Cognito Motorsports RZR XP Turbo Dune Invasion at Oceano

Posted on October 7, 2015
3:41 pm

Four long-travel Polaris RZR XP Turbo builds hit the sand for a day of testing at Oceano Dunes.

By Jon Crowley

FOX-themed Cognito Motorsports RZR XP Turbo at the 2015 Sand Sports Super Show.

One of my favorite builds from the 2015 Sand Sports Super Show was the FOX-themed Polaris RZR XP Turbo in the Cognito Motorsports booth. The car was clean, simple and highly functional—exactly the kind of build I like.

It turned out that Cognito Motorsports had built three more RZR XP Turbos using the same basic formula. Each received its own colors and graphics for Rugged Radios, Sparks Racing and RZRForums.net.

While talking with Justin Lambert at the show, we made plans to get the four cars together for a day in the dunes. I am always ready for another dune trip, especially when turbocharged RZRs are involved. We picked a day in October and met at Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area on California’s Central Coast.

Riding Oceano Dunes

Oceano Dunes combines beach driving with coastal sand-dune recreation. Even in 2015, the area could become extremely busy during summer weekends, with limits placed on the number of vehicles allowed into the recreation area at one time.

We visited on a Wednesday after the summer crowds had tapered off, giving us much more room to photograph and drive the four RZRs.

Access update: Oceano Dunes remains the subject of ongoing legal, environmental and land-use proceedings. Riding areas, entrances, camping availability and vehicle limits can change. Before planning a trip, check the latest information from California State Parks’ OHMVR Division and follow UTV Guide’s Land Use & Access coverage.

Four Cognito-built RZR XP Turbos ready for a day in the dunes.

Four Matching RZR XP Turbo Builds

Other than their colors and graphics, the four RZR XP Turbo builds shared nearly identical equipment. Each featured Cognito Motorsports long-travel suspension, a lower cage, opening doors and a front bumper.

The supporting equipment included Rigid Industries LED lighting, Pro Armor seats and harnesses, a Rugged Radios intercom and two-way radio, Sparks Racing exhaust, Method beadlock wheels and STU sand tires.

We spent most of the day running the cars through the dunes. As the photos show, they were not babied. The added suspension width and properly calibrated FOX shocks allowed the RZRs to attack bowls, transitions, jumps and G-outs with considerably more confidence than a stock-width machine.

Cognito Long-Travel Suspension

The Sparks Racing RZR XP Turbo carrying speed through a G-out.

The cornerstone of each build was Cognito Motorsports’ complete long-travel suspension system for the two- and four-seat Polaris RZR XP 1000 and RZR XP Turbo.

The system increased track width by four inches per side while retaining the stock wheelbase. Keeping the original wheelbase helped preserve the RZR’s steering geometry and familiar handling characteristics.

With the correct shock calibration, the system added approximately 3.5 inches of front suspension travel and 1.5 inches at the rear. Cognito designed the package to maintain usable ground clearance at full compression while keeping the CV joints within appropriate operating angles at full droop.

The front suspension used spherical bearings, or uniballs, at the spindles with hardened spindle pins. DOM tubing was used for the high-clearance lower control arms, while the upper arms and rear trailing arms used boxed chromoly construction. Cognito listed the complete suspension as adding approximately 25 pounds over the stock components.

The factory front sway bar could also be retained. This suspension design was related to the equipment Cognito used on its successful HellRaiser XP1K desert-racing platform.

Reworked Factory FOX Internal Bypass Shocks

The Rugged Radios car carving through an Oceano Dunes bowl.

The 2016 Polaris RZR XP Turbo came from the factory with 2.5-inch front and 3.0-inch rear FOX Internal Bypass shocks. The stock dampers were already impressive for a production sport UTV, but installing a wider long-travel suspension changed the leverage acting on them.

The factory shocks could be retained, but revised springs and valving were needed to take full advantage of the new suspension geometry. The front shocks required the most significant changes because widening an A-arm suspension alters the leverage ratio acting on the shock.

The rear trailing-arm geometry was affected less because Cognito retained the stock wheelbase, but the rear shocks still benefited from recalibration.

Without matching the shock setup to the long-travel suspension, the RZR would sit too low and feel overly soft at the front. That might produce a comfortable ride over small chop, but it would also make the car more likely to bottom harshly in G-outs, whoops and rough terrain.

At the time of this trip, Cognito listed shock-upgrade packages ranging from approximately $1,100 to $2,800 with parts and labor, depending on the selected options. Those were 2015 prices and should be treated only as historical reference.

Cognito Sport Cage

The RZRForums.net car lifting the front tires under turbocharged acceleration.

The Cognito CMS Sport 2 Series cage was designed for recreational drivers who wanted a lower profile without adding unnecessary weight. It sat approximately four inches lower than the stock RZR cage and was constructed from 1.75-inch-by-.095-inch-wall DOM steel tubing.

An aluminum roof attached with quarter-turn fasteners, and two whip mounts were included. Available options at the time included intrusion bars, mirror mounts, light-bar mounts, powder-coated finishes and a rearview mirror.

Cognito Opening Doors

The FOX-themed RZR XP Turbo charging into a bowl.

The CMS Sport 2 Series opening doors replaced the stock RZR XP 1000 and XP Turbo doors while retaining the factory latches. Cognito concealed the hinges and attached the aluminum door skins to the round-tube frames with quarter-turn fasteners.

The result was a clean door design that provided additional debris protection without adding excessive weight.

Lightweight Front Bumper

The FOX car launching from an Oceano Dunes transition.

Cognito’s bolt-on front bumper fit both two- and four-seat RZR XP 1000 and XP Turbo models. It was intended to provide useful front-end protection without the substantial weight of a large desert-racing bumper.

Optional light mounts were available. Versions of the bumper were also used on Cody Rahders’ short-course RZR and David Haagsma’s WORCS race machine.

Driving the Cognito RZR XP Turbos

I had already enjoyed driving our Polaris RZR XP Turbo in a more stock configuration, but the Cognito cars took its dune performance to another level.

The wider stance, additional wheel travel and properly tuned shocks gave the cars more stability and control through bowls, rough transitions and G-outs. The cages, doors, seating and communication equipment also created a more complete package for fast recreational dune riding.

Rather than changing the character of the RZR XP Turbo, these builds amplified its strongest attributes: acceleration, responsive handling and the ability to cover rough sand at speed.