By Jon Crowley, UTVGuide.net
Before lining up for the 2015 King of the Hammers UTV race, we traveled to the Johnson Valley OHV Area to find out whether a lightly modified Polaris RZR S 900 could handle the event’s combination of brutal desert terrain and extreme rock crawling. We also brought our Arctic Cat Wildcat Sport so we could compare the two new-for-2015 60-inch sport UTVs on the same trails.
This pre-run ultimately helped prepare us for a third-place finish in the 2015 King of the Hammers UTV race. For more background on how the UTV competition developed, visit our King of the Hammers UTV race history.
Preparing the Polaris RZR S 900 for KOH
After driving the new 2015 Polaris RZR S 900 at a media event the previous September, I was intrigued by its design and began considering racing one at King of the Hammers. You can read our original Polaris RZR S 900 review for more details about the machine in stock form.
Once I brought the demo unit home, I installed a Factory UTV skid plate, A-arm guards and rock sliders. I also fitted 30-inch tires and tested the RZR at Prairie City SVRA to see how it handled the larger tire size. Its performance in the rocks and around the short course was encouraging enough to move forward with the KOH race project.
I then took the RZR to IMG Motorsports, where Bruce and Tommy Scranton built a lightweight six-point cage and bumpers. We installed a Polaris 4,500-pound winch, Pro Armor seats and harnesses, plus a set of 30x10R14 GMZ Kahuna tires mounted on HiPer Fusion beadlock wheels.
With those additions completed, the RZR S 900 was ready for its second and much more serious round of testing.
Testing at Johnson Valley
There is nowhere else quite like Johnson Valley. If you want to determine whether a UTV is ready for King of the Hammers, testing on the actual terrain is essential.
We arrived Thursday night, with my co-driver Tommy Scranton scheduled to arrive around noon Friday. I met up with Lanse and Jared from Rally on the Rocks, along with John Duckworth, who had purchased my 2014 Polaris RZR XP 1000 project vehicle.
I also had a friendly side bet with Dean Bulloch, an Arctic Cat dealer from Cedar City, Utah, who operated D&P Performance. Dean would race an Arctic Cat Wildcat Sport while I entered the RZR S 900. Since both were new 60-inch sport UTVs for 2015, we created a race within the race: Arctic Cat versus Polaris and Bulloch versus Crowley.
Chocolate Thunder in the Wildcat Sport
Friday morning, we decided to run Chocolate Thunder and Wrecking Ball. I drove our Arctic Cat Wildcat Sport so I could better understand what I would be up against when racing Dean.
We crossed the valley floor and headed to Chocolate Thunder. During King of the Hammers, this is one of the largest spectator areas on the course. The crowd adds pressure, and one particularly difficult obstacle creates a genuine rollover risk for UTVs.
Our Wildcat Sport had been equipped with a Factory UTV skid plate, A-arm guards and rock sliders, along with 28-inch GMZ Cut Throat tires. The Wildcat had plenty of clearance for larger tires, and I would have preferred 30s for a more direct comparison with the RZR, but the 28-inch tires were what we had available.
Jared and Lanse from Rally on the Rocks on Chocolate Thunder.
Our Arctic Cat Wildcat Sport on Chocolate Thunder.
Pre-running Chocolate Thunder at Johnson Valley.
Wrecking Ball
After Chocolate Thunder, we made our way to Wrecking Ball. It was one of the toughest trails used during the previous two King of the Hammers UTV races, including an obstacle that was effectively a winch-only section for UTVs.
UTVs working their way through Wrecking Ball.
The Wildcat Sport had good throttle response, and its clutching worked well with the larger-than-stock tires. We landed on the skid plate more frequently than I would have liked, however, and 30-inch tires would have made the comparison fairer.
One characteristic was already clear: the Wildcat Sport was a light and nimble UTV. It weighed approximately 150 pounds less than the RZR S 900.
Testing the RZR S 900 on Elvis
After Wrecking Ball, we returned to camp for lunch and switched to my RZR S 900. Our afternoon route covered the desert section from Main Camp to Elvis, followed by the course leading toward the sand hill near Race Mile 48.5.
I had two major concerns about racing the RZR S 900 at King of the Hammers. Its low-range gearing was considerably taller than that of other RZR models, and I did not know whether it had enough power to climb the sand hill on 30-inch tires.
The Polaris RZR S 900 on Elvis.
The afternoon run brought a huge sense of relief. Although the RZR’s low-range gearing was not ideal for extreme rock crawling, it worked well enough on Elvis. At the sand hill, the RZR charged directly to the top. I could nearly bring it to a stop on the climb and still keep it moving.
Perhaps the taller low-range gearing helped maintain momentum, or perhaps the GMZ Kahuna tires made the difference. Whatever the reason, the RZR passed this part of the test.
Aftershock and Highway 19/20
On Saturday, we headed out to run Aftershock and Highway 19/20. In my experience, Aftershock claimed more UTV race victims than almost any other trail, while Highway 19/20 was one long, difficult climb capable of ending a race.
RZR S 900 Pre-Run Verdict
I came away thrilled with the way the RZR S 900 performed in Johnson Valley. With only a relatively short list of modifications, it had become a capable rock crawler.
The next steps were adding the remaining race equipment, including a horn and radios, and improving the suspension. The desert sections at King of the Hammers are extremely rough, and the stock 2.0-inch FOX shocks could not be expected to maintain race pace over that terrain for an extended distance. We planned to install 2.5-inch shocks as soon as they became available.
What Happened in the Race?
The preparation paid off. Read the complete race report to see how we finished third in the 2015 KOH UTV race:
Crowley Takes Third at the 2015 King of the Hammers UTV Race
Related UTV Guide Coverage
- King of the Hammers UTV Race History
- 2015 Polaris RZR S 900 Review
- Polaris RZR S 900 Race Build
- Arctic Cat Wildcat Sport Review
- RZR S 900 vs. Wildcat Sport at KOH
