed there is to always be under tension,
06:09 which means you're not going to slip a belt as easily,
06:13 be it if you're in high gear or low gear.
06:18 We're told that
06:21 you can safely do a lot of easy crawling in high gear,
06:30 as opposed to some other UTVs that'll just slip their belt.
06:38 And it's true, we've done many hours of testing with the R-Max and
06:45 have found the transmission to be pretty good, pretty awesome.
06:56 Steering is electric assist. It's not like a car, but it's better
07:03 than manual. When you get it bound up, it's not going
07:08 to power through it like a hydraulic, like a full hydraulic system would,
07:14 but it's also not going to tax you and make your wrists and hands tired
07:19 on a long day's ride.
07:22 [engine noise]
07:24 Talk about the differentials real quick. The rear axle on the R-Max is always
07:38 locked. It does not have a differential. It's just a ring gear out to some axles.
07:46 No turf mode, no locker, nothing like that.
07:50 It's just always locked. The front axle has a true electronic
07:55 locker in it, so when you need extra traction,
08:02 you can turn the dial, lock both front and rear axles.
08:09 I have found that there are far and few between
08:15 scenarios in which that's required, other than some pretty gnarly stuff.
08:20 You can get yourself into some trouble with the amount of traction this thing
08:24 has. Those axles turn wonderful.
08:30 30-inch tall Maxxis tires.
08:34 The R-Max 2, which is what we're in, as opposed to the R-Max 4, which is the
08:39 four-seater, comes with 30-inch tires. The R-Max 4
08:44 does not. They're just a little bit smaller on the R-Max 4.
08:51 Traction is great. Tires do really well on
08:57 a variety of surfaces. We're still in two-wheel drive and I've
09:02 got plenty of traction.
09:06 So the reason why we picked Trail 22 to do this is because it has a lot of
09:13 different kinds of terrain. A lot of different
09:18 ways to test
09:22 a unit in a short amount of time. We don't want to bore you guys.
09:29 This first section, right at the beginning, is very flowy.
09:36 Honestly, you could carry a lot of speed through here.
09:42 If it was closed off.
09:45 Right now we're doing about 12 miles an hour.
09:50 So I've got the Fox IQS suspension in comfort mode right now.
09:58 Let's talk a little bit about that.
10:02 On the limited edition you get
10:08 a push button in the cab. Call me lazy, but I love it. I can shift
10:15 it on the fly, depending on what kind of terrain I see
10:19 ahead. And for normal driving like this, normal
10:23 trail crawling, if you will, I just leave it in
10:27 comfort mode so my spine doesn't try to kill me at the
10:32 end of the day.
10:35 Let's get some speed right here.
10:38 Good example of a hill climb in this thing. That was in two-wheel drive
10:54 and it just doesn't care. It just goes.
10:59 Lots of torque.
11:02 Plenty of torque to get you up anything that
11:09 you would normally want to get up.
11:13 Right now I'm in trail mode. Trail mode is
11:19 the ECU mode where the throttle is normal, at its normal state we'll call
11:24 it. It's predictable. If I press the gas
11:29 there's really no delay
11:33 in engine power output.
11:37 I'm not going to go too fast.
11:42 I'm going to go slow.
11:45 In engine power output,
11:48 I can get a little bit of power when I need it,
11:57 but it's also not jerky. It's not tossing me around.
12:01 Let me angle the camera down a little bit more here.
12:04 I'm going to switch it into crawl mode. Crawl mode
12:09 tells the onboard computer to dumb the throttle inputs, kind of retards them a
12:14 little bit. So when I slap the throttle there's
12:18 actually a little delay. Now it's not limiting power. You still
12:23 have full access to the motor's ability to
12:27 push the tires.
12:30 It just smooths out my inputs which is fantastic
12:34 on rocky technical sections of trail.
12:40 You're hitting big bumps when you're going over baby heads like a boulder
12:45 field. In normal situations that'll
12:49 transfer to your foot and your foot will transfer that into the
12:53 accelerator pedal and that results in a feedback loop
12:59 which is something like that.
13:03 On really aggressive
13:09 side-by-sides that have very sharp throttle response,
13:16 it can get downright uncomfortable. So I'm going to pop it into sport mode
13:22 which is the opposite. So now I have direct
13:27 unaltered control over
13:32 the throttle butterfly and the motor. So if I
13:38 barely touch the accelerator pedal
13:42 the motor is going to rev. I'm going to get instant response.
13:47 And what that translates to in the real world is a very sporty feel.
13:54 You can just
13:56 throw this sucker around like it's nothing. Instant throttle response.
14:06 Throw the tail end around.
14:09 I don't want to use the word violent but
14:18 it's approaching violent. I can see its place maybe out west
14:23 in a more open setting or if you're you know using it
14:28 on a race day. But for normal trail crawling it's
14:34 almost a little too much unless you really know what you're doing.
14:39 So we'll go back into trail mode.
14:43 Do a little jump.
14:46 What's fun about the D modes, the drive modes as Yamaha calls them,
15:00 the sport, trail and crawl is that you can shift on the fly. Now it's
15:06 not going to take effect until you let your foot up completely.
15:10 So you can change it from crawl to trail and then the next time you let off
15:16 the throttle it'll switch for you.
15:22 And then you'll be in that new D mode the next time you press the throttle.
15:27 Really cool. We all love that feature here at UTP Driver.
15:32 It's one of our favorite features of the R-Max.
15:40 A lot of times we just keep it in crawl mode.
15:44 You can hear the engine settle down. It's numbing my throttle inputs and
15:54 honestly it makes it easier, a little more comfortable to drive this
15:58 thing over long distances especially if
16:01 you're trying to talk to a passenger.
16:05 Fuel capacity on the R-Max 2 1000 is going to be 9.2 gallons. In the
16:14 months that we've been testing these units we've never
16:17 even come close to running out of fuel after a full day's ride.
16:22 I'm not sure of the actual fuel economy. Yamaha doesn't state it. We've never been
16:26 able to successfully record it but I can say
16:30 that it's good enough to do a hard day's
16:34 ride and not worry about it and make it back to camp.
16:37 We've done over over 100 miles on a tank before.
16:44 The R-Max weighs in right around 1800 pounds. I think the figures
16:52 around 1880 pounds, 1884 pounds, something like that.
17:00 It's not light.
17:02 A true sport machine would be quite a bit lighter
17:07 but you've also got the strength and durability baked into the machine to tow
17:13 2,000 pounds haul stuff around in the bed.
17:16 I think it strikes a good balance. You certainly do not feel the weight
17:21 when you're driving around and it feels several hundred pounds lighter than it
17:27 than it should.
17:29 Price on the R-Max
17:36 is right around $23,000.
17:41 $23,800 for the limited edition that we're in right now.
17:51 All right so I'm going to switch it into crawl mode here
17:56 to help reduce some of that feedback from all these little baby rocks.
18:04 Gosh it works so well. Just gently crawl over them. I can feel my foot
18:12 foot moving around.
18:15 But it doesn't translate into
18:19 motor revving. It's easier if you're smart enough to
18:22 know how stupid I am.
18:25 All right a little creek crossing. Nice little
18:40 rocky climb up.
18:48 So let's talk about the dash real quick. In front of me
18:52 I've got all the things that the driver would need to
18:56 know about at a quick glance. Odometer, fuel,
19:00 you know drive mode. If my N4 will drive, 2 will drive.
19:06 High, low. It's got an odometer. It's got a tripometer.
19:11 It's got a clock.
19:16 And then it's got your suspension settings whether you're in
19:21 comfort, medium, or firm. In the center is our Adventure Pro unit.
19:29 That's going to handle GPS and the visual gauges. It also does
19:35 selfies and
19:38 waypoints, GPS tracking, all that fun stuff.
19:45 It's kind of redundant but I really like the Adventure Pro
19:50 in that you can track where you go.
19:54 All right so this is one of the main features on Trail 22.
20:02 There's a creek that runs through the trail
20:06 and it's all smooth algae covered rock.
20:12 I'm going to kick it into four-wheel drive and then I'm going to lock the
20:16 front differential. We're going to place the D-mode into
20:21 trail or I'm sorry I'm going to place it into crawl
20:25 so we can go nice and slow and then we're going to shift into low gear
20:31 for the first time.
20:33 Let's do some rock crawling.
20:38 I don't think it's going to translate very well through the GoPro
20:42 but these boulders are probably the size of
20:46 kitchen tables, small kitchen tables or maybe pub tables.
20:52 And the Armax is just gonna roll right over them like it's
20:59 nothing.
21:02 So I'm going to stop right here. I'm going to
21:05 disengage our front differential.
21:09 We don't need that anymore. Let's climb up the rest of this
21:16 boulder field.
21:19 The suspension on this Armax is just phenomenal.
21:29 Over 14 inches of travel in the front, 16 inches in the rear.
21:35 It did the best so far on our RTI ramp scores. This thing just
21:43 has gobs of flex and articulation. I'm going to
21:48 switch back to high gear now that we're back on the main trail
21:54 through the boulders.
21:57 I'm going to switch it into firm. Throw the Fox suspension, the Fox
22:12 IQS suspension into firm just to see how it feels.
22:18 It is definitely more firm.
22:25 There's a clear delineation between the settings, the valve settings on this
22:33 suspension. And I think I'm going to leave it in
22:37 comfort mode for this. Go back into low gear.
22:41 Still in four-wheel drive, still in crawl mode.
22:51 Making up this hill.
22:54 I'm going to pop it back into high gear. Let's go trail mode and
23:06 pick up the pace a little bit.
23:09 [Music]
23:12 It's hard to believe that
23:33 the R-MAX has a bed on it, a hydraulic assisted dumping bed on it.
23:42 Being that you can carry so much speed on a trail like this.
23:53 [Music]
23:56 I've got to be careful because my camera gear
24:09 is actually in the bed. Let's switch to low gear so we don't
24:16 burn anything up.
24:19 [Music]
24:22 Let's take the hard line.
24:44 So the underbody of the R-MAX does have foam protection.
24:50 Aluminum skin plate up front which is standard on the
24:54 limited edition. But on the base model and the XTR you won't get any
24:59 foam protection. Oh a snake! Hi buddy.
25:03 And then they all get plastic underpinnings. So you've got a flat
25:10 flat base to the frame that you can just slide over obstacles with.
25:17 Yamaha does offer control arm skin plates in the aftermarket.
25:24 There's a ton of
25:26 different kinds of skin plates as well. But for the most part we've not
25:33 had any issues. It seems to do pretty well in stock
25:38 warm.
25:41 This is what I'm talking about. Feedback loop. I'll put it in sport mode.
25:50 And you can see what I'm talking about.
25:53 Every time you hit a little rock your foot's motion is going to
26:00 translate into making the motor rev. And you switch it
26:05 into crawl mode and it tames it right down. It's just a
26:10 more linear
26:13 torque curve from the motor which translates to better traction.
26:18 That's what you want. Better traction.
26:23 All right let's
26:44 crawl mode. Low gear. Full wheel drive.
26:48 A little
26:51 rock crawling.
26:54 This little R-Max man it's just a beast.
27:02 Shouldn't be as good as it is. But we're happy about it.
27:10 Another thing that we really like about the R-Max.
27:16 We've not had the base model but I can confirm that the R-Max
27:20 XTR and now the limited edition come with rear view mirrors. Something to
27:26 be able to see the guy behind you. You know is your buddy keeping up?
27:31 Did you lose him? Is there traffic coming up behind you that's faster and needs to
27:36 get by you? All sorts of reasons to have a
27:41 mirror. In my opinion it's a safety concern.
27:45 I think every unit should have at least a rear view mirror.
27:49 Big thank you to Yamaha for including that.
27:54 Oh big jump.
27:57 So why buy the R-Max 1000 limited edition?
28:06 Well it's your best bang for your buck. You're going to get a ton of factory
28:15 accessories with it. The winch, the worn winch, 4,500 pound
28:19 worn winch. Your front skid plate. You're gonna get
28:23 your stereo. You get your IQS Fox suspension
28:29 with in-cab controls.
28:33 And you're gonna get the cool blue paint job.
28:42 It's not that much more than the XTR which is also a fantastic unit.
28:48 So I think if you've got the coin it's definitely worth buying.
28:54 Assuming you can find one.
28:58 All right we got another rock field so we're gonna go low gear.
29:02 Crawl mode.
29:04 Let's see if we can do this in one pass. Sometimes I can get it.
29:18 Sometimes I can't.
29:21 It's pretty dry today so there's plenty of traction. Yeah we're good.
29:30 This is the kind of performance you get with a UTV.
29:35 Just aim it and go.
29:41 The R-Max is no exception. This thing is just so capable.
29:46 Pop it back into trail mode. Switch back to
29:50 high gear. Oh shoot. Let's go sport mode.
29:56 [Music]
30:00 [Music]
30:05 [Music]
30:09 [Music]
30:13 [Music]
30:17 [Music]
30:22 This thing is just so planted. It carries proper speed.
30:29 Right now I've got the Fox suspension set to firm.
30:34 You're carrying speed. The leverage on the suspension amplifies.
30:39 So it hits the bottom out of lock in comfort mode.
30:43 [Music]
30:58 But not so much in firm mode.
31:02 [Music]
31:15 All right.
31:18 Let's roll back to crawl mode.
31:24 [Music]
31:31 And that concludes
31:34 our ride down Trail 22 at Windrock.
31:39 All right guys that wraps up our trip down Trail 22 at Windrock OHV Park in
31:51 Aldrich Springs, Tennessee. This week we had the Yamaha R-Max 2
31:57 1000 Limited Edition. This is the 2021 model.
32:01 And it was a pleasure. We really like this unit and we think
32:05 you will too. For full specs and any other questions hit up
32:10 utbdriver.com or send us a message on our social media platforms Facebook,
32:15 Instagram, and Twitter. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time.